1

The MapQuest printout ritual

For many travelers, the trip really began here: sitting at the computer just minutes before leaving and printing turn-by-turn directions from MapQuest. The printed pages listed every step of the route, including the distance between each turn. This method was probably the one that marked the transition from traditional paper navigation to modern GPS systems.

2

Free maps at gas stations

Back in the 1920s, advertising executive William Akin came up with an idea to promote the new Gulf Refining Company gas stations. At the time, drivers still had to buy gasoline in five-gallon containers because service stations were uncommon. Akin proposed distributing free local maps in each area where these Gulf stations were located.

The idea spread quickly, and other gas companies soon adopted the same strategy. Over time, gas stations became natural stops for travelers, and many stations eventually began selling maps instead of giving them away.

3

The American Automobile Association Trip Triks

No way you forgot this one! If you were a member of the American Automobile Association, you had access to Trip Triks: spiral-bound booklets customized for each traveler’s route. AAA staff highlighted the exact path on the map, marking gas stations, hotels, and attractions along the way.

4

Lost? Find a phone booth

Lost in the big city? Step into a phone booth. Back then, many phone booths had maps inside showing nearby streets and landmarks. If you were lost, all you had to do was step inside, and within a few minutes, the problem was solved. The good news was that big cities had a phone booth on almost every major corner and intersection, so if the one you stopped by was already taken, you only had to walk a few steps to find another.

5

The thick book that lived in every car

The city street atlas. One of the best companions for drivers, if not the very best. These thick books showed detailed maps of entire cities, page by page. If you spotted a street sign but had no idea where you were, you could look up that street in the atlas index. It would point you to the exact page and grid where the street appeared, helping you figure out your next move. Do you remember flipping through a street atlas to find your way across a city?

6

Asking locals for directions

Following directions back then required a bit of blind faith. You might hear something like, "Drive a few miles and turn left when you see the church," or "After the green restaurant, take the second road on the right." In rural areas, where road signs were scarce, a local’s guidance was often the best map you could get. Sometimes those directions were the only way to find a place that didn’t appear on any map. Have you ever followed directions like these and hoped for the best?

7

The co-pilot seat

This trick required teamwork. If you weren’t traveling alone, one passenger was usually designated as the "navigator." Their role? Reading the map, watching for road signs, and warning the driver about upcoming turns. A good navigator also had to learn the driver’s rhythm: when to speak up, when to stay quiet, and how quickly directions needed to be given. The best driver–navigator pairs worked together almost like Batman and Robin.

8

The Rand McNally Road Atlas

The Rand McNally Road Atlas is one of the most iconic travel tools in American road trip history. The atlas includes detailed maps of every state, showing highways, towns, and points of interest across the United States. For decades, it was a common sight in glove compartments and truck cabins, guiding travelers from city to city. Unlike digital navigation, the atlas allowed drivers to see the entire route and explore alternative roads along the way. Even today, many travelers still keep one as a backup option when cell service or GPS fails.

9

Following highway numbers

During the era of long road trips, drivers didn’t worry much about street names. Instead, they followed highway numbers. If you got on the right road, like Route 66 or U.S. Route 1, you could relax and stay on it for miles and miles, sometimes across several states. As long as the number on the signs stayed the same, you knew you were still on the right path. This approach later helped inspire the Interstate Highway System, which made traveling across the country even easier.

10

The church, the bridge, the water tower

Here's one of the classic road trip tricks: remembering landmarks along the road. This method required both memory and self-trust. Instead of coordinates or exact addresses, travelers remembered particular spots. They learned to look for things that stood out, like churches, bridges, water towers, or unusual buildings. When you reached the right one, you knew when it was time to turn. What landmarks did you rely on the most?

1

No blindfolded driving in Alabama

Image: Kirill Balobanov

As we said in the introduction, these situations are likely born out of real incidents. At some point, someone must have driven blindfolded in Alabama , and the consequences were serious enough for state legislators to enact a law preventing it from happening again—a reasonable measure if you ask us.

2

No driving with dogs on the roof

Image: Tadeusz Lakota

As terrible and infuriating as it may sound, there is a very real possibility that someone drove with a poor dog tied to the roof of a car in chilly Alaska . Thankfully, local legislators passed a law prohibiting this dangerous and cruel situation.

3

No reverse driving

Image: Hunter Wiseley

This law makes no sense, and we bet—or at the very least hope—that it’s no longer enforced. Otherwise, how would Arizonans back out of their driveways without breaking the law?

Believe it or not, traveling in reverse on an Arizona road is illegal .

4

No horn honking at the sandwich joint

Image: Simon Daoudi

While it can certainly be an annoyance to hear cars honking when you’re trying to enjoy a Croque Monsieur and a diet soda at your favorite spot, most of us wouldn’t expect a state law banning it.

But in Arkansas, it’s illegal to honk a horn after 9 p.m. outside an establishment that serves sandwiches and cold drinks .

5

No jumping out of the car at 65 mph or faster

Image: Mathias Arlund

This one seems more like common sense than anything else, but apparently, enough people attempted this stunt in California for state legislators to pass a law making it illegal to leap out of a moving vehicle traveling at 65 mph or faster .

6

No black vehicles on a Sunday

Image: Steven Erixon

But what if your car is black and you need to drive somewhere? Hopefully, this law is no longer enforced in Colorado. Yet, for some reason lost to time, it’s illegal in this state to drive a black vehicle on a Sunday .

7

No speeding tickets for politicians

Image: Sumeet Kapadia

This one is downright infuriating. In Georgia, it’s illegal to ticket a member of the assembly for speeding while the assembly is in session. It should come as no surprise—after all, those same assembly members are the ones responsible for this law.

