By 
For one week I left the map app off and carried a folded paper map of the city I have lived in for nine years. I expected mild inconvenience. I did not expect to discover that I barely knew the place.
Day one: the blue dot was doing the thinking
Within an hour I realised I could not say which direction the river ran. I had walked beside it hundreds of times, always following an arrow. Without the arrow I stood at a corner turning the map around like a tourist.
Midweek: landmarks come back
By Wednesday I was navigating by things: the bakery with the green awning, the church with the ugly extension, the long hill that always means I have gone too far east. These were not new. I had simply stopped looking at them.
A route you follow is not the same as a route you know.
What I am keeping
- A paper map in the bag for the first trip anywhere new.
- Looking up the route before leaving, then putting the phone away.
- Asking people for directions, which turns out to be a pleasant way to meet the neighbourhood.
I switched the app back on at the end of the week. I use it less, and when I do, I glance at the whole map first.
