To think you either have a sense of direction or don't?

I don't think people have a sense of direction though. I think they have exposure to maps and an interest in going places which necessitates having to find places so you have to make an effort.

I disagree. I can always tell you what direction I'm facing. I'll use clues based on the sun, time of day, shadows, where I've been already etc. It's all done internally and instantly, it's not something I have to think about. But it has nothing to do with maps or having to find somewhere.

Another point is that drivers watching their satnav seem to lose the ability to look for road signs, road markings, etc., so more likely to end up in the wrong lane and have to make last minute potentially dangerous changes. I know that's happened to me a lot, which is why I prefer to drive according to road signs and arrows etc on the road surface and just use the sat nav as a backup.

Yes. I’m dyspraxic and have to use sat nav for every journey, including ones I do every single day.

I’m pretty good, to the extent I tell DH not to use SatNav if he’s driving because I’m confident I can direct him, and I like the challenge of it.
Even if we’ve been somewhere once years before I can predict a certain building or pub is coming up.

A tip for knowing the direction in a town is to look at satellite dishes, they generally point SouthEast

You will usually know you are approaching the train station/ bus station as they tend to be in a slightly rougher neighborhood. It will feel edgy.

Try and think of stations that don't follow this pattern. There are not many.

Yes, and also assuming you can see the Sun, you can use that as a reference point as a compass, i.e. in the morning, the Sun will be in the East, in the afternoon, the West, so if you need to head West in the afternoon, you head towards the Sun. Obviously limited use at midday when the sun as straight above you or where there's heavy cloud, but it's another "hint" as to your direction.

I tend to agree with all that.
Even with satnav, I still make brief notes of directions for places I've never been to before, on a kind of long narrow shopping list pad, just noting motorway junction numbers, roads, mileages between junctions, arrows for junction turnings, etc. - something I can have on the dashboard to refer to during the journey to keep me right. I always used to do it pre satnav and it's just a good habit I still do. I just try to visualise the route in my mind based on a map, and try to remember the major towns/landmarks I'll be passing on the way.
Obviously, still use satnav but I'm happier in my own mind knowing the journey rather than relying on it.

Some of this is just awareness of the world around you. Cities are laid out in a particular way. Eg certain things tend to be on higher ground, certain shops tend to be closer to certain buildings, certain things are close to the river. Instinctively you can learn this and have an idea of the type of neighbourhood you are in or whether you are going the right or wrong way.

It's not something you'd necessarily be able to verbalise.

As someone who travelled a lot by myself, it was essential to know where I was to keep safe.

Personally I think sense of direction a lot of the time is just being observant and remembering where you are, where you've been, trigger points, etc. I'm generally really good but when I'm distracted and not really looking around me and not mentally noting "landmarks", I easily lose it, i.e. when I used to take MIL out shopping, I'd be concentrating on her, checking she wasn't going to fall, watching her faff with her purse, etc., that I'd not be concentrating on where we were and we'd regularly end up going the wrong way, etc.

I loathe Sat Nav.

Give me a map or let me us my sense of direction any day of the week.

I don't think people have a sense of direction though. I think they have exposure to maps and an interest in going places which necessitates having to find places so you have to make an effort.

I used to drive to a lot of new towns and cities in my late teens / early twenties. No sat nav then and you couldn't read a map whilst driving. So I had to read maps, take notes of turnings and landmarks and then actively memorise it.

I'd still inevitably get lost at least once half the time, have to find somewhere to pull over and check my directions (which you'd never be able to do now), but I would be less lost and get there in the end.

A sense of direction is a learnt skill. Lots of people don't value it and can't be arsed. Lots of people give up with map reading because they are always with someone else who takes over that responsibility so they never have to bother.

I agree. I use it a lot. You just need to get used to it, i.e. it sometimes has you facing the wrong way when you first load it up, so best to look at it, then walk several steps in one direction and look at it again, to check you're going the right way. Once you're heading in the right direction, it's pretty brilliant really. Got me out of numerous times potentially getting lost in foreign capital cities and really helps navigate you to specific points such as shops, bus stops, attractions, etc without lots of faffing around.

