Here's what you do to really screw your sense of direction over. Go from living on the east coast of a big country in the southern hemisphere to living on the west coast of another big country in the northern hemisphere.

Have the climate and the vegetation and the terrain and the houses/buildings and the people be almost exactly the same, and you sometimes snap to attention thinking, "Wait a minute. Where the hail am I?!"

I've moved several times for my job, all in the North Central United States. In one, and only one location, I was unable to get my bearings, especially East-West, right for about 3 months. After 10 years, I moved away from that location. My bearings are fine here and there too. Go figure.

Dweste, were you in a place where the mountains were on your left as you faced north, instead of the usual right?

I grew up in southern California, living there from the age of 5 to 30, and I always had the San Gabriel Mountains a few miles to the north of me, running east to west.

For several years afterward, when I was living in Eugene/Springfield, OR, I would get disoriented because the mountains were to the east of me. My internal compass always seemed to keep swinging, trying to make the mountains North, which made South, East, and turned North into West. What was really stupid was that it affected my night driving there, too, when I couldn't even SEE the mountains.

Sue, another space cadet

This side of The Equator,With the sun on your Leftside,West is infront of you,North to your Right,Simple!

"This side of The Equator,With the sun on your Leftside,West is in front of you,North to your Right,Simple!"

I think that's mainly in winter, when the sun is low in the south. Here in WA, by the time we're near the winter solstice (Dec. 21), the sun only gets 19º above the southern horizon at noon, and the sun is rising in the SE and setting in the SW. At the summer solstice, it's 65.8º, and the sun is rising in the NE and setting in the NW. So, only around March and September is the sun close to rising in the true E and setting in the true W.

I have to remember this, because everytime I move, the mountains are in a different place!

Sue

Hills close to north and visible both east and west, open country south.

Home territory has Coast Range to the west and Sierra Nevadas to the east, both ranges running north-south.

Yes, I had that problem when I went to Zimbabwe. Had no sense of direction what so ever.

Most disorientating parts were:

Sun tracking across the skye to the North instead of the South.
The stars were completely different.


Serious sense of We Are Not In Kansas Anymore Toto......

For those of you who have shared the "lost in space" experience, did your sense of direction recover? Did you find any technique or practice that seemed to aid in your recovery?

Thanks.

Yes, turn R when you think you should go L, and vice versa. Fixed it completely. ;-)

If I may be slightly non-PC, this whole discussion reminds me of the story of the old Native American found wandering aimlessly and alone in the woods. When asked if he was lost, he replied, "Indian not lost, teepee lost."

Plus, you need to figure which direction the sun is going. If you're "lost in space", it's not obvious.