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Original poster

Does anyone else know if they’re lying the ‘wrong’ way round?

83 replies

Roseyposeypie · 16/02/2026 23:09

Okay, so this is going to sound weird but if I’m away from home as soon as I lie down in the bed to go to sleep I can tell if it’s positioned in a different orientation to my bed at home. For example last night I was in an Airbnb and I just knew that if I was at home the bed would be turned 90 degrees in one direction. My husband checked a compass on his phone and I was right. This isn’t a one off, it happens to me everywhere I sleep that isn’t home. It doesn’t stop me sleeping but it feels ‘wrong’. Does anyone else have this or is it just me me?

OP posts:
sleepeasie · 17/02/2026 06:13

GarlicBound · 17/02/2026 05:25

I've just done the same! Let us know if there's a difference 😴

Show quote history

Disappointed to report I remain awake after an hour pointing north. And you?

StopThePigeonNow · 17/02/2026 06:09

Goonie1 · 16/02/2026 23:28

I have this. It makes me feel like I’m lying upside down as in my feet are higher than my head. Im
obviously not but that’s the sensation I get.
I also get a terrible headache when a storm
is coming or if there was a sudden change to the weather. My mum called me the weather lady. I think it’s to do with the air pressure. I wonder if the 2 are connected in any way.

Me and my mum are like this and so was her mum. I can be fast asleep and suddenly wake up because it’s started snowing too.

tinyshoulders · 17/02/2026 06:01

I have the diametric opposite of what you’re describing. Absolutely zero sense of direction. I’ve never heard of this bed thing before, very interesting!

HariboFrenzy · 17/02/2026 05:51

Luxlumos · 17/02/2026 00:21

Not even close. I often pick the wrong side of the bed on holidays and dh assumes I’m winding him up when he has to tell me to move

I can get lost going around a round about. If I’m at home and I point in the direction of something outside, like the nearest supermarket, everyone looks puzzled because inevitably I’m pointing in the wrong direction.

it’s so predictable that if I’m lost, and have a feeling which way i should go, most of the time going the opposite way is the better bet.

This is me too Sad

muddyford · 17/02/2026 05:46

Yes, I have always been able to tell which way is is north, even in the dark!

Rozendantz · 17/02/2026 05:44

Yes, I have this too... And I worked away from home for years, so it was quite disconcerting so I had to try to tune it out.
Also, I always know where north is, and in a situation where I've been underground (eg on the Tube) and I come out I find it disorienting while my brain figures out the right direction.

Separately, I grew up in the southern hemisphere and worked in random cities at night, and always knew how to get home by the stars. (I could do it in the UK if it wasn't so cloudy)

AccidentalPrawnYouFool · 17/02/2026 05:38

ErrolTheDragon · 17/02/2026 00:19

I’m not bothered by which way round I sleep, but knowing which direction I’m headed is usually possible in daylight.

Those of you who have a ‘right way round’ in bed … I’m curious what happens in the southern hemisphere? Does it flip by 180°?

Oh good question! I always know which way a bed is facing in relation to my own. I’m going to Australia soon so I guess I’ll find out if it flips!

BunsBoots · 17/02/2026 05:37

Yes, I’m also a human compass. DH thinks I’m weird. Very handy if we get lost though. Give me a second to concentrate and I’ll get us back on track.

MichaelmasDaisiesAndAutumSunset · 17/02/2026 05:35

Yep - I have this. I also know in which direction the (nearest) sea is, even if it’s a really long way off.

GarlicBound · 17/02/2026 05:25

sleepeasie · 17/02/2026 05:05

This has inspired me to change ends of my bed. I always used to prefer pointing north or east as a young person. If this fixes my insomnia I will report back.

I've just done the same! Let us know if there's a difference 😴

Brainworm · 17/02/2026 05:20

I’ve just realised I do this, but not in relation to cardinal direction but to the front of the building.