Definitely, I have very few talents but a really excellent sense of direction, I just “know” which way to go and I can go somewhere once and know how to find it again, even after a really long time. My friend is the complete opposite.

Dh used to be pretty good but he had a stroke and now gets confused about where he is. He has now stopped driving as we were out and he said he didn't recognize where we were. Luckily I was driving but it was a place we go every week. On the other I am very good at working out where I need to be. Good job one of us knows what we're at. It is a worry that if something happens to me he can't go out on his own. Sorry I know this probably wasn't supposed to be this serious.

It's really not. I have a very poor sense of direction & Google Maps doesn't help me at all. Nor does a Satnav.

My awful sense of direction is a source that f great amusement to my DCs who both have a good sense of direction. Whenever we were on holiday when they were teenagers, I never knew what direction to walk in to get to the hotel. Occasionally I would know when nobody else did and (understandably) they never believed me.

I’m the same. For me it’s part of my dyspraxia. I have no spacial awareness so never no which way to go and also could never get the hang of driving. It seems to be genetic in my family as my grandmother is the same way as are 2 of her children, although they’re not as bad as me because they can drive. Google maps has really helped me. It is sometimes a bit difficult to follow but it allows me to go to new places on my own and figure out where to go. Before I had access to google maps I was constantly getting lost and hated going anywhere on my own.

I could get lost in my own house 🤣. I hate having to find places. I have perfect pitch though! I clearly didn't inherit practical skills really.

Yes I am terrible at this and can go wrong following regular routes all the time and often forget how to get back to the car when out. Apparently it has a name: developmental topographical disorientation.

All of these things especially coming out of a shop! it drives my husband mad!

even inside a building I just can’t remember. Eg I worked in a building for years and went up half a flight of stairs to use the toilet and half a flight back down. When the toilet was out of order and I had to go 1.5 flights up, I’d still go 0.5 down and wonder into a totally different office without realising!

I agree - I think it's innate in some people. I am one of those people. I just "know" how to get to places. I'm married to a lovely man who does not have this sense, so we make a good team - his "short cut" fails are the stuff of family legend 😆

I have never had this inbuilt direction finder but my Ds and Dd both do and it’s amazing to see.
I went to Florida with my Dd and Dgc, I was the driver and she directed, most of the time I had no idea which way to go but she just knew.
Was with my Ds in the centre of Fuengirola once and I wanted to eat near the sea, so he just starts walking, I was saying we’d better ask someone and he’s saying it’s ok, it’s this way. I asked him how he knew, he said, I can just feel it’s this way and was a bit surprised I couldn’t…

I can't do visual imagery either, and I think this made it harder for me to learn to drive. I would look at the sign for the roundabout with the diagram and lanes, and by the time I got to it, I'd forgotten what the picture was and didn't know what to do. I also had many hours of driving lessons around the town where the test would be, and forgot where I was every single time (driving instructor told me to get a satnav as soon as I passed).

Like a PP, I find google maps a bit tricky on foot, but mainly just at first while you work out which way you're pointing. In the car it is absolutely fine though - and once I'd passed my test I had no problem using it. It will show you really clearly what lane you need to be in and what's coming up. So please don't let that put you off.

The other thing that helped was living by the sea - handy to cut out one whole direction so you only have to remember the other three!

I have no problem with directions, right and left etc. I do have a friend who absolutely cannot work out how to get to or from places unless she has been there. She once drove from Dunblane to Falkirk via Glasgow airport. She couldn't work out which exit would take her off the motorway and ended up on the motorway to the airport. She knew how to get home from there 😂

Nope. I have a hopeless sense of direction.
I worked in a different town for a month once. It had a high street that went right through from one end to the other. At the end of the four weeks i went shopping and walked the length, but somehow ended up at the other end from where I thought I was!

100% also if I’m chatting to someone about a place, I’ll likely point as if I can see it in front of me. My dh and friend both can instantly say ‘you mean over to the west?’ And know in a second that the place is to the west of where we are in that moment in time? Baffles me.