When I travel, I do an area map reconnaissance beforehand out of force of habit. I want to know primary, alternate and contingency routes of ingress and egress in case I run across spontaneous short term natural or human obstacles that I'd rather avoid which won't show on my GPS. My recollection doesn't have to be detailed, just general directions and landmarks.
I like having a paper "hard copy" to back up digital displays and to replace them altogether when they don't make the weight cut. But then I'm trained and experienced in advanced land navigation using the
MGRS and the
UTM system as well as orienteering. Even sans Cartesian or geodetic coordinates and topographic contour lines, a basic road map still works for me.