You're about to head out on the ol’ family road trip, so you crank up your new TomTom GPS navigation device to help you reach your destination quickly and safely.

Great idea, especially as today's gas prices will likely cause extra strain if you get lost. Why not replace those monotone turn-by-turn audio instructions with a familiar celebrity or other amusing voices?

If you haven't tried this already, all TomTom GPS units let you download optional voice packs from a handful of celebs, including the likes of John Cleese, Curt Schilling, Burt Reynolds, Dennis Hopper and Mr. T.

Most go above and beyond mere directions, too (such as "turn left in 200 feet"), by letting their personality come through with wacky phrases. Take Gary Busey, for example, as the actor's voice pack includes some bizarre comments like "And if you ever get bored, just honk at geese. Even though you don't see any, just honk at them. Let me give you an example. [Makes ridiculous geese noises]. See, I'm not bored because I'm honking at geese." OK, so it's funny once or twice.

In addition to celebrity voices, there are also about 20 character voices you can download, such as a raspy Don (think Marlon Brando in The Godfather), a New York cab driver, a German shrink à la Sigmund Freud) and amusing ol’ Granny Rose.

How to get going

Changing the voices on your TomTom GPS unit is as easy as 1, 2, 3. 

1. TomTom users first visit the voices Web site and select which pack they wish to purchase, for $5.95 to $12.95 (depending on the voice pack).

2. After you put in your GPS unit's product code, a zipped file with the voices will be emailed to you.
3. Finally, attach the TomTom to your computer via a USB cable and drag and drop the files into the "Voices" folder on the TomTom. It should all take less than five minutes.

Safe travels!