Learning to navigate without overstepping boundaries. (Provided photo — Diane Chase)

I remember when I had to read a map and write out the road directions to my destination. I wasn’t curious if I knew anyone else on the same road or path. I couldn’t imagine a world that cared to search for my whereabouts. My concerns were minimal: To arrive safely and on time.

In the early 1980s, President Ronald Reagan authorized the civilian use of the Navstar Global Positioning Sstem (GPS) for commercial airlines to improve air safety travel. Usage expanded from handheld GPS devices to the first cell phone usage in 1999. Automobiles became equipped with GPS, and in 2000 the government approved the non-military use of GPS signals.

The benefits far exceed the need for me to get to a friend’s house. The technology continues to ingrate weather patterns to assist shipping and farming industries, the scientific study of earthquakes, volcanos and space-based navigation.

I appreciate all the complex ways GPS is making the world smaller. I love the ease of typing in a destination and having my phone dumb it down so I don’t have to think about taking a wrong turn. I can avoid a detour with options between a toll road or scenic vista. I trust my map app will get me where I want to go, even if the route defies logic.

I prefer my GPS to be less judgmental. No one needs to receive turn-by-turn notifications of how an upcoming traffic jam is adding hours to a destination. Back in the olden days, I could be optimistic that I’d arrive on time. Now, I give up and am resigned to my lateness. I appreciate the foresight to avoid accidents that are hours away so I can outmaneuver all the other people trying to alter course due to these future obstacles.

I’d never thought about the difference between GPS navigation and tracking. Navigation uses GPS technology to locate a destination and travel to that point. Tracking uses the same system but transmits the location of someone or something’s position.

My whole family has a tracking app on each phone, so if someone went missing, we’d know where to start the search party. With their agreement to share their location, I told my children I wouldn’t stalk them. I’d give them privacy and use the privilege with care. I don’t need to know where they are at each moment. I do have my own life. I didn’t realize that my children were interested in tracking me. If I was late meeting them, I’d get a call letting me know I was approaching traffic. Sometimes they inform me, as if they were mystics, I had done absolutely nothing of interest the day before. (I worked.) I never considered, with the freedom to track, that I would be on the receiving end. It’s not that I have something to hide. I don’t. I don’t care that they track me, but I may start showing up at unexpected places to add mystery to their lives. They deserve it. So whether I’m navigating or tracking, the goals remain the same, safety first.