Relating a map to the real thing is something that some people simply cannot do. Whatever the circuit is that allows that, they simply don't have it.

My wife was one of those. She just could not follow even a simple sketched street map.

Give her a list of directions and turns, or go over the route once in advance, and she was fine. But if all she had was a map, she knew she needed to allow time for at least one wrong turn.