Wayfinding

Things are mostly easy to find when signs are in English...
Things are mostly easy to find when signs are in English…

I don’t remember if it was before or after we moved to Sweden that Graham started calling me ‘Magellan’. Although he is generally more organized and proactive about planning trips and figuring out travel and accommodations, I often end up with the map.

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Trying to find the guest house in Gyeongju… it was hidden down a twisting alley. We were getting close, but needed a Google map stop to make sure

I like maps and mostly I we get where we are going, although I don’t think I have any special skill with it (Graham might be making fun with this nickname). I don’t think I am fast enough (wayfinding or running) to be a good orienteer-racer like Svend Erik. If anything, I may have a more intuitive feel to where things should be, or the vibe of a neighbourhood, or ‘shouldn’t we be heading uphill by now?’. Maybe I just listen to the feeling. Plus, if I am travelling to see the world, it doesn’t really matter if we take the long way… we just got to see more.

Old school paper map in Seoul
Old school paper map in Seoul

Sometimes when you are pulling a suitcase or it is late at night you do just want to get there quickly. On the other hand, often there are great hidden secrets in the back ways and alleys that are worth discovering. Split had lots of these, and was also an interesting case study in wayfinding, but that’s another post.

A map in one hand and a camera in the other.  Those weren't the only things that identified me as a tourist in Seoul, but they helped!
A map in one hand and a camera in the other. Those weren’t the only things that identified me as a tourist in Seoul, but they helped!