Growing up, I always admired my dad’s sense of direction. He never seemed to need a map. He never got lost. He always knew where we were going, even on vacation in a totally new place.
Once I started driving, I discovered that I too had a similar sense of direction that I couldn’t explain. It just seemed to work. Once I had been to a place, I could usually find my way back in the future. I got very interested in geography, maps, and compasses, and their uses came easily to me.
So when Google Maps started becoming a thing, and we all started carrying mobile GPS devices in our pockets, I was on board. The maps app is still one of the most used features on my phone. But a few years back, I started noticing my normally sharp sense of direction had dulled from what I remembered.
I was growing more and more reliant on the app to tell me what to do and where to go, and less on my own internal compass. At first, this seemed like no big deal. Who needs a great sense of direction when we’ve got the answer in our pockets? Plus I wasn’t any worse off when my long division skills atrophied, replaced by excel formulas instead.
But being caught enough times without a phone, a signal, or a charge reminded me of the value of an internal sense of direction. I’ve since backed off on overusing navigation apps. I still use these apps as a map, to research my route beforehand, but I now almost never use the turn-by-turn directions.
And the good news is the skill returned to me once I started practicing again. Plus there’s something satisfying about finding your own way. I think this article puts it best:
Practicing navigation is a powerful form of engagement with the environment that can inspire a greater sense of stewardship. Finding our way on our own — using perception, empirical observation and problem-solving skills — forces us to attune ourselves to the world.