"the unique experiences each person accumulates as their life unfolds. Good navigators, it appears, are mostly made, not born"
As the self proclaimed worst person in the world with directions, I can vouch for this. I was never taught how to find north, south, east, west as a kid, was never told to pay attention to landmarks on your way somewhere, never told to pay attention to street names, so on. And as a ultra runner my wife actually stopped coming to my races for a while bc you are expected to arrive at the next aid station around a certain time and if I wasn't familiar with the area I would get lost and she would worry that I was killed by a bear or smth. Since the advent of GPS on your wrist and such I don't get lost nearly as much. I honestly liked getting off course, being somewhere and seeing views most of all humanity would never see. But I still fail the test of 'point towards the lake' from sitting on my own couch. I can't quite make the connection in my mind, like driving I can't quite map out the entire route and often get streets confused.
As the self proclaimed worst person in the world with directions, I can vouch for this. I was never taught how to find north, south, east, west as a kid, was never told to pay attention to landmarks on your way somewhere, never told to pay attention to street names, so on. And as a ultra runner my wife actually stopped coming to my races for a while bc you are expected to arrive at the next aid station around a certain time and if I wasn't familiar with the area I would get lost and she would worry that I was killed by a bear or smth. Since the advent of GPS on your wrist and such I don't get lost nearly as much. I honestly liked getting off course, being somewhere and seeing views most of all humanity would never see. But I still fail the test of 'point towards the lake' from sitting on my own couch. I can't quite make the connection in my mind, like driving I can't quite map out the entire route and often get streets confused.