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Random travel philosophy:
There is no such thing as 'lost', only varying degrees of 'late'. Seriously. Everything is findable, given sufficient time. Everywhere is always somewhere, and once you know where this particular somewhere is, you can find out how to get from there to the somewhere you actually want. The only real variable is time. Occasionally, a great deal of time, admittedly, but. Everything is findable.
Landmarks are the most marvellous things every created. Signposts and streetnames are lying liars, and duplicate themselves, and occasionally completely fail to be evident at all, but landmarks don't tend to move around so much. Even in cities. Things are usually findable if you know what hill they're on, or what relationship to the river they have, or how many bridges back from the sea is the general area you should be looking in. And, yes, these are only things you should be using if you are completely without clue where you're supposed to be going, but they can be useful nonetheless. I once navigated my way back to the hostel in Brussels from half a city away by using a cluster of highrises as a reference point (keeping track of what directions you've been moving in also helps). Landmarks are useful. *nods*
Outside cities, of course, knowing which side of the road the mountains are supposed to be on is very, very helpful. *grins sheepishly*
Maps, too, are god's gift. Especially ones with topographical information, as per the landmark rule. Turn-offs are easy to miss. Hills are not. GPS is also useful, but for some reason I prefer old-fashioned navigating. There's more of a rush in it. Plus, maps, at least in Ireland, do come with topographical info, while the SatNav does not. Of course, I'm usually the navigator, not the driver, so perhaps people may disagree with me. But map plus landmark plus decent sense of direction equals getting where you need to go, if perhaps not quite when you were supposed to get there. Heh. Also, a lot of fun.
People asking for directions, on the other hand, are the devil. Because people always ask for 'name of thing'/'street name'/'name of town'. And I cannot, for the life of me, remember the name of anything. Well. Big cities/towns and notable villages in the local area, probably safe enough. But street names? Let alone building names? Not a hope in hell. I can't remember the names of people if it's been more than two months since I've seen them. So asking me "how do I get to 'name of place'?" isn't going to get you much. And even if I do happen to know it ... my directions tend to be pedestrianised, because I'm a pedestrian, and also using landmarks like, for example, hills. So if you need something involving signposts and streetnames ... I am soooo not your girl -_-;
And I've no idea where all that came from. Aside, perhaps, from my almost obsessive need to be aware of where I am at any given time, and where that somewhere is in relation to everywhere else, and my strange tendancy to wish for a map at odd moments, even when I know exactly where I am, just because I want to see it, laid out with everything around it. Heh. I'm odd, I know. And this is probably coming from my having one of those moments on the way home. *shakes head at self*
But. To reiterate. Everything is findable. Landmarks are god. Maps are awesome. Travel, even just a couple of miles, just down a street you've never seen before, is awesome. Never, ever ask me for directions. Have fun! *grins*
There is no such thing as 'lost', only varying degrees of 'late'. Seriously. Everything is findable, given sufficient time. Everywhere is always somewhere, and once you know where this particular somewhere is, you can find out how to get from there to the somewhere you actually want. The only real variable is time. Occasionally, a great deal of time, admittedly, but. Everything is findable.
Landmarks are the most marvellous things every created. Signposts and streetnames are lying liars, and duplicate themselves, and occasionally completely fail to be evident at all, but landmarks don't tend to move around so much. Even in cities. Things are usually findable if you know what hill they're on, or what relationship to the river they have, or how many bridges back from the sea is the general area you should be looking in. And, yes, these are only things you should be using if you are completely without clue where you're supposed to be going, but they can be useful nonetheless. I once navigated my way back to the hostel in Brussels from half a city away by using a cluster of highrises as a reference point (keeping track of what directions you've been moving in also helps). Landmarks are useful. *nods*
Outside cities, of course, knowing which side of the road the mountains are supposed to be on is very, very helpful. *grins sheepishly*
Maps, too, are god's gift. Especially ones with topographical information, as per the landmark rule. Turn-offs are easy to miss. Hills are not. GPS is also useful, but for some reason I prefer old-fashioned navigating. There's more of a rush in it. Plus, maps, at least in Ireland, do come with topographical info, while the SatNav does not. Of course, I'm usually the navigator, not the driver, so perhaps people may disagree with me. But map plus landmark plus decent sense of direction equals getting where you need to go, if perhaps not quite when you were supposed to get there. Heh. Also, a lot of fun.
People asking for directions, on the other hand, are the devil. Because people always ask for 'name of thing'/'street name'/'name of town'. And I cannot, for the life of me, remember the name of anything. Well. Big cities/towns and notable villages in the local area, probably safe enough. But street names? Let alone building names? Not a hope in hell. I can't remember the names of people if it's been more than two months since I've seen them. So asking me "how do I get to 'name of place'?" isn't going to get you much. And even if I do happen to know it ... my directions tend to be pedestrianised, because I'm a pedestrian, and also using landmarks like, for example, hills. So if you need something involving signposts and streetnames ... I am soooo not your girl -_-;
And I've no idea where all that came from. Aside, perhaps, from my almost obsessive need to be aware of where I am at any given time, and where that somewhere is in relation to everywhere else, and my strange tendancy to wish for a map at odd moments, even when I know exactly where I am, just because I want to see it, laid out with everything around it. Heh. I'm odd, I know. And this is probably coming from my having one of those moments on the way home. *shakes head at self*
But. To reiterate. Everything is findable. Landmarks are god. Maps are awesome. Travel, even just a couple of miles, just down a street you've never seen before, is awesome. Never, ever ask me for directions. Have fun! *grins*
