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Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

theguardian.com

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Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

#61

Post by matt_the_bass »

seer wrote: post #39

Once I was travelling through Morocco and the general advice I got from other turists even before the trip was “don’t trust the gps”. It turned out the medinas (old towns) themselves were so densly packed, that you could not see much of the sky to get any lock on satellites, and the internet coverage was very spotty. And you “had” to learn how to read paper maps, because otherwise you’d fall pray to the many “tourist…

I was in Marrakech before smart phone maps. I did once get lost in the Medina for about an hour before finding a familiar landmark.

I took a road trip from Ouarzazat to the dunes in the south east near Algeria. Some of the directions to hotels included “take THE road south of the village and turn off the road at the sign about 41 km from the city. From there head east on the hard sand about 9km. Follow the dunes counter clockwise until you reach the hotel.” That was an awesome adventure!

Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

#62

Post by icebraining »

arethuza wrote: post #55
monort wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't been in all medinas of Morocco, but never had a problem with GPS there, have you actually tried to use it? :) I think the only place where I really had a problem were Caruggi of Genoa. One tip to have a better location awareness with electronic map is to enable trip recording, if you see your previous way you can sort of continue walking "inertially".

I did try using Google Maps on my phone in Marrakesh a few years back and it failed completely and left me with an astounding data roaming charge. Easier to pay a local to walk you back to your hotel if you get completely lost!

Nowadays Google Maps lets you download an area ahead of time, and then use it offline.

Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

#63

Post by ptaipale »

myroon5 wrote: post #7

"the sun rises in the east, sets in the west and moves through the southern sky" That last part is dependent on your latitude, correct? If you were far enough south, the sun would move through the northern sky, wouldn't it?

First time in Southern hemisphere (RSA, in late July i.e. winter): come from the airport, settle at the Jburg hotel, take a bit of a walk and find a nice restaurant, decide it's warm enough to sit down and have a beer at the terrace.

Choose a nice table that'll be in the sun for the next hour... and 5 minutes later realize that yes, the sun moves the other way round than in Northern hemisphere.

Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

#64

Post by netsharc »

Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear mentioned in passing, that you should always program your navigation device so that north is up, not direction of travel is up, and (in his typical hyperbolic manner) "you'll never get lost again.".

I liked this tip, it shows me the general direction I'm going (east/west/south), not "up" through an unfamiliar geography that morphs when you turn.

Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

#65

Post by ptaipale »

netsharc wrote: post #64

Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear mentioned in passing, that you should always program your navigation device so that north is up, not direction of travel is up, and (in his typical hyperbolic manner) "you'll never get lost again.". I liked this tip, it shows me the general direction I'm going (east/west/south), not "up" through an unfamiliar geography that morphs when you turn.

I didn't know Clarkson said this (though I know he said many other things). Here I've been taking his advice without even knowing he said it.

Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

#66

Post by ptaipale »

reaperducer wrote: post #24
technological wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But maps give you additional advantage such as , live traffic due to which I save time by taking a different route (may be caused due to an accident or other reason)

Cell phone maps are utterly useless in too many situations. A lack of reception being one. Or equally as bad -- too much reception, as in competing GPS and cell triangulation signals bouncing off buildings in a dense urban environment. People always make the excuse that you can just download the maps into the phone. But that wouldn't have helped me in the places I've been over the last two weeks when my phone repeate…

I don't need reception to use a cell phone map. I often load up PDF maps of the area where I am, as well as public transport route maps.

Of course there are situations where cell phone or similar devices don't work well -- particularly, rain or frost. Apple devices in particular are hopelessly bad in cold temperatures.

Just don't rely on GPS always telling where you are.

Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

#68

Post by arnvald »

netsharc wrote: post #64

Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear mentioned in passing, that you should always program your navigation device so that north is up, not direction of travel is up, and (in his typical hyperbolic manner) "you'll never get lost again.". I liked this tip, it shows me the general direction I'm going (east/west/south), not "up" through an unfamiliar geography that morphs when you turn.

Oh my, I find it so annoying when maps in public places don't have north up.

Usually when I'm in a new place, before leaving my hotel I look at the map and I remember where to go, which turn to take etc. There only problem is metro - I don't know which exit to take, so I always check the map of the area at the metro station. So I look at the map, I know the street I'm going to is in the south, but I cannot find it. Only then I remember to look around the corners of the map, and then I realize, that south is on the right!

I've been wondering why don't just all maps have north up, and I could never come with a very good explanation.

Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

#69

Post by salgernon »

ptaipale wrote: post #65
netsharc wrote: post #64

Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear mentioned in passing, that you should always program your navigation device so that north is up, not direction of travel is up, and (in his typical hyperbolic manner) "you'll never get lost again.". I liked this tip, it shows me the general direction I'm going (east/west/south), not "up" through an unfamiliar geography that morphs when you turn.

I didn't know Clarkson said this (though I know he said many other things). Here I've been taking his advice without even knowing he said it.

This is a low grade source of tension between my wife and I. Neither of us used gps until about 12 years ago. She didn’t actually drive for a long time - was driven or took public transport. So north doesn’t mean nearly as much to her as “what’s right in front”l right now”. Similarly, I find the 3D exit ramp overpays distracting - I always feel more comfortable with plain maps.

Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation

#70

Post by jcadam »

arca_vorago wrote: post #33

The only thing a Marine fears more than a Sailor with a rifle is a Lt with a map and compass.

LOL. At least when I was in the Army 2002-2006, they were still teaching land navigation using map, compass, and protractor. GPS-enabled devices were absolutely forbidden on the land nav course. We also did night land nav, which was definitely more difficult :) I would bet the military still teaches folks how to navigate sans-GPS, because assuming GPS would remain available during a conflict with another great power would be... foolish.

Also, north-is-up mode is the only way to go when navigating with your smartphone :)

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