Machka,

I think that all depends on what you mean by "significantly" -also, you live in Canada right, so I assume you were on relatively long tours in the UK, France, Belgium and Australia? I don't think it's as much the case in Australia, but certainly those European countries also usually have a plethora of roads that can get you from point A to B so even if you take a "wrong" turn it's fairly easy to keep on track.

Though I agree with your point of a general map that doesn't need to be too detailed (hey, I knew I needed to go north west from Prague to the Dutch coast and had an identical approach with no problems at all), again, I think that only holds up when you have the time or the road system allows. A good example is I'm doing a quick tour of the width of Massachusetts this summer, and I only have 3-4 days including getting myself there and back due to time constraints. I can't afford too many mistakes given my time frame, and there are only so many bridges across the Connecticut river. I think it's a very, very good idea to have a detailed map or a GPS if I want to take backroads and see the sites I want to see.

I think it's extremely likely that I won't have a GPS, so it'll be a good a map as I can get. But thinking from a different perspective, I would think I could feel much more liberated with a GPS -knowing that I'm maximizing the time I have by reducing those turns that take me away from where I want to be, plus hopefully no constant stopping to review the map. And of course, a GPS doesn't force you to go anywhere!