Those who are orienting to cardinal direction must be picking up cues in the environment

Goinggonegone · 17/02/2026 05:13

This is impressive.
In the dark, I can't even tell which way round I'm sleeping in my own bed! I've always blamed my dyspraxia.

PrincessofWells · 17/02/2026 05:06

Yes it's like having an in built compass. I also can tell the time within 15 minutes accuracy.

sleepeasie · 17/02/2026 05:05

This has inspired me to change ends of my bed. I always used to prefer pointing north or east as a young person. If this fixes my insomnia I will report back.

IceStationZebra · 17/02/2026 04:15

Oh no. I’m currently in a bedroom at my parents that I slept in for a few years in childhood. The bed is a different orientation to when I had this room, and different again to my own bedroom, and now I can’t think about anything else…

GarlicBound · 17/02/2026 04:13

ErrolTheDragon · 17/02/2026 00:19

I’m not bothered by which way round I sleep, but knowing which direction I’m headed is usually possible in daylight.

Those of you who have a ‘right way round’ in bed … I’m curious what happens in the southern hemisphere? Does it flip by 180°?

It wouldn't. N, E, S and W are always the same.

rewardacrosstrack · 17/02/2026 00:59

I also have the bed compass thing. The other thing, which I feel is likely connected is that I always feel that I can tell if a beach photo has been taken on the east/west side of the uk

ErrolTheDragon · 17/02/2026 00:27

AgentPidge · 16/02/2026 23:16

Are you a pigeon? They have little magnets above their beaks so they can read the earth's magnetic field and know their direction. Actually I have heard of humans being able to do this.

Or a Robin… there’s evidence some birds have an even weirder way of sensing the magnetic field!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_robin#Magnetoreception

Thebellistolling · 17/02/2026 00:25

There are recent reports about humans having around 33 senses, it sounds like something to do with that.

I am very good at 'knowing' the time. Not brilliant, but good. Allison theses things could have been essential to survival in our evolutionary past.

Luxlumos · 17/02/2026 00:21

Not even close. I often pick the wrong side of the bed on holidays and dh assumes I’m winding him up when he has to tell me to move

I can get lost going around a round about. If I’m at home and I point in the direction of something outside, like the nearest supermarket, everyone looks puzzled because inevitably I’m pointing in the wrong direction.

it’s so predictable that if I’m lost, and have a feeling which way i should go, most of the time going the opposite way is the better bet.

ErrolTheDragon · 17/02/2026 00:19

I’m not bothered by which way round I sleep, but knowing which direction I’m headed is usually possible in daylight.

Those of you who have a ‘right way round’ in bed … I’m curious what happens in the southern hemisphere? Does it flip by 180°?

Driftingawaynow · 17/02/2026 00:18

Omg coolest thread ever

i can’t relate to this at all but find it amazing

Saracen · 17/02/2026 00:17

My uncle always knew which way was north. Until one day when he suddenly didn't. Everything felt wrong to him and he found it totally nerve-wracking to have lost his sense of direction.

Several hours later there was an earthquake. Soon after that he regained his sense of direction.

You know how horses and other animals sometimes get very skittish before an earthquake, like they know it's coming? I think there can be a disturbance in the magnetic field before an earthquake, which some animals (and my uncle!) can detect.

Goonie1 · 16/02/2026 23:59

Nuncheon · 16/02/2026 23:49

My husband thinks it deeply weird that if I’m describing a walk or trying to remember someone’s house in the area she grew up in, I will always say it was ‘east the road’ or ‘west the road’.

Show quote history

This made me think of a funny story about my mum, bless her….when the satnav says turn east onto such and such road, she was convinced it meant turn right 😂
She was convinced I’d taken a wrong turning once because I’d turned left 🙈

LondonBlueTopaz · 16/02/2026 23:59

Yes, although ive lost it a but as ive gotten older. As a child , I could tell by the light behind the curtains in the morning if it had been snowing, horrendous weather headaches too. I used to lie in bed after a day out and be able to replay motions I had gone through during the day e.g if i'd been on the river boat or a fairground ride. I'm not sure I can do that as well either anymore.