I switch off the navigation sometimes on UK roads. The roads here a signposted well, so it's not really that tough to stay on the right path. It's actually quite a pleasurable drive when you're not continually monitoring the sat nav. Plus, I'm more aware of the road conditions.
Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation
71–80 of 91 posts
Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation
#72No thanks. I have a horrible sense of direction and constantly get lost. I could not live without Google Maps any longer.
Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation
#73Jeremy 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. O…
Barcelona is one place where this happens. The coast goes SW - NE but many maps are aligned to make it look going north - south. We got lost once trying to navigate west :)
Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation
#74I'd love some kind of GPS mode that just gave the most important or trickiest directions, then was completely silent for the rest of the trip. I know how to get out of my neighborhood and onto the northbound freeway. I'll never need directions to do this. I know I'll be driving for 30 minutes. I just need the exit to take when it's coming up, and a few tricky turns near the destination. Just give me that and I'll fig…
Google Maps used to have a mode where they only announce important turns, or if you miss one. But I can't find it in the app anymore.
Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation
#75Jeremy 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.
That's fine if your navigation device has a big screen or is at least close to square. With the typical aspect ratio on a phone, you can't see far enough ahead if you travel east or west with north up. (See also, why don't more navigation systems show you the next three or four turns, so you know which lane to choose when you make turns)
Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation
#76Something I loved about living in Bogota, was how easy it was to navigate there. The whole city was built on a grid, with the east-west streets increasing in number as you went north. And the North-south streets increasing in number as you go east to west. There is a mountain range to the east, so if you can see the mountains, and know what streets you're on, you can always find your way
That mountain range and Monserrate are super helpful. Similar in Rio de Janeiro, once you know the different rock outcroppings around the city, it's really easy to locate yourself.
The thing about Rio is to learn where the coast takes turns. I used to live in a neighborhood where the sea faced east; now I live in another area where the sea faces south. I used to get confused!
Even if you don't have the sea in visible distance, many major urban roads are roughly parallel, strong sudden winds come from the sea, etc.
Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Still doesn't help since Marrakech medina has practically no streets drawn in on GMaps / OSM and you're not getting a GPS lock worth a damn. Your phone will just put you somewhere a few 10m off which can easily be another snaky street.
Maps are awesome there.
(This is experience from this year.)
Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation
#78Jeremy 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.
This may be unique to following roads. As far as I can recall, the advice when performing pilotage (navigating by the correspondence of the landscape to the map), whether hiking, sailing or flying, is to orient the map according to the direction you are looking, which is most often the direction you are traveling. When using an electronic map in a car (as a passenger of course), I prefer north-up if I am finding a route and forwards-up if I am following directions.
Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Likewise. It's not because my wife can't read a map - she's an orienteering enthusiast and can handle it, but alas, orienteering competitors tend to hold their paper map with the direction of their line of running on top.
I can't even do a run in the forest so that I'd turn the map, I still want to keep north to the top.
Re: Letting go of the GPS to learn the art of natural navigation
#80I navigate natural instead of using the gps to force the brain to learn the way. Otherwise without using it the geospatial part of the brain gets lazy. One is also forced to ask strangers for directions and help. I World recommend trying more natural navigation. We are evolved to rapidly learn the way through geospatial points ie memory learning techniques like Loki.