Jack, Our British Travel Guide

Last year on Black Friday, when it seemed that every store that sold anything that remotely resembled consumer electronics had the TomTom One GPS on sale for $99, Will and I found ourselves getting sucked in and purchasing one along with the throngs of shoppers.


I had resisted this purchase mostly because I’m a geeky map-reader that always looked forward to the part of the standardized elementary school tests that had you look at a sample map, follow the directions and figure out which street Tommy ended up on. I didn’t want to give up my Rand McNally! But after we borrowed one for a family vacation in the spring, I could no longer deny that it was helpful if for no other reason than to keep Will and I out of divorce court from arguing after a trip.


Somehow during the set-up process, Will tripped upon the “voice” options and our TomTom ended up sounding like a British man. The kids named him Jack and they laugh hysterically every time they hear him say “Turn right and proceed on the motorway” in his very proper sounding voice. Sometimes when Jack is slightly confused, which does happen because after all it is a machine, one of the kids will say “Where is Jack taking us?” as if there is a tiny human inside the screen busily poring over maps to figure out where exactly we are. I tried to change the voice once but somehow it didn’t feel quite right. Jack is our traveling companion for good now it seems.