by Shilo Dawn Goodson

Created on: July 10, 2008

When looking for directions online, I have always used Map Quest. It is usually easy to follow and gets me where I want to go. I have used it for directions to places only a few miles away from my house as well as directions to places over 700 miles away and trips in between.

When you first get on Map Quest, you'll want to look for the portion of the site that says, "Directions." You may have to click on the link at the top of the screen. To get directions, you'll need to type in your starting location and your ending location. Although it can handle some incomplete addresses, the more information you have, the better. If you don't have a complete address or if your address is incorrect, the site will show you possible addresses that are similar to the one you typed in.

After the computer has your starting and ending locations, it will give you directions. One good thing about the directions is that if you want to look at a map of any or all areas, you can click on that link. This is helpful when you are traveling for a few miles between turns. This way you know what streets or highway turnoffs you'll come to before you come to your turn. On the right side, it also allows for you to avoid toll roads, highways, or seasonally closed roads. You can just click on the box to avoid any of these. One thing is, though, that if you click on avoiding any of these, the trip might be a whole lot longer. Plus, it's not always possible to avoid all of these. You can also look at the shortest time or the shortest distance. If you are going a long distance, it's worth at least looking at the different routes you can take.

One other feature that Map Quest has is that if there are any roads or areas you want to avoid, there's a part you can click on to avoid that section. There are certain parts of your route that you probably won't be able to avoid, though, and if that section is one of them, a message will come up saying that you are unable to avoid that part.

Map Quest also provides for reverse directions so you can get back from your destination. There is a button for this on the right-hand side of the screen. I have found this helpful, especially if you have one-way streets as part of your directions since you know youll have to take a different route home. This site also allows you to add additional stops. There's a button for this right under your addresses. Throughout the directions, it will tell you how far you are going to travel for each step. This is helpful, because then you know when to start anticipating your next turn. It also provides the estimated time and distance for the whole trip as well as time and distance between each of your stops. This is helpful in deciding how early you need to leave for the trip as well as how far you are going to travel.

Although Map Quest is normally reliable, you may want to look over the directions before you take off on your trip. One time I know a certain road it told me to go down was closed down, and I had to take a different route. If you know a road is closed down, you'll want to make sure to have that be a section you put as avoiding for your directions. I also suggest printing out the directions, and if you are traveling through an area you are unfamiliar with, print out the directions with a map. That way if you miss a turn or there's a road that's closed, you are less likely to get lost and more likely to find another road you can turn down instead.

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