# Finding your way without a compass **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 13, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534 "2006-04-13T15:57:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![achooloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@achooloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/achooloco)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/1 "2006-04-13T15:57:57Z")
I posed this question a while back on another forum and got nothing. Granted its a bit restrictive but to be honest, it seems rather plausible (at least for me). so… lets say its nighttime, overcast sky so no moon or stars (for you seafaring folk), you are in a foreign city (at least to you) and you go above ground from a subway or get off of a dizzying highway exit or something where you become disoriented. You don’t speak the language so talking to a native isn’t really an option that will help immediately or at the very least you want to save for a last resort (in my experience, showing off you are completely lost in an unknown neighborhood is a bad idea cause you never know how bad/good it can be). you don’t have a compass cause you simply forgot it. and since you are in a city, looking for moss on the northern side of the tree won’t work. so i guess my question is, how do you find north, south, east west? looking at a map doesn’t always work either because 1) while most maps run north/south, not all do (see buenos aires) 2) you dont read the language so reading the signs is an educated guess at best. so to recap: -nighttime and cloudy -you are lost/disoriented -dont know the language or anyone to call for directions -no compass, ie. no internet nearby -in a city how do you find north/south, etc? is finding a map the best way, even if you have to troubleshoot and considering its nighttime and may not find one since places are closed? and would you even really need north/south/west to find your way aroudn? i say i do need it cause i find my way by looking at the cardinal directions but if ya’ll got a better method, i’m all ears . … I’ve asked boy scouts, random internet people, everyone i know and i just get smart ass answers that aren’t right or dont fit the criteria or a simple i dont know . … ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/2 "2006-04-13T16:15:40Z")
Look at the street signs. Even though you don’t speak the language you might recognize some words (example: I don’t speak Swedish, but if I see a sign that reads centrum with an arrow, I know which way the center of the city is) You might also pick up words like North, South, East or West . If you have a paper map, compare the map to the street signs, again speaking the language in not necessary. Many times bus stops have maps of their routes, read, compare, and figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/3 "2006-04-13T16:29:40Z")
In your scenario, you simply have to wait for morning. In contrast to real life, you have created a scenario that some people would fall into and others of us would not. I would never find myself in a foreign city without some sort of map. (And I learned early on, in Europe, that I had to find North when I bought the map because the _Stadtplan_ / _Plan de ville_ / etc. of several cities in Europe do not have North at the top.) I have only twice found myself in a country without some sort of translating dictionary–and both times my trip was of less than a day in a place where English was recognized. I suppose that if business took me to Asia I would have a rougher time, since I do not recognize their alphabets or logographs. However, what you have basically described is an elaborate scenario to ask how to find directions in an unoccupied windowless building with no signs: short of some sixth sense to identify the presence of the sun, you do not. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/4 "2006-04-13T16:30:39Z")
Around here, the wind usually blows from the west. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/5 "2006-04-13T16:47:39Z")
[ul] [li]Look for satellite TV dishes. Those typically point south. [/li][li]Look for solar panels, especially solar-powered street signs. These also face south. [/li][li]Find a public park or garden and look for a sundial.[/li][li]Find a piece of paper, draw a big arrow on it and write **N** near the point. Show it to someone, rotate it and try to gesture “which way?”[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/6 "2006-04-13T17:01:03Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] [list] [li]Look for satellite TV dishes. Those typically point south. [/li][li]Look for solar panels, especially solar-powered street signs. These also face south.[/li][/QUOTE] In the northern hemisphere. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/7 "2006-04-13T17:17:27Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > In the northern hemisphere. Yes, if you knew for sure which hemi you were in, the satellite thing could point you in the right direction. I don’t thing you’d get due south but close enough. (My parents’ satellite dish points sort of southwest-ish. So are the criteria you’ve listed the ONLY criteria we have to base an answer on? I ask because if you happen to be a traveller that always has a travel sewing kit handy you could make a compass with one of the needles, providing you can scrounge up something that’s magnetic and have a puddle lying around somewhere. Other than that, I’ve got nothing so far. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/8 "2006-04-13T17:39:01Z")
Find a library. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/9 "2006-04-13T17:55:04Z")
I’ve often wonder that myself. And recently discussed this with a friend that was on business in Tokyo. Standard whitebread, single language speaking American IT guy, with NO sense of direction… alone in Tokyo. He had a few hours to kill, so he set out for a walk along some large street… after about an hour, he realized how far away he must be, and decided to head back. Thankfully, he hadn’t taken any turns, so it was an easy experience. We did get to wondering though, if he had taken a few turns, how would he have found his way back? He had no map, no sense of direction, didn’t speak the language, or recognize the characters. I somehow can always seem to “sense” North, but I’m not comfortable relying on it 100%, especially not in an emergency type situation, so I’d pretty much be in the same boat if dropped into that situation. I told him, “Good question, but you could always get a cab and have him lead you along! You probably know the name of something, in a form similar enough for him to understand, near enough to where you want to go.” 😃 Heck, in NYC this situation happens all the time! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/10 "2006-04-13T18:01:00Z")
For a light (very interesting) book on the entire subject try Erik Jonsson’s [Inner Navigation](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743222067/qid=1144951043/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-0966587-4595303?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) Really interesting stories on getting lost and disoriented in cities and other places and explanations on how we find our way around with cognitive mapping and other methods. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/11 "2006-04-13T18:09:04Z")
