I am responding to your question on investing on a GPS. From a single female traveler, this is a godsend!! I used Mapquest and other internet map sources. Unfortunately, many times the directions were outdated or took you on the longest route. I have several friends who can share their frustrating experiences with online content. Last summer I had to fly to Colorado Springs and drive to Westcliffe, CO. I had my Garmin Street Pilot Deluxe and was on my way! I have used it when I flew to Portland,OR and Birmingham,AL. It comes with a bean bag. It is recommended to use several AA batteries as well as plugging it into the cigarette lighter. What else is great is that it lights up in night driving and has spoken directions if you like.If you do take a wrong turn(I did that) it will say Off course, recalculating. And then you're on the road again.

If you purchase the Garmin GPS for automobiles, it will come with 2 CD Roms. It will ask what region of the USA you want. It comes with a 25 number registration code and the costs vary with how much memory you want. When you finish downloading your information, then you can look up restaurants, hotels, banks, gas stations and the like. When you have the address of the place you want, it can be saved as a waypoint. When you're at another location, all you have to do is look up your waypoint and you're ready to go.

I do believe Garmin has a GPS for Europe and Canada. Please check with their website first, though!

Hope this helps, Nelly MS