Tom's Favorite Things : @AAAnews

The American Automobile Association (AAA – pronounced "Triple A") is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a non-profit member service organization; with 55.6 million members in the United States and Canada. AAA provides services to its members, including roadside assistance and others.

When someone gets their license, a AAA membership should also be mandatory. It’s just a wonderful safety blanket in the harsh world of automobiles.

My first memories of AAA went back to my childhood. We would take a bunch of road trips, but in the 1980s Google Maps wasn’t really a thing yet.

The initial excitement was when you phoned AAA or went to their office and asked for the navigation from Point A to Point B. The agent would print out the pages of your journey and then start marking up the trail. Not only would you get this personalized map, but you’d also get thick Tourbooks for the States you’d be traveling through.

The map would be laid out over several pages, each page offering sites to see along those particular miles. For each page turned over, you were closer and closer to your destination.

I can remember the excitement of flipping the page to get the navigation for upcoming miles in your TripTik from AAA? Yes, AAA still creates their TripTik Travel Planners and offers their Tourbook Guides (online, downloadable and via mail). Though it’s just not the same without having the agent marker-up the pages as he or she explained the route to you.

In addition to those incredible maps (which are become less useful, thanks Internet, for ruining it!) AAA clubs primarily provide emergency road services to members. These services, include towing, lockouts, winching, tire changes, automotive first aid, battery replacement, and others. I’ve also used them for battery changes and to help figure out what that strange noise in my car is.

AAA is not the sexiest service around, but they have never once failed to assist with anything car related!