Member Article

Take next left into... ocean

The advent of technology has provided us with some great labour-saving devices, as I’ve noted here in the past. I’m pretty sure we’ve all used Multimap, Routeplanner, or Google Maps to find out where we need to go and the best way to get there. These systems are pretty useful, but not infallible – I was once told to take a winding 4-hour route through the back roads of the Peak District to get from Leeds to Manchester, rather than take the infinitely more sensible M62 motorway.

However, an even more impractical route has been brought to my attention by BoingBoing – a Google Maps directions listing for New York to Dublin. Step 23 of the detailed instructions informs the driver to “Swim across the Atlantic Ocean 3,462 miles”. After arriving in France, we are directed to take the Channel Tunnel to Britain, then drive through Wales to the Holyhead Ferry crossing. All in a day’s work…

The route can be found on Google Maps. Anyone with similar bizarre directions is encouraged not to follow them, but send them to us instead.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .