Has anybody on here got a terrible sense of direction? And does it embarrass you?

[Wisteriabloom]

Just wondering if I'm the only one, or if there are others too! Here are some examples -

If I get up from where we're sitting, in an airport, large restaurant etc to go to the loo/my turn to get the drinks etc, I have trouble finding my way back unless I literally make notes of landmarks - (ie, turn right by statue, past huge mirror, turn left by the bar etc). I now know to do this and it REALLY helps, after embarrassing experiences of panicking and being completely lost on the way back and whoever I'm with coming to look for me, incredulous that I couldn't remember the way!😳

Also, I'm not a driver and recently had some friends staying. We were going to a restaurant one evening, (it's one that dh & I have been to fairly often). But have walked or bussed there, as both non drivers.

This time our friends were driving and I was in the car trying to direct, (dh was meeting us there as had been somewhere else). There was a diversion in place and I just couldn't think of any other route to direct them, other than my 'normal route' that we now couldn't use! We got there eventually (a bit late!🤔) and I could tell my friends were a bit confused I was struggling to direct, as I'm a Local, and have lived here years!

I do have Dyspraxia btw, however i manage to hold down a responsible job, am talented in music & languages, and a great cook, but my navigation skills are embarrassingly close to zero!

Even at school I can remember it taking months before I confidently knew my way around (new secondary school) whereas my classmates, even the less academic ones had cracked it in the first week!

I can also struggle to recognise places if I'm travelling to them from another angle, ie, I can get from A to B easily, but to get from A to C I'd have to go via B, even though it takes twice as long!😳

As I've got older I've developed coping strategies, ie, noting landmarks and practising routes if I know I'll be expected to direct but it can be debilitating! Dh just can't understand it, I reckon he was born with an inbuilt SatNav! He deliberately walks behind me for amusement if we're staying in a hotel, as he knows it will easily be a couple of days before I can get from our room to Reception without making a wrong turn, so frustrating!! Just wondered if anybody else has this issue!

[HopeClearwater]

Yes terrible, and getting worse. Not dyspraxic though. I don’t recognise stuff on the way back either. Apparently using a satnav makes it worse because the relevant part of your brain is therefore being used even less. All tips for improvement welcome!

[DappledThings]

Yep, totally. I remember years ago in our flat and for some reason talking about which direction the door to the front of the block faced. DH just knew, innately. I had to stand in the middle of the lounge and make the turns physically that I woud make if I was heading out of our flat, along the corridor, down the stairs and out again to work out the answer. He was incredulous.

And on a busy street if I go into a shop and then leave it takes me a few seconds to work out which way to turn if I want to carry on down the street, I don't know instantly which way I came from

[Badbadbunny]

I used to have a brilliant sense of direction, on foot and in the car. Very rarely got lost and usually very good at taking short cuts etc. I never came out of shops or toilets etc and headed the wrong way, etc.

BUT, now I'm in my 50's it's all gone. I've spent a decade or so not doing much driving (now work close enough to home to walk, so don't drive daily anymore), got into the habit of internet shopping rather than shopping centres/High Streets etc. I'm absolutely terrible now, even in places I used to know well, such as my home town, local roads etc. I can very easily get lost in airports, train stations, shopping malls, etc.

I think it's a "use it or lose it" skill, no doubt backed up by memory and observation and concentration. When I was young, I was out and about a lot, often in unfamiliar places, on unfamiliar roads, etc., so you have to "train" your brain to watch out for signage, observe landmarks, etc. Plenty of time, I'd keep myself aware of the position/location of the Sun, to keep me heading roughly in the same direction after a detour or diversion when driving (before satnav). Now I'm older and boring and "don't get out much!" I find it a real challenge trying to remember and observe things - I'm constantly having to remind myself to take a "picture" in my head when I'm somewhere busy, and actually force myself to think when I'm, say, going to the loo in a shopping mall, to remember points of interest so I can get back to where I've left my family etc.

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

I can honestly get lost walking along a road. However I'm good at map reading. Sat nav helps too. My DDs help me find the car in car parks, they can remember!

But I can't visualise where places are in relation to each other without the map.

[Stoolpigeon21]

I still get lost in places I have been to numerous times - I have dyspraxia and am waiting for an ADHD assessment. The other day I turned the wrong way out of my office door to go downstairs and was momentarily confused to see a wall in front of me - I have worked in the same office for 5 years! SatNavs were a game changer for me, before their invention I spent a lot of time driving round trying to locate my destination.

[BearPear]

Mine is terrible, unlike my husband who can stand on a foreign street and innately know which way to go, it’s like he has a super-power.
If I have to navigate myself somewhere I know that I have to really concentrate. I even do the “turn the radio off so I can think more clearly”.
I’m not embarrassed by it, I have lots of other qualities such as masterful organising skills, we can’t all be good at everything.

[freeatlast2021]

I get lost regularly. I drive a lot, like thousands of miles every year, but still have horrible sense of direction. I regularly take wrong turn (like opposite) when getting off and on highway. If I drive in a circle there is no way I know if I am turning left or right afterwards. When parking in the underground parking lots of malls I always take a photo of my car and any landmarks beside but still managed to "loose" it a few times in the last decade....

Am I embarrassed for it, not at all. My kids and I always have a good laugh about it.

[Vroomed]

Yep. I’m pretty bad. If I’m with someone else, I don’t pay attention which is lazy of me. Even when I’m in my house, I point in the direction of landmarks outside and I’m generally wrong. We live under the flight path of an airport and I can still not figure out position of plane in relation to airport. I think I am lacking something. We didn’t have a car growing up so possibly that has impacted me in some way.

[APJ1]

I have dyspraxia too and am exactly the same!

