Geospatially challenged, strong or average?

[Wahine]

Well, my spatial perception is awful. I used to think my geo-spatial skills were really good, until I started doing more things in the woods. On the road, I have an excellent sense of direction, with like almost a sixth sense about which way is the right way to go. I usually know which direction (N<S<E>W) I am heading whether in the car or on my bike. However, I am not much for exploring. I get very nervous if I don't have a cue sheet or planned route. I can remember a route or trail pretty well once I have done it, though. Pretty much, I make my husband take the GPS if we are doing anything in the woods. He can't remember any directions, so it really is a life saver for us.

This brings up a different issue with navigation. Some people are survey navigators and others are landmark navigators. Survey navigators rely on distant landmarks to find their way and as long as they have visual clues to their direction, they can generally do vey well. Landmark navigators do better by remembering turns at specific landmarks. These people can tend to do better in scenarios where distant visual clues are not available but distinctive landmarks close the the path are.

I navigate like you and am a survey navigator. Stick me outside where I can pick up some distant landmarks and I do very well. Stick me in a building with a lot of different hallways and I'll get turned around and not know if I'm going N/E/S/W. Dense woods don't allow for sighting of distant landmarks.

[snapdragen]

I have an excellent sense of direction when driving.....the Suby has a compass. Otherwise, I'm screwed.

Most recent adventure, I took BART up to San Francisco, got off at the Embarcadero station. Took the escalator up and started walking. Eight blocks later I realize I am nowhere near the Ferry Building, I was going in the opposite direction. I had no clue. I must learn to read directional signs....

[bmccasland]

You can always try navigating around here - the streets curve, the cardinal direction are pretty much meaningless. We have flat country, and there are no high landmarks to visaualize. The directions are: up-stream, down-stream, riverside, and lakeside, with the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain as the reference points. Which is why if one is in the Central Business District (CBD) and you cross the Crescent City Connection (bridge) to the "West Bank" you will technically be going east according to the compass, all because of the curves in the River.

[OakLeaf]

Maybe this is my problem.

[shootingstar]

We have flat country, and there are no high landmarks to visaualize. The directions are: up-stream, down-stream, riverside, and lakeside, with the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain as the reference points.

Where we live, I can't imagine describing or figuring out which direction the water is flowing where we are....we live near a lovely creek, which empties into an inlet and then into the ocean... or is it the other way around?.. and then kms. away there's a river that I guess flows from or into the Pacific Ocean..? We have penisulas, a few mini islands, etc.

The ocean tides do go up and down ..pretty well near our doorstep, of which there is a bike path and pedestrian path running parallel.

Certainly the kayakers that roll by our building have their world of wayfinding... I'm not a water person since I can't swim.

[Mr. Bloom]

Maybe this is my problem.

I used to live in Barbados. This is good down there...they have NO signs!

[Trek420]

Most recent adventure, I took BART up to San Francisco, got off at the Embarcadero station. Took the escalator up and started walking. Eight blocks later I realize I am nowhere near the Ferry Building, I was going in the opposite direction. I had no clue. I must learn to read directional signs....

Or get out of BART, take stairs/escalator/elevator to the street, look down the street for this You know we're just kidding you Snap.

[NoNo]

Definitely strong. Not that I don't miss a turn from time to time, but I never think of it as getting lost, just another adventure

[Grog]

Having a good sense of direction is something I like to think I owe to my dad.

When I was a young child, maybe 5 or 6, we lived in a very small town and my brother was hospitalized for long periods of time (he's been fine for years now) so we were driving to the big city about 45 minutes away all the time. I remember countless hours in the backseat of the car. My dad would always tell me: "Look carefully at where we're going, because one day you'll be driving too." He was also very meticulous at studying maps before we went somewhere new, and we spent the end of many dinners running to the big map to win point-the-country contests. I highly recommend you do that with your kids if you have some! It's great.

So now I do pretty much the same. When I travel with my sweet partner, I take the wheel for the trickier parts of the drive, like going through cities, finding our hotel or a specific place to eat. I do a lot of studying ahead of time with all the maps I can, though, and memorize a few street names that seem like a given city's backbone. And, when I (inevitably) get lost, I do another of my daddy's tricks: remain quiet, and follow the car in front of me! Most of the time, I find my way back even before my husband has the time to ask: "Aren't we lost?"

[Jolt]

Definitely somewhat challenged, particularly on the roads! When driving somewhere new, I make at least one navigational mistake the majority of times (of course, part of this probably has to do with the less-than-great signage on some of the back roads). When hiking, I'm OK at following a trail and usually figure out pretty quickly if I've gotten off it (which happens sometimes when there are side paths).

[OakLeaf]

Interesting: There's a Men's Route and a Women's Route

[Mr. Bloom]

Interesting: There's a Men's Route and a Women's Route

There's a Jeff Foxworthy joke in there somewhere