Sunday, April 20, 2008

Are you lost?

I've got a good friend who is directionally challenged. She could truly get lost in a parking lot and the invention of GPS has saved her hours wandering streets aimlessly. We were talking about this article where a dog got lost but found its way across rivers and mountains to get home again. My friend couldn't find her way out of the Walmart parking lot.

Mostly, I don't have an issue with directions. I tried using my husband's navigational system when driving to Seattle last and ended up unplugging the darn thing when it kept sending me on routes that were obviously longer to my destination. However, when I moved to the West Coast from the prairies twenty years ago I did find driving in dark, rainy winter challenging. People told me to just remember the mountains were in the North but that didn't help since you can't even see where the mountains are in the rain! Still, I managed to find my way without ever really becoming lost.

One of my characters though is definitely directionally challenged and writing about her antics in the streets of Seattle has been fun. So is GPS your friend, or do you do navigate your daily journey fine without help?

5 comments:

conley730 said...

I am directionally challenged as well. I don't have GPS, but MapQuest has become my best friend! If I'm not on my own stomping grounds I'm pretty hopeless.

Wendy Roberts said...

Conley, I use MapQuest quite a bit when I'm writing. It gives great estimates on how long it should take to get from one place to the next.

B.E. Sanderson said...

I learned how not to be directionally challenged when I worked in outside sales. Not that I never got lost, but I could usually find my way back again. I sure learned how to use roadmaps. Nowadays when I have to go somewhere I'm not familiar with, I use GoogleMaps.

Chandra Rooney said...

As a former Alberta girl I can attest that the prairies are far easier to navigate. All the roads are straight, straight, straight, and turn onto another road that goes straight! XD

Anonymous said...

just wanted to say hi