I can't do verbal directions.
My mind is extremely visual. If I have a map and I can see the big picture of the city layout, then I'm fine and can get where I need to go by intuition. Knowing street by street directions is too much detail. If I know the general area where my destination is, I can get there even if I don't really know the streets well. Don't give me directions....Tell me the general location and give me a few landmarks that I'd be familiar with. So not "turn left here, keep going 2 miles, turn right, take first left past the railroad tracks" or "Turn left on Cyprus, then right on South N street". Tell me "Its in the east part of the city past the community college, you'll see it", or give the nearest major cross roads before you start giving me street by street if I'm finding a house.
At this point, I have a "big picture" of most of California, so I can get to a lot of cities on intuition alone....Knowing that its *that way* and driving *that way* until I find it.
I don't really care about getting lost....It helps me learn the area better and expands my big picture frame of reference.