what did we do before exploroz?

I am addicted to exploroz and get lots of really good advice and information from everyone. What I wondered though, is what did everyone do before exploroz was available?

When we were planning a trip I would always do a rough plan, then phone various towns tourist information centres. I'd check out the national parks and phone them too. Sometimes when I couldn't get any info that way, I'd phone the local pub, store or even the post office and ask them.

I always found people only too ready to tell me where the good camp spots were, what rodeos, shows etc were going to be on, what places were interesting to see and if they couldn't they'd point me in the right direction. Sometimes it was like a treasure hunt to find that little gem of info...but it was always great fun.

Another way was to buy any book that I could on the state or area being visited or the Ron & Viv Moon type books with information from others who'd travelled there already.

By the time we were ready to begin our trip we usually had quite a little library of information and lots of ideas of where we could go along the way.

With the road conditions we would phone the police stations to ask about the rain and the roads or the Shire Councils too.

I still think that the thrill of tracking things down is a lot of the enjoyment of travelling.

So ... what did you all do...in life before exploroz?

Viv