
By Dorothy Rosby
How would you rate your navigation skills on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being “Who needs GPS?” and one being “I get confused getting in and out of my shower but I’m still a better navigator than Dorothy Rosby.”
If you rated yourself eight and above, you could stop reading right now. Actually you could stop reading now no matter how you scored your skills. It’s a free country. But I encourage you to read on. I heard the following tips on an episode of NPR’s Life Kit program. And I listened carefully because I’ve been concerned about my navigation abilities ever since I got lost somewhere between my camper and the outhouse in a nearly vacant campground.
Let me preface this by saying the information was more practical than some of the silly, old saws you used to hear like that one about moss on trees. I can never remember which side of the tree it’s supposed to grow on and I’m not convinced the moss knows either.
I was also happy that these tips applied to both urban and hiking settings, since I’ve been lost in some of the finest of both.
On the other hand, not all of these will work for me, and that includes the first one:
1. Turn off your GPS. The experts interviewed on the program said that when we’re relying on technology to find our way, we’re likely not paying attention to the cues around us. You try this if you like, but I don’t intend to. I hate to give up technology after I’ve finally learned how to use it.
Besides, I save so much travel time when I use Google maps because I don’t have to stop at every gas station on my route and ask for directions. I can find a few places without help though, for example the post office and grocery store.