> [@CC](#): > > Find a library. The criteria stated that it was late at night and nothing was open. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/12 "2006-04-13T18:17:15Z")
I founf my bearing around San Franciso when I got there by the landmarks. But if you don’t know the landmarks in the city and where they are in relation to each other then it’s moot. I’m still working on this, damn you **Achooloco** , I can’t get much work done today now! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/13 "2006-04-13T18:26:57Z")
This doesn’t always work, but it might. Most U.S. cities have even-numbered addressed on the north and east sides of the street. So check some house or building numbers. At least you might (yes, I know this is not always going to work) be able to eliminate two directions as not being north if you’re in the U.S. Now I’m trying to figure out how to distinguish north and east without waiting for the sun to rise. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/14 "2006-04-13T18:52:53Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > This doesn’t always work, but it might. Most U.S. cities have even-numbered addressed on the north and east sides of the street. So check some house or building numbers. At least you might (yes, I know this is not always going to work) be able to eliminate two directions as not being north if you’re in the U.S. Now I’m trying to figure out how to distinguish north and east without waiting for the sun to rise. I was thinking somthing similar, if the traveller has entered the city from some sort of highway then know which highway one has gotten off of can help. In the U.S. interstates with two digits, ending in an odd number run North and South and two digits ending in an even number run East-West. But this idea does not take into account if the person knows how they came off of the ramp and it presupposes the traveller is in the U.S. As for the OP, he/she is obviously not having any difficulty with the English language so we have to assume the OP has landed in a completely non-English speaking country. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/15 "2006-04-13T18:57:15Z")
It would be possible, depending on how much you know about the city. Unless you’re speaking of being in a city _you don’t even know the name of_, having just got off a highway _you couldn’t identify by number_, the city having no gross distinguishing features you’re familiar with (rivers, bays, harbors, lakes, mountains), you don’t even know what _hemisphere_ you’re in, and you have to determine where you are _without exploring._ Also, the city can’t have any lawns, trees, parks, or natural spaces. This increasingly hypothetical situation is sounding like beaming onto a Borg cube. Even so, signs and stuff displayed behind store windows tend to fade and yellow when exposed to strong sunlight. Finding the side of various buildings with the consistently least-faded signs would be the moss-on-the-tree technique. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/16 "2006-04-13T19:09:29Z")
Well, if you can get two candidate directions, and you know those two directions are “north” and “east”, then it’s easy to tell which is which, since east is to the right of north. You won’t find much moss in a city, but depending on the climate and time of year, there may well be other clues in the vegetation. For instance, in Bozeman in a week or two, the dandelions will be blooming on the south sides of the buildings, but not on the north sides. In general in the Northern Hemisphere, plants will bud, bloom, and go to seed quicker in the spring, and trees will keep their leaves green and attached longer in the fall, on the south side of buildings and other shade (reverse this for the Southern Hemisphere, of course). If there are snowcapped mountains visible from the city, these can also be used to cue in the same way: Snow will last longer on the north face of a mountain than on the south. Of course, if you have snowcapped mountains around, you can usually recognize them as landmarks, too (in Bozeman, if you can see a mountain with a big white M on the side of it, that’s northeast). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/17 "2006-04-13T19:18:48Z")
Ok, if I just got dumped in some unknown city I might just try to figure out which way the wind was blowing. It’s not foolproof by any stretch but there’s a chance I’d be correct since wind often blows in an easterly direction. I mean, hell, if I’d ended up that screwed as to not have a compass (something I always travel with), a map, and no understaning of the language it wouldn’t really matter at that point if my “wind” trick didn’t pan out anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/18 "2006-04-13T19:34:43Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > This doesn’t always work, but it might. Most U.S. cities have even-numbered addressed on the north and east sides of the street. So check some house or building numbers. At least you might (yes, I know this is not always going to work) be able to eliminate two directions as not being north if you’re in the U.S. Now I’m trying to figure out how to distinguish north and east without waiting for the sun to rise. I am not sure what you mean by most. I grew up at an even address on the south side of the street (in Philadelphia) and my grandmother lived around the corner on the west side, also with an even address. Montreal (ok, not in the US) uses exactly the same system. And my daughter lived in an aptin NY City on the north side with an odd address. I cannot offhand think of an address on a N/S street in NY. I lived for four years in Urbana and Champaign, IL and there the north sides used even numbers, but it is hardly standard. In Tokyo, it wouldn’t help at all. The house numbers seem to be at random (I think they were done by building order and there is no odd/even division) and they appear nowhere on any building I ever saw. Only the postman and the local police know them. The best place to be is Memphis (you know, “non-compass-Memphis”). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/19 "2006-04-13T19:41:04Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > This doesn’t always work, but it might. Most U.S. cities have even-numbered addressed on the north and east sides of the street. To further add to the previous post, Chicago has even numbers on the north and **west** sides of the street. So it wouldn’t work here, either. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534/20 "2006-04-13T22:01:51Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > To further add to the previous post, Chicago has even numbers on the north and **west** sides of the street. So it wouldn’t work here, either. Ahem. I **did** say it doesn’t always work. The solution is to piece together a bunch of clues. I just offered one possible clue that might be validated by other clues. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-your-way-without-a-compass/352534.md?page=2)