#ROAD TRIPPER PANTS OFFLINE#
If every contour line matters, CalTopo and OnX offer detailed topographical maps, and both apps allow you to download map sectors for offline use. “There were so many trails and forest roads, and we just imported a GPS route and followed it turn by turn.” The app also provides fairly accurate route times for hiking and climbing, he says. “I did this big moto trip through Nevada and eastern Oregon, and the whole time we were away from any sort of town,” he says. It’s also clutch for importing GPS routes to follow. You can download a bigger area than through Google Maps, and while the maps are typically less detailed, Barkman says they offer the basics and download more quickly over a cell signal. has become the app Barkman relies on most for both topographical and street-level mapping.
#ROAD TRIPPER PANTS HOW TO#
( Here’s how to do it.) File sizes for larger maps can be more than a gigabyte, so make sure you have enough storage space on your phone. “Whenever I’m going somewhere I think there won’t be service, I download the whole zone from Google Maps to use offline,” says Barkman. It’s all good until suddenly you don’t have cell service. Google Maps has become the go-to for most of us when it comes to finding everything from campsites to coffee shops. “You end up experiencing these things that you remember forever.” Move your maps offline. “Spending time always pays off,” Barkman says. Researching ahead of time helps ensure you get the goods. It’s easy to get caught up in counting down the miles or to become dazed from the interstate and miss that great little restaurant tucked down the road. He also found a local fisherman who sold him freshly caught lobsters straight off the boat. The payoff included small-town farmers’ markets, mountain views, and lakeside campsites. Then he read everything he could about the area online before he arrived. For a trip through New England, Barkman poured over paper maps and atlases and circled small coastal towns and parks he wanted to visit. “I think there’s no substitute for just diving into information on the web and reading everything you can find,” he says. While it’s possible to stumble upon these surprises, Barkman likes to research his destinations and the places en route ahead of time.
A side trip to a hot spring later refreshed his mind and body after long hours of driving. “I stopped at this classic interstate truck diner, which is my favorite thing in the world,” he says. Recently, Barkman drove through Wyoming for the first time. Here are nine tips he’s picked up along the way that will help you maximize your travel time, whether it’s over a weekend or much longer. Along the way, he’s learned a few things about how to road-trip. “You hit the road, and you never know how that might connect you with people that will change your life,” he says. “It would be super sick if I could do it right above the driver’s seat, and then I could bring it down and look through it,” he says.īarkman has now lived in his camper van for seven years.
He plans to mount the device so it can poke out of the ceiling and swivel. (He’s on number five.) Recently, Barkman purchased a military-surplus periscope for the bus, to complete the submarine look. Instead, he counts the number of times he has replaced the van’s motor. He spends the majority of his time in the western U.S., surfing, climbing, and snowboarding, but he’s driven as far north as Tofino, British Columbia, and 500 miles south of the U.S. Since then he’s roamed widely in what he affectionately calls the Yellow Submarine. The first thing outdoor photographer James Barkman ( did after buying his bright orange 1976 Volkswagen Westfalia was drive it across the country.