Great read in the NY Times today:
Last summer, frustrated with the predictability of recent travel
experiences, I set out to walk across Switzerland without a phone or a
preplanned route. I allotted 12 days, beginning on the shores of Lake
Geneva, in the west, and heading in the general direction of Lake
Constance, in the northeast — a distance, as the crow flies, of about
150 miles.Nostalgic for the time before ubiquitous connectivity, when we relied
on paper maps and conversations with strangers, I came up with a novel
way to organize my trip: Each day, I planned to ask locals I met to
sketch hand-drawn maps for me, which I would then follow as best I
could.I wanted to know if it was possible to walk across a country like
this. I wanted to know what it would teach me about how technology and
convenience have changed the way we travel. I wanted to be lost, and
to find my way through the artwork of strangers.