destination into a machine and letting it do the flight plan breeds a
little too much complacency. Putting a little thought into your routing
can yield great rewards.

Yeah, true. I am still quite bad at doing it the old fashioned way
(even after passing a checkride) but I still take the trouble to do it
that way because it feels more rewarding. Besides, just using the GPS
makes it a bit like flying in a simulator. However I do find it hard
to do a diversion to an unknown airport and fold the chart to draw an
imaginary line, figure out a new heading, correct for wind etc. I tend
to cheat in that situation and get help from flight following or rely
on the GPS if I have one.