Directionally Challenged

I was driving down the road today and couldn’t help but notice someone who was obviously lost, or at least not familiar with the area. Through the back window, I could see the person look at papers and slowing down at each intersection almost as if wanting to turn but not dialing the steering wheel left or right. Eventually, the car ducked into a long residential driveway and hopefully found its destination.

That made me start to think. I pass street signage almost every thousand feet or so helping to guide me to my final destination. I also have my car's odometer to tell me distance traveled. After making the same trip a few times, I don’t even need the street signs. And if I am new to an area, I can use maps and Internet direction tools to get me from Point A to Point B.

I am one of the most directionally challenged people I know, even with those tools. If not for Cheyenne Mountain and Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs, I would get lost more often as I could not tell east from west (the mountains are on the west side of town). When dark, I don’t even have that visual tool.

Which makes me ponder this even further. How did people find distant destinations centuries ago without road infrastructure and signage, elaborate map tools and the Internet for handy directions? Was the compass and scenic landmarks the norm? Obviously, one could not use "go 14 miles on Highway 1 and turn left at the Burger King on Main Street, travel another 2 miles on West Blvd. and make a right at the 7-11."