(NAPSA)}—There are ways to take the werk out of your next family vacation. That’s a good thing, because getting everything done in time for the family trip-— including gathering the kids, packing the luggage, routing planned destimations and packing the road-trip cooler—can become overwhelming. Experts recommend preparing for trips early, covering all minor details, including map planning. Planning can make it easier to coordinate routes--from the amusement park, to grandma’s to the world’s Jargest ball of string-— and save you time. For example, Microsoft Streets & Trips 2002 lets people planvirtually every detail of their trips, from the cost of gas to whereto stay overnight. The software cov- ers more than 806,000 points of interest, such as hotels andrestau- ranis—even shopping malis—making it easier to find nearby leca- tions. In addition, it notifies users of road construction by accessing monthly road construction updates that are easily downloaded from the Internet. Travelers can even use Microsoft Pocket PCs to access the software while they’re on the read. “We are looking forward to using Microsoft Streets & Trips this year, as our vacation last year Map-routing technology can help make the road to great family vacations a ittie smoother. turned out to be a mess,” said Kel- ley Daly, mother of three. “We gat lost four different times, so my husband and I vowed never to use online mapping services again. They were just too outdated and too hard to log onto each time we werelost.” Busy families planning vacations who use the software may feel more confident that they will havethe tools and resources available te not only get them where they want to go with ease, but also to find new places to explore along the way. For more information, visit www.microsoft.com/streets.
