Navigation Test Run - Navigator App & Open Street Maps

We are trying to do a full drive and hotel simulation with all our gear prior to the "Long Way Across". We were able to charge our tablets and phones in Mrs. Bean on the drive from Clearwater to Ft Myers. In the hotel, we have our charging station setup as will will need to get all the phones, tablets, and net book computer charged for the next days run. Computers connected to the Internet via secure VPN.

Navigation: I spent a long time trying to figure out a good way to navigate from Florida to Oregon, with the stipulation(s) that I didn't want to spend much money, and also wanted something we could use once we got to Oregon for our exploring. Oh yes, and not require an Internet connection, so most mapping software was out off the question.

Solution! Navigator for Android... Fantastic app for our Samson tablet. To get around the Internet connection it downloads OpenStreetMap to your machine (PC, tablet, phone). They have maps for almost every country in the world! Totally Free! The app works as well as any Garmin, or TomTom I have ever used.

My tablet fits securely on the rubber cup holders in our Smart Car, and is easy to see. We put a Jabra blue tooth speaker on the dash and it works great. Naturally, the Jabra is yellow to match Mrs. Bean, and the turn-by-turn voice is a British lady.

So, if you need some world wide, out of Internet range, full featured, navigation that is FREE, check this setup out.