In the before times, I was uniquely blessed with the ability to decipher these paper maps. I was seen as a god among men.
Alas, with the advent of GPS and navigation I am but a mere relic of days gone by, regaling my days of glory to whomever should have the ears to listen.
It doesn’t help that everyone perpetually keeps their navigation apps oriented as “forward up”, thus any sense of directionality is forever lost. They’ll use my navigator with it set “north up” and get very confused at intersections. How is this such a difficult skill?
In my younger years my city used to publish a comprehensive road map that you could navigate by reading the road name index, figuring out its location on a greater city map grid, then finding its detailed map on a page listed on that grid. I literally used to help my parents navigate unknown roads like a Garmin before Garmin was even a thing.
Every 2 years I would pick up the new edition of the map because the old one was getting ratty and out of date.
I used to be amazed by the idea that there were people that couldn’t do this. A good map/atlas has an index of street names and what pages grid cells they’re on, and you can trace any familiar road trip with your finger (or a highlighter if you must).
Now I know that some people have a lot working against them. Some can’t visualize things in their head, have no clue which way North is, or imagine what their current location resembles on a 2D map. There’s also a kind of “navigation sense” that some people have and/or learn where your perception of space is in constant comparison to near and distant landmarks, even when indoors. People that can do these things are not afraid of liminal spaces, can easy find hidden rooms in structures, know exactly how big their car is, can improvise new routes between distant locations with ease, and being lost is a temporary problem at worst.
Edit: I had an ex that had very poor spacial perception, so that’s a thing too. There was an argument over whether or not a moving box would fit through a doorway when carried. Critical thinking aside, a complaint was made when seeing the box sitting alone, packed, in the middle of an otherwise empty room. From outside the room, this person was unable to accurately compare the box’s size in relationship to the doorway’s dimensions, and insisted it was too big to leave the space. It was as if their mind was unable to pull together enough context to get an accurate frame of reference. I think this spacial perception ability applies to navigation as well, and may explain why some people struggle with it.
I feel sad. When I was younger I would always try and figure out North by the position of the sun, time of day and time of year, whenever I was in a new place. Its gotten so useless to do so I have forgotten how.
Last time I used these skills was in Norway. figured out North while walking around Tromso by looking at the Satellite Dishes.
Its gotten so useless to do so I have forgotten how.
I guess I lucked out with keeping this habit. I know of two tricks you can try to keep it straight. Once you memorize that the sun moves from East to West:
On a compass, West and East spell “WE” with North above that.
Imagine an old fashioned watch or clock face, where North is at 12 o’clock (N = Noon) and East is at 3 o’clock (3 kinda looks like E).
figured out North while walking around Tromso by looking at the Satellite Dishes.
Nice! Know your environment. For those reading along, when in the Northern Hemisphere:
Satellites hang out nearer the equator so dishes point South(ish).
Solar panels are another one and also face in a generally Southward direction to maximize solar exposure year-round.
An older trick is to look for moss on rocks and trees. These do not like direct sunlight and prefer to grow in the shade of the North side of things.
The opposite is true for these three when in the Southern Hemisphere. And all this is less useful, the closer to the equator you go.
My partner and I have been together since before Google maps. On holiday she gets is lost, I find the way back. It makes for a nice way of seeing a town.
Of course now that “finding your way back” involves typing the location into your phone, anyone can do it and it becomes more of an affectation to use satellite free navigation
My partner and I have been together since before Google maps. On holiday she gets is lost, I find the way back. It makes for a nice way of seeing a town.
I’m going to do this, thank you for the idea. Indeed, “getting lost” may be as essential to travel as navigation. I never thought of that before.
for real! I’ll use Google maps on my phone only if I’m going to a new place I haven’t been to before and I don’t have time to take a few moments to learn the route(s) ahead of time. that’s its convenience. but I hate being on that digital leash, being scolded by my phone if I take a different road to see where it leads or to stop for gas or a break. so, I tend to drive everywhere in my day-to-day without it, and my friends think it’s so weird.
one of my friends won’t start driving to the grocery store a few blocks away from his house without turning on his Garmin. he’s all “if I take a wrong turn I don’t want to have to pull over to look at the map!” like he can’t just turn around and get back onto the simple route he usually takes? same friend is among 3 of my friends who get visibly anxious when I drive them places without GPS and will pull up their phone in the passenger seat to “get directions for me”. had to tell all 3: “don’t give me directions unless I ask for them. I know where I am and where I’m going, I don’t need you telling me to make a turn 60s before each one.”
In the before times, I was uniquely blessed with the ability to decipher these paper maps. I was seen as a god among men.