8

No driving with a gorilla in the backseat

Image: MARIOLA GROBELSKA

People in Massachusetts don’t need a law to tell them that driving around with a living gorilla in the backseat is a bad idea—that’s just common sense. But just in case, there’s a state law explicitly prohibiting it.

9

No camel-ridding on the highway

Image: Oskars Sylwan

Camels are great for desert travel but not so much for highway traffic. And no US state is more certain of this than Nevada, where it’s illegal to ride a camel on a highway .

10

No driving around the town square

Image: Felix Mittermeier

Driving around the town square can be a popular Saturday night activity in some towns, but someone in Ohio must have taken it to the extreme. In this state, it’s illegal to circle the town square more than 100 times in a row .

11

No reading comic books while driving

Image: Erik Mclean

For public safety alone, reading while driving should be illegal everywhere. But in Oklahoma, it’s specifically illegal to read comic books while driving —not newspapers, not hardcover novels—just comic books.

12

No driving with intoxicated passengers

Image: Jamie Street

Driving under the influence of alcohol is highly dangerous and, fortunately, banned almost everywhere. But in Texas, legislators have taken it a step further, making it illegal to drive if any alcohol is within arm’s reach of the driver —including if that alcohol is in another person’s bloodstream.

1

The expedition was almost entirely unplanned

Theodore Roosevelt had originally envisioned a simple travel itinerary consisting of public lectures in Argentina and Brazil. However, when Brazilian officials offered him the chance to embark on a voyage of discovery alongside Brazilian explorer Colonel Cândido Rondon, the famously adventurous ex-president couldn’t resist. Without proper medical preparation or specialized gear, Roosevelt eagerly agreed to chart an unmapped 600-mile river.

2

The River of Doubt was unmapped and deadly

The river they sought to navigate, a tributary of the Aripuanã River in the tropical rainforest of the Amazon, was called Rio da Dúvida (River of Doubt) because no civilized mapmaker knew where it flowed or whether it was even navigable. Once the team launched their canoes onto the water in February 1914, they realized the river was a nightmare of endless rapids. Repeatedly smashed against rocks, the crew had to spend their days breaking into dense jungle canopy just to drag their heavy boats around impenetrable waterfalls.

3

Deadly insects and disease ravaged the crew

The Amazonian rainforest proved to be a relentless environment of venomous fauna and pests. Swarms of biting sandflies, bees, ticks, and mosquitoes tormented the men day and night. Malaria quickly spread through the crew, causing debilitating chills and burning fevers. Nearly every member, including Roosevelt and his son Kermit, suffered repeated bouts of severe tropical sickness that left them physically incapacitated in the damp heat.

4

Starvation was a constant threat

Due to the poor preparation, much of the expedition’s heavy canned food supply had to be abandoned along the trail to lighten the load. To make matters worse, as canoes overturned in violent rapids, crucial food provisions washed away downstream. Hunting in the dense rainforest wasn’t very fruitful, leaving the men on the verge. Consuming less than a fraction of the calories required for daily heavy labor, the crew was forced to forage for palm hearts, small fish, and whatever wildlife they could kill to avoid dying from starvation.

5

A murder led to a desertion

As exhaustion, heat, and hunger wore down morale, tempers within the crew flared. One irritated Brazilian porter named Julio was caught stealing food rations from his starving comrades. When another crew member, Paishon, confronted him over the theft, Julio drew a rifle and shot Paishon dead. Following the murder, Julio fled into the jungle. Knowing that hunting him down would kill more men, the expedition just left him behind.

6

Roosevelt nearly died from a wounded leg

Trying to prevent two canoes from smashing against boulders, Roosevelt hit his leg against a submerged rock, slicing open his shin. In the tropical humidity, the wound became infected, resulting in tropical fever and blood poisoning. Afflicted with fevers reaching 105ºF, Roosevelt became delirious. Realizing he was slowing down his son and the team, he fetched a lethal vial of morphine he carried for emergencies and prepared to end his own life, stating "I will stop here". Kermit firmly refused to abandon his father, forcing the crew to carry the bedridden former president along.

7

Encounters with mysterious indigenous tribes

Throughout their expedition, the crew was silently tracked by the Cinta Larga, an indigenous Amazonian tribe that remained completely uncontacted by the Western world. Though they rarely saw the warriors directly, they found freshly abandoned campsites and saw warning markers along the riverbanks. Years later, oral stories from the Cinta Larga revealed that tribal warriors had shadowed Roosevelt’s party for weeks, constantly considering killing the intruders with poisoned arrows before ultimately deciding to leave them alone.

8

Roosevelt lost over 50 pounds

When Theodore Roosevelt left New York in late 1913, he was a robust figure weighing over 220 pounds. By the time the expedition finally reached an outpost near the mouth of the river in late April 1914, the former president was a frail shadow of his former self. Roosevelt had lost over 50 pounds, could barely stand unassisted, and required help simply getting into and out of his hammock.

9

Discovery of new species

Despite the suffering, the expedition achieved remarkable scientific success. Accompanied by naturalists George Cherrie and Leo Miller from the American Museum of Natural History, the team collected and catalogued thousands of plant and animal specimens. They found over 2,500 birds, hundreds of mammals, and dozens of previously undescribed reptile and insect species, enriching the understanding of South American biodiversity.

10

Roosevelt’s Amazonian legacy

The expedition successfully put a major river on the map, which the Brazilian government officially renamed Rio Roosevelt (or Rio Teodoro ) in his honor. However, the physical toll permanently broke Roosevelt’s famous vigor. He suffered from recurring flare-ups of Malaria and inflammatory infections for the rest of his life. Historians generally agree that the severe damage sustained during his Amazonian ordeal directly contributed to his premature death just five years later in 1919 at age 60.