Going Places (In the Wrong Direction)

I've always suspected that I have a terrible sense of direction, but luckily from the age I've had to seriously navigate myself somewhere , I've had an iPhone. By far, the worst part of leaving my phone at home for an entire month was that I no longer had access to Google Maps, which is a constant presence in my everyday life. A few years ago, I had a conversation with my mom, in which I expressed my concern over the fact that--despite having lived in San Francisco for my entire life--I had no clue where anything in the city, whether it be restaurant, street, or entire neighborhood, was located. My mom responded without pause, assuring me that when I started to drive, I'd quickly figure out my way around.

I've had my license since January, and the only place I can get to 100% of the time without a GPS is my school. Which is a mile from my house. It's honestly ridiculous. 

I tried to force myself to get home from my friend's house in the Fillmore District without my phone's help once, after driving there multiple times. After driving through a few questionable alleys and nearly getting on the freeway the wrong direction, I pulled over, opened Google Maps, and haven't gone without it since. 

Armed with a Boy Scout worthy set of navigational skills, I set off for Thailand.  

My already horrendous sense of direction has not benefited from spending no more than 5 days in the same place, not to mention that I can't read any of the signs or say anything but "hello" in Thai. Hannah will often try to show me on a map where we are, where we're going, and how we'll get there, to which I typically nod and walk off the wrong way. I'm essentially a slightly less competent Dora the Explorer.

The most concerning thing about all of this is that I'm not getting better at navigating. At all. After spending three days in a place, I'm still just as hopeless at getting back to ourguesthouse from the 7-11 around the corner as I was the day we arrived. Likewise, I can't comprehend a map any better almost three weeks into this trip than I could on day one. 

I'm going to try to force myself to make more of an effort to take responsibility for getting us places, in hopes that I do make (some) progress. After all, how lost could I get us in the next week? Luckily, we're heading to Koh Tao, a small island off of the Gulf Coast tomorrow, so I'll only be able to lead us a maximum of seven miles in the wrong direction. Hannah told me the other day that "if you think you're going the right direction, you should turn around." Hopefully by following that advice, I won't do too badly.

But next time I'm bringing my iPhone.