Rusty Austin and his wife, Julie, like to travel, but they don’t like to fly. This means they drive — a lot. There was a time when going on a road trip required a few handy skills. “We’ve always been really good at reading maps,” Rusty says.

Paper maps were a necessity, especially when driving from the West Coast, where he lives, to the East Coast, where he likes to visit. “I was looking at the map the other day,” Rusty says, “I’m like, I just don’t enjoy looking at maps as much as I used to.”

What changed? Technology got better. No more folding and carefully measuring the distance between two points. “You just plug in your destination,” Rusty says, “and away you go.” Also, the old-school maps never recommended a restaurant.

The Austins live in Rancho Mirage, California, near Palm Springs. They moved there from Los Angeles after retiring in 2017. Rusty produced reality television shows, and Julie worked in computer sciences at a local university. Their 2021 Cadillac CT4 was purchased in anticipation of long days on the road, and they went looking specifically for the premium luxury trim level, eventually finding what they wanted at a dealership in Louisiana.

What Rusty wanted more than anything was Adaptive Cruise Control, which the CT4 has. What he didn’t know he needed was Super Cruise.* “I didn’t know what Super Cruise was,” he says.

Super Cruise is hands-free driver assistance technology available on select Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac vehicles. Rusty and Julie can travel on more than 400,000 miles of compatible roads,* and Super Cruise has changed the way the Austins road-trip. He says he won’t buy another vehicle that doesn’t have Super Cruise. “We drove out to North Carolina, Virginia, Michigan, all over the place,” Rusty says. “Super Cruise every time. And I love it.”

They don’t necessarily spend more time on the road, but the time feels better spent — and the drives are much less stressful. That means Rusty and his wife feel fresher when they arrive at the end of the day, and that can mean more energy to take a dip in the pool or explore a new town. Super Cruise has made stop-and-go traffic easier, and with the latest over-the-air update,* Super Cruise is available on more roads and now includes Automatic Lane Change.* “It’s just so much more relaxing and fun,” Rusty says.

And while they haven’t had to use any of the OnStar safety services, he appreciates knowing he can call on an OnStar Advisor for help and that the Advisor will be able to lend assistance whenever and wherever he and Julie are traveling.

Which brings us back to navigation. Rusty likes to plan his cross-country trips so he can see some college football. Last year, he went to games in Michigan, Illinois and Colorado. On that trip, he realized he could call on Google to keep them off highways, allowing them to see more and then get suggestions for local restaurants. “I was like, ‘Oh, let’s try that.’”

They traveled local roads for 300 miles and just enjoyed the ride. Exactly as they imagined when they bought the CT4. “We found this little breakfast restaurant and then a little lunch restaurant,” he says. “It was great. So nice.”