Letters to the Editor
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There's more than one way to navigate
Yeah, I suck at reading the map. In fact I usually don't even think in terms of reading the map, because I suck at it.
But you know what? I am *awesome* at finding written landmarks, such as road signs. In fact my ability to read road signs surpasses normal human vision (I am 20/15 for written material... not exactly a superpower, but better than the human average of 20/20.)
In my house, I am the driver. In part this is because my husband is legally blind and can't drive (he can, however, not only read a map, albeit with a giant magnifying glass, but he has an amazing ability to maintain a very sophisticated map in his head... I can't figure out where north is unless there's a sign in front of me or I take 60 seconds to work it out based on the sun. He knows where it is instantly.) In part, however, it's because I have always been the driver. The oldest child in the family and the only girl in a state where teen boys pay six times as much car insurance as girls, I have been driving since I was 16, and while I was terrified and timid (and a terrible driver) as a teen, I have by now clocked as many miles as some professionals. I always prefer to drive, no matter who else is in the car. So the lack of map reading ability hasn't particularly impaired my ability to navigate; I navigate by memorizing lists of landmarks and directions; given that there is software and there are web sites that will map a route *for* you, I see no reason anymore why anyone should *have* to read a map to be a good navigator.