[Leftbutcameback]

Yep, but I'm good at map reading! If someone directs me somewhere to drop them off I have no idea how to reverse the journey, and I often turn the wrong way. I don't know my left from my right which doesn't help.

[Leftbutcameback]

I've wondered recently if I do have dyspraxia. I have a nasty bruise from walking into a turnstile this weekend. And I walk into the side of doorways a lot.

[HotSauceCommittee]

I visited someone in my professional capacity. She lived in a one bedroom flat. I said goodbye and went into her hallway to leave and instead of opening the front door, I opened the door to her bedroom.
She was still in the living room, so I felt the need to explain in case she heard my exit not being quite normal: "sorry, X, I've just opened the door to your bedroom instead of the one to the street".
I left to the sound of her laughter.

[DogFoodPie]

Yes, me! I do loads of these things. They recently did some building work at the place I have worked for years and it took me months to learn my way round the new set up.

[mowglika]

Yes, exactly the same as you. I would always be quite stressed starting a new job as I would never know where I was for the first few weeks. When I come out of a shop I always go the way I came from rather than continuing the same way. Taking a wrong turn while being guided by sat nav is a must, I accidentally ended up on the M11 driving my kid home from the school run the other day, I’ve lived in the area for 20 years

I cope by telling myself I can’t be good at everything . Not sure if there’s a way to get better at directions/have a clue where you are

[AmDillDandin]

Yes I'm awful, unless I make a special effort to concentrate on 'markers'.

I once got lost in a services ladies' toilets (one of those ones where they go around a corner). Literally walked up and down blankly, with a queue of women looking at me like . A very kind woman grabbed me by the shoulders, turned me around and pointed me towards the exit.

I also keep notes in my phone of which side train doors to stand at when I'm getting off from some of my work journeys (that I've made 100's of times) in case I mistakenly land on the tracks . I know it's not likely but the point is I CANNOT remember, nor work it out!

[everythingcrossed]

I've got a good sense of direction but can't articulate my left from my right - if someone asks the way, I just have to tell them to turn "that way" and hold our which hand is the right direction. It makes me look very hard of thinking

[PosiePerkinPootleFlump]

I'm like this too. I do drive, but have to drive the same route soooo many times to remember it. I can go in a shop and then come out and head the wrong way down the street. I work in a particularly confusing oldish building and I still get lost after working there for a couple of years
I got all As at school, professional job etc. Just couldn't find my way out of a paper bag

[itsgettingwierd]

This is me!

I can't even remember where my car is in the car park. That's why I'm grateful my ds has a BB as it at least limits the possibilities of where it's parked

We were season tickets holders for a theme park. Could I remember the back roads? Nope! They all looked the same and unlike motorways it's not as easy to navigate.

I have dyslexia and it's very much based around my visual memory.

[FusciasBright21]

@HotSauceCommittee

I visited someone in my professional capacity. She lived in a one bedroom flat. I said goodbye and went into her hallway to leave and instead of opening the front door, I opened the door to her bedroom.
She was still in the living room, so I felt the need to explain in case she heard my exit not being quite normal: "sorry, X, I've just opened the door to your bedroom instead of the one to the street".
I left to the sound of her laughter.

I do this all the time at work!

I'm also really bad with directions although I'm trying to train myself not to rely on my sat Nav all the time. Not very successfully 😔

[Coffeesnob11]

I have my nails done at a salon by my friend on the second floor. 10 times later and I still can't find my way out alone. Stayed in a hotel last week. Got lost everyday trying to find the room or way out. My map reading is non existent. I rely on Google maps. I managed to get clients lost in Madrid on the way back to their hotel.

[znaika]

I have a friend like this and could it be genetic? Because it is so impossible to understand how she is getting lost sometimes. It's like a switch hasn't been activated.

We went to a museum together and without fail she turned the wrong direction as we left every exhibit amd went back the way we came. Until that point I had no idea how bad it was for her. Interesting how brains work and to hear a different experience.

[znaika]

I didn't tell her I noticed btw and she is certainly intelligent and capable- just wired differently. We all are.

[Jouleigh]

I'm awful, not embarrassed anymore though as I'm used to people taking the piss!

Family think I have unknown dyspraxia as I have difficulties with anything that involves spacial awareness.

I do drive but am lost all the time. I think I recognise something but it's because I got it wrong last time and sometimes remember it!

I also avoid reverse parking, can't parallel park and spend a lot of time doing the 'scenic route' kids are used to it.

Have the same problem leaving a shop, don't know which way I was going when I got there!

[nomorespaghetti]

Yes! I have to think really hard about my left and right. I don’t know them off the top of my head, I think my brain just isn’t wired that way. My kids frequently have to navigate routes for me… they’re 5 & 3!!! I’m entirely capable in many other ways (I have a PhD ffs!) but directions flummox me.

[BreastedBoobilyToTheStairs]

Mine is shocking. Not dyspraxic or dyslexic to my knowledge (although dyslexia does run in my family) but I have no minds eye to speak of. I just cannot visualise a route, or even really recall where I've been. I have to actively think of the landmarks like you Op.
'Turn left and the weird pole and then right at the lights' and I still get lost. I used to put it down to reading constantly in the car as a child so never getting used to noticing where I was going. I get really anxious about it, hate driving in new places (or even old places I haven't been to in a while) and have to sat nav directions on roads I've travelled my entire life so should easily know by heart. I'm unable to give friends directions if they are giving me a lift home a way other than my normal route, so I tend to opt for the bus instead so I don't embarrass myself, which was fine until the route changed...

I basically have Google maps permanently on if I'm out anywhere, just in case.

My sense of spatial awareness is awful too. On the reasoning tests I did growing up, I did incredibly well at the verbal, above average at the numerical, but shockingly at the spatial. I have no concept of how big something is either, or real idea how long something takes, even if I've done it a hundred times before.