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Let us update an old cliche: The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single click. Before you ever set foot to pavement or tire to tarmac, Google Maps can help you to create your own

customized travel plan including routes

, rest stops, gas stations and so much more. A little time spent in the planning phase can save untold hassles and arguments when on the road. Molly McDonald demonstrates how to plan a successful road trip using the free tools in Google's suite of service.

Google Maps are infinitely handy if you're heading to a new place and want to get the lay of the land, or even if you're just looking for a faster route to work. By

creating and saving your own Google Map

, you can drop place-marks, points of interest, save routes and much more.

Many hands make light work, two heads are better than one, and other cliches too numerous to mention — with Google Maps, you can invite

collaborators to join in and edit or just view your map.

If there's a point of interest one of your trip mates particularly wants to see, for example, he or she can drop a marker and plan the route such that leads to said point of interest.

Google Maps does a great job of integrating Google search results into points on a map. This is especially useful when on a road trip as you can

easily find food, lodgings

or, should things go awry, a trusted mechanic in the town that you're heading to.

Within Google Maps, you have access to tools that

make it easier to plan your route

. You can

find cheap gas

on your way, measure the distance between two points, and even check the weather conditions for your drive.

Google Maps' usefulness is not confined to four wheeled conveyance. The

walking directions

feature creates routes custom made for pedestrians. These routes ignore one-way streets, avoid busy roads where possible and get you from point A to point B with the least possible wear on your shoes and the most possible scenic views.

Google Maps has integrated Wikipedia entries, videos, phones and much more to its bag of tricks. Zoom down to a close view of your destination to get info from Wikipedia about where you're headed, see

user-submitted photos and videos

and even live webcam feeds from Google Maps.

Not content to confine itself to modes of personal conveyance, Google Maps has turned its attention to offering public transit directions in jurisdictions that have opted in. Riding the bus, subway or rails in a strange city is notoriously difficult.

Public transit directions in Google Maps

make it much easier.

While Google Maps will encourage you to save a tree when you hit print to get a hard copy of your map, it is actually possible to

print out your entire map

. You can print each stop and

step-by-step directions

along with any of the custom point markers you've added, in full, to take on the road with you.

It's possible to

make your Google Maps travel map public and share it

with the world at large. This way, your friends and family, your blog readers and your social network friends can follow your progress. A word to the wise though: be wary of sharing too much information online. Don't share your home address and how long you're going to be away; for example, even we might be tempted to break in during your absence... and we're nice people!