[MissNobody]

I do not have a good sense of direction.

If I'm out shopping and someone asks me in what direction a shop is, (this happens a lot I must look very approachable or something), I will likely tell them the wrong way!

Often my brother has to guide me in the right direction (he is tests as INTP). This mostly happens if we are coming into town from a different direction. I have to take a few minutes to picture the town in my head to work out if I have to turn left or right and even then I still get it wrong!

I have to have visited a place many many times before I know my way around it. The same with driving; I go one way when I should have gone the other way.

Is this an INFJ thing or is just me?

 

[SarahWilliams]

Might be just you?

I have a great sense of direction. Don't remember road names, or directions very well, but I can usually just sense where I'm supposed to go. I think I remember landmarks easily, and can figure out my orientation based on what I'm looking at. And if I'm in a new place, like a big city, I just use a GPS.

My friend, another INFJ, also has a great sense of direction. One of those people who instantly knows how to use public transit in a large city.

However, two INFJs is a relatively small sample size. So who knows!

 

[nikkii]

I have a good sense of direction, i do have a poor sense of finding things people need me too.

 

[killerB]

I never get lost. I tell my INTJ wife where to drive actually. If I have been a place even once, I can always visualize a map of it in my head, turn it and then apply it to where I am driving. I always go the right direction, whcih is odd because I have to think which is right and wich is left, I drive on instinct and turn the rigthw ay per my instinctive guide.

People always also come to me for maps. Although they are not sized approporiately, I always remember the small details that I include and they know what land marks to look for and what turns to expect.

 

[Slyke]

I've never been lost. I may not know where my destination is, but I've always been able to get back to where I started if necessary. This is in large cities, jungle and forests.

 

[vocalist]

I am terrible with finding my way around. When I first got my driver's license at 17 and started running errands for my mom, she would be amazed that I would have to verify with her (more than once) how to get to the grocery store, when I'd been there many times before (as a passenger).

It may be an INFJ thing in that knowing one's way around seems to be an Si thing and Si is one of our shadow functions so Si doesn't come naturally; but if it's important enough to the individual, I think even an INFJ could be good with directions. It's just never been a priority for me, therefore I'm not very good at it.

 

[The Vizier]

I have a poor sense of direction but only when I am not paying attention to my surroundings and lost in my own world. This happens when I'm following someone somewhere and I just switch off and focus on them instead of where we are going. But such cases only happen in places which I'm unfamiliar with. So I could follow a person 5 times through some winding maze and unless I lead, I'll never really learn to find my way around. But if I lead the way just once, I have a pretty good idea of how to get to where I want to go.

 

[myosotis]

Absolutely horrible sense of direction. I get so caught up in the clouds whenever I'm going somewhere. And then I forget to remember the landmarks. I'm getting better though =P

 

[The Vizier]

Absolutely horrible sense of direction. I get so caught up in the clouds whenever I'm going somewhere. And then I forget to remember the landmarks. I'm getting better though =P

Looks like you share the same problem as me. Now if I were to make you lead the way while I switch off, you should be fine after a few mistakes. :wink:

That or we could both end up really lost. :tongue:

 

[AtheistGuy]

When I went to Paris I was leading the way for my family.

I'm only a teenager but if they gave me the paperwork I could easily get home straight from the hotel. I don't drive either.

 

[Zomboy]

I can get anywhere I need to go, so I never get lost

Just don't ask me for directions

My routes tend to be less than 'conventional'

 

[The Vizier]

I can get anywhere I need to go, so I never get lost

Just don't ask me for directions

My routes tend to be less than 'conventional'

Yeah I still remember the first taste I had about your sense of direction and its unconventionalness....u just marched right off into zombie land in that story we were doing. :crazy:

 

[Zomboy]

Yeah I still remember the first taste I had about your sense of direction and its unconventionalness....u just marched right off into zombie land in that story we were doing. :crazy:

I once went hiking in the Niagara Gorge

I lost track of time sitting by the whirlpool, so I had to find a trail out before dark fell

After stumbling around in twilight for a trail that would go up, I just cut to the chase and carved my own path

In short, I basically climbed my way back up the escarpment

It was fun

 

[quigglehope13]

Yeah I still remember the first taste I had about your sense of direction and its unconventionalness....u just marched right off into zombie land in that story we were doing. :crazy:

We never did find him did we?



