Do you have a good sense of direction?

I wish.

Usually, I have a good sense of direction. My husband says I am his GPS. The truth is when we go somewhere I look at the route ahead of time so I am somewhat oriented. GPS is not great on its own for a lot of trips. Seeing the bigger picture, like we used to with a big paper map, gives us a much better sense of the general direction we need to go on. It seems to me most people I know with a bad sense of direction just think of their car on the road and try to follow where they were told to go left or right. People with better senses of direction think in terms of being in the sky looking down on the roads and how the whole road puzzle fits together. Almost anyone can learn to use bth perspectives and learn how to be better at direction.

I have been lost before though. I get pretty frustrated if I am on a very long drive or if it will make me late. If I am driving with someone else and I am responsible for the directions then it stresses me out. The only exception is my sister, she takes being lost in stride better than anyone I know. She basically taught me to enjoy the mistake when possible. If I have plenty of time and the scenery is interesting, I usually just can enjoy the drive, see the new place, and somehow find my way back. I don’t really panic, unless it is feeling like a very dangerous neighborhood (even then I am not extremely worried) or if I have gone onto a road with exits few and far between and I can’t just get myself back on track.

It is usually pretty good but when I get confused I get really confused. The last time was when I took the wrong turning off a motorway ending up in a maze of winding roads and roundabouts. My girlfriend took my mobile phone and Google maps with GPS sorted it out very quickly.

Depends, for myself, absolutely I do, but giving directions to others never comes out right.

Not really. I think my inner compass is defunct. I can usually find my way around but I wouldn’t say I have a good sense of direction.

What little sense of direction I had continues to diminish as I get older. Thank goodness for my iPhone and auto GPS.

when driving alone it’s good. When I have my wife in the car not so much.

I’d have to say I’m pretty good. Not TOM TOM good but, at least Crissy good.

As long as I have the sun, I’m scary good. I used to go out into the woods and spin around in circles, then try to find my way out. I’m still here. I’m not as good in a city though. I can sense where I need to be, but it’s not as easy for me.

Yeah pretty good. I usually know where I am in relation to where I want to be. Better in the wilderness, probably because I unconsciously track landmarks and the sun. I also seem to always have an idea which way is north.

I have a hard time with street names and such but remember “things”. If I go to a place once and return several years later I cannot tell you how to get there but recall seeing things like streets, buildings, signs, rocks, trees, clearings, etc. when I see them again.

I used to be pretty good at that card game where you try and match up cards by pairs with the entire deck laid out face down but I can’t remember what it was called.

Yes, I have an innate sense of direction. I think I got it from my father.

Another thing we learned while caving is to look behind from time to time to see what it will look like on the way out. Often a journey looks completely different coming from the opposite direction.

Yes.

Hell no. This is one of the major things that my brain is just innately deficient in. I couldn’t find my way out of a paper bag.

Yes. Show me the way once and I will be able to remember it very well. But provided that you show me the memorable things along the way (buildings, bridges, things like that), not the street names.

My memory is crazy. When I go on the street, I memorize everything but the street names. I’m horrible at street names, but I can still easily go to wherever I want. When showed me the way, I remember better if you say something like: “go straight ahead, then turn right near that [A] hotel” than if you say: “go straight ahead, then turn right at [B] street”.

Many people are baffled by the fact that I can’t remember street names but still have a good sense of direction, but that’s how my mind works.

Oh god…..horrid. I’m also really bad at remembering directions. I remember before GPS was a thing I’d pull over to ask people for directions when I got lost. By the time they got to step 3 I forgot what step 1 was already. I was lost often. I preferred to think of it as an adventure though. Found a lot of cool places like that…..shame I was never able to find them again :P

OMG NO! It is horrible. To wit: I was walking down the street one day, about a block from my house. I heard some dogs barking in a house that was renown for housing a crazy woman. I suddenly realized I’d been hearing them bark for hours. I could hear them when I went out on my deck. I was worried that the lady was dead or something. (As it turns out, about a year later exactly that happened. She died, but no one found her for 3 days..)
I called 911. The conversation went like this:
Me “There are some dogs barking in the crack lady’s house at the corner of 13th and Maris.”
Dispatch, “OK. Which corner?”
I immediately go blank.
“Uhhhhh….”
“OK, is the house on the side of the street where Walmart is, or is it on the side of the street toward Island Park?”
Me, “OK, I see where you’re going. Walmart.”
“OK, that’s south. Now, is it on the side of the street toward Rubbermaid, or toward downtown?”
“Downtown.”
“OK, that’s west. So it’s on the south west corner.”
“Um, if you say so…”
But it’s understandable. I haven’t lived in this house very long. Only about 14 years.

My daughter, on the other hand, is uncanny. She can tell you which direction she’s facing, in a strange town, at night, in a basement, with her eyes closed. I wish I knew what that felt like.
I did get her once. We were in Wichita, traveling on Southeast Blvd, so named for the direction it runs.
I said, “Which direction are we going, Corrie?”
She started to answer, then hesitated…then said, “That is is so weird! I don’t know which direction I’m going!”

I wonder if it has to do with iron levels in the blood, or something.

All the women in my family, including me, were born with the getting-lost gene. Around here, with many stretcthes of woods and fields and herds of cows and sheep and no houses, I get lost all the time because going out looks one way and returning on the same route can appear very different.

I keep real paper street maps in my car of the three counties I frequent the most.

@rojo: Concentration(game)

HAHAHAHA No! I am famous in my family for going in exactly the opposite direction of where I want to go. Strangely though, I am really good at navigating with a map, so as long as I have one, I’m all set. Smartphone + google maps is a necessity when I travel.

NO.
And the older I get the worse it is. I used to be able to retrace my tracks with no problem. Now I get turned around at the drop of a hat.

As long as I have good maps, I’m fine.

I’ve had friends of mine who were totally clueless about how to read a map and were constantly asking people for directions.

But random people are not the most reliable source of accurate info. I will occasionally resort to that, but I always prefer a map.

That’s why I fell in love with my iPhone. The first time I went from here (MI.) to Philly and back, I had my AAA Triptiks and maps as a backup.

But I wanted to see if I could do it with just my iPhone. And lo and behold, I never had to resort to the maps even once. Yippee.

Maps, schmaps. I’m a guy. You’re never lost until you run out of gas, @Buttonstc. :D

Conversely, I like asking for directions if I’m not in a hurry. I don’t care if they get me there. I enjoy the interactions and the sights.

:)

To each his own…whatever floats your boat :D

I was in an unfamiliar town this week, @Buttonstc, and feeling gregarious, so I sorta made a competition of giving me directions to the next place. Out of the hearing of everyone else, I would ask, “How do you get to the Salvation Army store that’s not on Walnut?” Having the attention span (lately) of a gnat I was lost (then found an alternate place to shop) and re-directed.

I had a great day, but I don’t recommend my day trip in a city. I was in a “college town”. I’ve wandered cities for hours without seeing anything more interesting than the architecture (hard do do, driving).

@ibstubro

I have always said I have never been lost; “momentarily confused” for several hours yes, but never lost.

Yes, I have a good sense of direction. I used to enjoy driving and exploring long before GPS was available. I always kept a map of each county in my state, and of the neighboring states in my car. I’d plot out numerous routes to work so I could have alternates in case of traffic or when I needed a change of scenery.

Nowadays, I do use a navigation app – Waze – almost everywhere I drive, because it gives real-time traffic information via user reports. So if I see a hazard, I can report it with a few taps. This includes speed traps, and it redirects you if something happens along your route.