I’m in my 50’s, so when I learned to drive there was no GPS or phones or anything to help me. I liked to explore and see things, so it all had to be done by maps. So I quickly learned to oriented myself against NSEW and the roads.
Later in life I likewise got into hiking prior to GPS being widely available. That really motivated me to be aware of my environment and directions.
I am not perfect at it and can get disoriented if I’m not careful, but generally speaking I almost always have a background thread in my head keeping track of where I am and my orientation when driving.
This came in incredibly handy a few months ago when my phone died and I was picking up my son at a friend’s house an hour away I had only visited once before. It took a bit but I was able to find the house again with zero electronic aids.
I'm more careful hiking but I don't have maps from this century in my car--and don't actually know what is in there other than knowing I have a satchel with some maps in it. I should probably do an inventory one of these days.
It's really easy to depend on your phone for lots of things and then not to have a backup plan if it fails.
"It's really easy to depend on your phone for lots of things and then not to have a backup plan if it fails."
We see this so often in search and rescue. People take off on some random hike they found on an app without charging their battery and without knowing how long the hike will take them. So, sooner or later, it gets dark and they start using their phone as a flashlight which kills the battery on their only navigation device. But, ehh, since they probably don't know how to read a map or orient themselves on it or find their way back to the trail which they invariably deviated from as some point and went ahead instead of turning back. (Also, not a lot of cell coverage in the backcountry anyway and probably didn't cache the maps.)
I'll take shortcuts on very familiar easy local trails. But anything else, I'll have map, compass, headlight, water, some extra clothing, at least a minimal first aid kit, etc.
re: getting dark. I so often see people heading up a trail at 3pm or whatever. Maybe they're just planning to go up a ways but I wouldn't count on it. I've observed that even fairly experienced people can be pretty bad about establishing a sensible timeline.
People are so used to the luxuries of modern life, that even a minor inconvenience becomes life threatening.
People go on hikes with no food, a single bottle of water, and its a 13 mile hike up this mountain. Blank looks when I ask "do you know where you might get more water????"
Later in life I likewise got into hiking prior to GPS being widely available. That really motivated me to be aware of my environment and directions.
I am not perfect at it and can get disoriented if I’m not careful, but generally speaking I almost always have a background thread in my head keeping track of where I am and my orientation when driving.
This came in incredibly handy a few months ago when my phone died and I was picking up my son at a friend’s house an hour away I had only visited once before. It took a bit but I was able to find the house again with zero electronic aids.