A GPS is certainly not essential, but they are very handy, especially if you have good maps for them. i find that I can pay much more attention to other things, like the road and scenery, if I am not constarnly worried about where I am and looking for road signs (where they exist).
even if you don't have any (or decent) maps, a gps is good to have as a handle-bar mounted compass, which is very handy for dead reckoning (today I'm heading west...).
definitely plan on paper maps as well, but I enjoy travelling much more with a gps.
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