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PaperclipPerfector  7mo ago (text post)   2697 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 14, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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Have been living in mid-sized city for almost a year. Like it here and will probably stay long term. I really want to learn my way around the city very well. I typically cycle and walk everywhere, and I want to be able to just think of any two points in the city and travel between them without ever checking GPS. Any tips how to achieve this fast?

Something I've done before is to print off a map of the area. Whenever I go somewhere new for the first time I highlight it on the map. Then when I went for a leisurely bicycle ride I would look at that map and choose a path that would lead to somewhere I hadn't highlighted yet.

I'm sure you could do this digitally too: download something that tracks where you walk/ride then specifically look for areas that you haven't been to.

Before you go anywhere, look at it on a map. You’ll get progressively better at not using a GPS.

It’s an old- I guess ‘white van man’ is the term that applies- trick.

I worked as a cyclist for Deliveroo for three months. By the end of it I knew practically every back alley in the city centre, and would just glance at the address on the app, not needing to consult Google Maps to find my way. I don't know what the equivalent food delivery service is in your city, but a lot of these services are pretty chill about letting you pick your own hours. Even if you worked one shift a week you'd probably see a big improvement in your navigation skills.

Hmm.. There's gotta be a "game" that uses Google Street View. But you could just practise navigating using it at home and see if you end up learning the landmarks and routes.

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