Alas, with the advent of GPS and navigation I am but a mere relic of days gone by, regaling my days of glory to whomever should have the ears to listen.
I find it interesting that many people are apparently no longer able to grok maps at all. Even on their phones.
If there isn’t a blue dot, they have no idea where they are. Nor how to go anywhere that isn’t linked by a blue line.
It’s a lost art indeed.
It doesn’t help that everyone perpetually keeps their navigation apps oriented as “forward up”, thus any sense of directionality is forever lost. They’ll use my navigator with it set “north up” and get very confused at intersections. How is this such a difficult skill?
That’s the neat part. Even with the app, they still don’t. Only now they don’t have to know.
Ohhh wise one, tell us one of your many tales.
In my younger years my city used to publish a comprehensive road map that you could navigate by reading the road name index, figuring out its location on a greater city map grid, then finding its detailed map on a page listed on that grid. I literally used to help my parents navigate unknown roads like a Garmin before Garmin was even a thing. Every 2 years I would pick up the new edition of the map because the old one was getting ratty and out of date.
Good times.
Right there with ya. Amusingly, the ADC website appears to also be a relic of another time.
http://www.adcmaps.com/
Oooh. Table-based layout with image maps. That’s rare these days.
I guess I’ll take comfort knowing it’s still a useful skill for some video games… but even those are becoming increasingly simplified
I used to be amazed by the idea that there were people that couldn’t do this. A good map/atlas has an index of street names and what pages grid cells they’re on, and you can trace any familiar road trip with your finger (or a highlighter if you must).
Now I know that some people have a lot working against them. Some can’t visualize things in their head, have no clue which way North is, or imagine what their current location resembles on a 2D map. There’s also a kind of “navigation sense” that some people have and/or learn where your perception of space is in constant comparison to near and distant landmarks, even when indoors. People that can do these things are not afraid of liminal spaces, can easy find hidden rooms in structures, know exactly how big their car is, can improvise new routes between distant locations with ease, and being lost is a temporary problem at worst.
Edit: I had an ex that had very poor spacial perception, so that’s a thing too. There was an argument over whether or not a moving box would fit through a doorway when carried. Critical thinking aside, a complaint was made when seeing the box sitting alone, packed, in the middle of an otherwise empty room. From outside the room, this person was unable to accurately compare the box’s size in relationship to the doorway’s dimensions, and insisted it was too big to leave the space. It was as if their mind was unable to pull together enough context to get an accurate frame of reference. I think this spacial perception ability applies to navigation as well, and may explain why some people struggle with it.
I feel sad. When I was younger I would always try and figure out North by the position of the sun, time of day and time of year, whenever I was in a new place. Its gotten so useless to do so I have forgotten how.
Last time I used these skills was in Norway. figured out North while walking around Tromso by looking at the Satellite Dishes.
I guess I lucked out with keeping this habit. I know of two tricks you can try to keep it straight. Once you memorize that the sun moves from East to West:
Nice! Know your environment. For those reading along, when in the Northern Hemisphere:
The opposite is true for these three when in the Southern Hemisphere. And all this is less useful, the closer to the equator you go.
My partner and I have been together since before Google maps. On holiday she gets is lost, I find the way back. It makes for a nice way of seeing a town.
Of course now that “finding your way back” involves typing the location into your phone, anyone can do it and it becomes more of an affectation to use satellite free navigation
I’m going to do this, thank you for the idea. Indeed, “getting lost” may be as essential to travel as navigation. I never thought of that before.
I feel ya. Navigation by paper maps was my specialty. Now I’m a soldier without a war, relegated to shit posting on the Internet.
At least it’ll come in handy when society collapses.
The NAVIGATORS will rise again!
I got asked the other week how I managed to drive places without satnav or Google. I suddenly felt old.
for real! I’ll use Google maps on my phone only if I’m going to a new place I haven’t been to before and I don’t have time to take a few moments to learn the route(s) ahead of time. that’s its convenience. but I hate being on that digital leash, being scolded by my phone if I take a different road to see where it leads or to stop for gas or a break. so, I tend to drive everywhere in my day-to-day without it, and my friends think it’s so weird.
one of my friends won’t start driving to the grocery store a few blocks away from his house without turning on his Garmin. he’s all “if I take a wrong turn I don’t want to have to pull over to look at the map!” like he can’t just turn around and get back onto the simple route he usually takes? same friend is among 3 of my friends who get visibly anxious when I drive them places without GPS and will pull up their phone in the passenger seat to “get directions for me”. had to tell all 3: “don’t give me directions unless I ask for them. I know where I am and where I’m going, I don’t need you telling me to make a turn 60s before each one.”