I am old school a map book, my memory of places, and a cell phone. I of course use the QC every once in a while. LOL mainly as a look pretty. After driving for so many years you learn town and cities and begin to remember where stuff is. It's like old habit. Now we do use a hand held road mileage or trip miler. I forgot what it's called just to help us with the distance when we are to tired to figure it out but you could use the back of the map book for that also.
The main thing is always check for low clearances, take into account weather and snow for road conditions, and check for road closures and construction zones. These are what really mess up most new drivers. Let's not forget the chain laws and all that when planning a trip to make sure we plan accordingly.