Before the internet and mobile phones, driving across the country required a paper map and basic knowledge of highway systems. Cassette tapes didn't skip like CDs and gas stations were a hope in the distance. Traveling by car was comparable to entering a solitary wormhole of beautiful countryside and culture (depending on your route, of course): this is a time when scofflaws protested speed limits and traveling across the country (by paper map) meant no contact with anyone but those around you for several days at a time, until re-emerging at your destination. One could forget about ordinary life, or "who you were," during such a lengthy journey with friends. You could become anyone or anything, even a traffic cone.