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Comment on Mystical land pirates (with pizza)

dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

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.

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mudmaniac@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
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.

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- dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  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.
  
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psud@aussie.zone ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
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

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- dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  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.
  
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