Anyway my sense of direction is ok. Like I need to be following my own directions and not someone elses(I got lost in the city for about an hour using my moms directions but when I was usuing my own(even though I was never on some of the streets I went on) I got to my destination early) I guess becuase I am a landmark type person and she is a left/right/street name type person. I do use street names but I usually only use them when I am certain of them(I think I am only certain of 10 or less)

 

[PaulH]

I have a rubbish sense of direction. On the other hand I am pretty good with a map. My SWMBO is the complete opposite so as long as we are together we usually arrive ok!

 

[The Vizier]

We never did find him did we?

Yeah I concede my sense of direction wasn't bad enough to find him. :tongue:

 

[sleeper]

Two of my friends that are INFJs are amazingly terrible with their sense of direction... It's very interesting to me (because somewhere in the back of my head I think I am always trying to keep track of where I am in relation to... everything). They also happen to be 4w3 social variants, but I'm sure it's more of an individual thing and this thread seems to prove that.

 

[MissNobody]

I have a poor sense of direction but only when I am not paying attention to my surroundings and lost in my own world. This happens when I'm following someone somewhere and I just switch off and focus on them instead of where we are going. But such cases only happen in places which I'm unfamiliar with. So I could follow a person 5 times through some winding maze and unless I lead, I'll never really learn to find my way around. But if I lead the way just once, I have a pretty good idea of how to get to where I want to go.

I wonder if this is part of the problem...If I'm out with friends I rely on them to know where we are going. It isn't that I do it on purpose I just end up taking a back seat - mentally - admiring the scenery and the people as opposed to remembering landmarks etc.

I'm good with a map. I had to travel up the country recently and my mum printed of a set of directions, but there was some information missing so I had to make a decision quickly about which route to take. I ended up going about 15 minutes out of my way but with a map (which I should have used in the first place) I managed to find my way back.

I'm definitely a 'learn by doing' and repetition person. The more I drive around a place the better I know it. The problem is if I take a new route to the place so I'm coming in from a different direct, then I have to think about it!

Thanks everyone! Very interesting (for me anyway). It does seem to be more of an individual thing than a typical INFJ thing.

 

[Ethanol]

I use to have a terrible sense of direction.... I didn't drive much.

But now that I'm kind of forced to drive alot, I use google maps alot in the beginning and have gained (honed in on) a pretty good sense of direction. I'm comfortable enough driving around LA now; I'm usually the one giving people rides - who would've thunk it?

It just takes practice :laughing: I actually just spent the summer helping my mom sharpen her sense of direction, and she's alot less panicky while driving now (since she isn't driving via landmarks anymore).

This is not meant to be offensive in any way but KT Tatara has a bit from 1:00 to the end of the video that I think is pretty funny because I use to be just like what he describes lol:

 

[nikkii]

I use to have a terrible sense of direction.... I didn't drive much.

But now that I'm kind of forced to drive alot, I use google maps alot in the beginning and have gained (honed in on) a pretty good sense of direction. I'm comfortable enough driving around LA now; I'm usually the one giving people rides - who would've thunk it?

It just takes practice :laughing: I actually just spent the summer helping my mom sharpen her sense of direction, and she's alot less panicky while driving now (since she isn't driving via landmarks anymore).

This is not meant to be offensive in any way but KT Tatara has a bit from 1:00 to the end of the video that I think is pretty funny because I use to be just like what he describes lol:
YouTube - KT Tatara - Women are immature Part 2

hahahahahahaha