If there’s one secret skill I wish I had, it’s a great sense of direction.
People like Chris, or my dad, seem to have a built in map inside their heads they can call up as needed. They can walk through a city once and somehow remember exactly where everything is. They instinctively know which direction they’re facing and how to get back to where they started.
I am not one of those people. Without Google Maps, I would probably still be wandering around trying to find the car. Heck, I’ve been known try to get into the wrong car if it’s the same general shape and color of what I’m driving…
When we travel, I rely heavily on my phone to navigate new cities, find restaurants, and figure out which direction we’re supposed to walk next. It’s become such a normal part of traveling that I don’t even think about it anymore- as long as my phone has good reception or I’ve downloaded offline maps.
Back when we were dating, my cell phone didn’t have Internet on it and I still had to rely on paper maps or just knowing where you were. I took Chris on a date to downtown SLC once and I got us lost. Chris likes to say that when he gets us lost, we’re “on an adventure,” but when I’m lost, we’re just plain lost.
Don’t get me started on my misadventures getting lost with girlfriends in my pre-Chris stage! Once I got hopelessly lost with a friend in the Draper area until we found a beacon of hope in a faraway IKEA sign. Another time with that same friend we happened upon a new view from taking a wrong turn on a hike. Honestly, I’m lucky I never got eaten by a mountain lion or trampled by a moose!
Despite that weakness, I still love exploring new places. And for some reason, I quit getting lost once Chris became the navigator.
So while I may never develop a natural internal compass, I’ve learned something else: getting a little lost is sometimes part of the adventure (despite what Chris says).
And luckily, there’s always Google Maps.
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Packing for Adventure 
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