If you've ever been a salesperson -- of the travelling variety -- then you will remember how much time you "invested" in getting lost? It's not so bad in Cape Town where there is a large lump of rock acting as a permanent beacon, but Johannesburg was very challenging for me. I reckon that I lost an average of 30 minutes per day trying to follow directions, quickly scrawled on the back of a piece of paper in a last minute telephone call to get directions. And using the superb maps that are currently available is becoming increasingly difficult as my eyes struggle to read the small print while shrieking down the freeway to the right of the fast lane (where most of the taxis go) while simultaneously phoning to assure my prospect that I am indeed on the way, but might be a moment or two late.

At 30 minutes per day, multiplied by the 200 days I am supposed to work, that's at least 100 hours wasted each year. How much is that time worth? I am glad that you asked!

A few weeks ago I arrived in Brisbane, landing at the airport at 8 p.m. (after dark) having travelled for about 24 hours. I was a little fatigued! I had booked a car, but decided that I wasn't brave enough to manage the drive into town by myself. I staggered over to the Avis counter to ask them to drop the car at my hotel the next morning. The delightful young lady behind the counter looked at me strangely and suggested -- as if this was quite normal -- that I take a car with a GPS*.

"Ke?" I responded, "I've heard of them, but have no idea how to use them, and am truly not in the mood."

Australians are very persuasive, and 10 minutes later I found myself driving a Holden (a vehicle the size of a large swimming pool) out of the Avis parking lot. A kindly gentleman assisted me with programming the address of the hotel into the GPS (which was so easy I remembered how to do it the next morning when I put in the address of the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba.)

Just before I reached the exit, a wonderful young lady sitting in the cubbyhole suggested it might be wise to turn right at this intersection. For the next 23 minutes she entertained me with directions -- the most common of which was "As soon as you can find a place to do a U-turn, do so." Eventually she said, "You have arrived at your destination."

I was stunned. I have never experienced anything quite so seamless and simple. I had resisted the urge to look at GPS technology in the past because it seemed so complex.

There was just one problem. This was not the hotel I was booked at!

I programmed the address in again, and headed off down the road. Five minutes later we were back at the same hotel. By now, I was beginning to re-evaluate my high esteem of Avis, Holden, and young women in cubbyholes.

I wandered in to ask for directions to the Goodearth Hotel. The jolly fellow behind the reception desk gave me a large smile "That's us. We changed our name last week!" OK!

I have since learned not to fight with technology.

Of course, I will never again rent a car in a strange city without a GPS. And, of course, the first thing I did on arriving home was buy a GPS. (You can, of course, buy a car with it already installed -- but that is hellish expensive.) My new GPS (now suction-cupped to my windscreen) arrived just in time to guide me to a meeting of the Business Warriors at a pub in Westville. Quite astounding.

Not only does it tell me how fast I'm going (a little boring because the speedometer does that quite well, thank you) but it shows a map of what's coming up, tells me when to turn, tells me what time I'm going to arrive - based on my current speed, and I'm sure I could convince it to to make coffee as well -- but I haven't yet figured out how to program that.

Why am I so excited, you ask? If I was a salesman doing any form of travelling to visit clients -- this would be the most exciting thing I could possibly lay my hands on. Or if I was a courier, I would save a fortune in time wasted getting lost and asking for directions. If I was a technician, where my time is money, this would be a godsend. In fact, anybody involved in driving to new addresses is going to find this technology astounding. (And for us men, this thing means we NEVER have to ask for directions again!) (Am even considering hiding one in the boot with a cellphone, just in case I find myself in a situation where I am required to navigate from there, this being South Africa, and all.)

I know that this year is supposed to be devoted to sales and marketing issues. But if you're doing any travelling whatsoever, consider getting some technological assistance -- your life will never be the same. (I am using a 279gram Garmin C310 StreetPilot which I bought from Mark Roach at the Gismap GPS Shop.)

* GPS = Geographic Positioning System

March 29th, 2006

Peter Carruthers

Bangkok Wok , Glenashley, South Africa

PS I will be in London and Vancouver during the next 2 weeks finalising a round of research, and having a holiday. Responses might be delayed as I sample the oenological delights en route. Ah, and I will be spending a few days with the Internet Marketing Centre Team in Vancouver to keep us Warriors up to date.