People sometimes report - e.g. in travel writing - that some places to visit will inevitablly end in getting lost, and sometimes even report that is part of the fun. Is it possible to change one’s general outlook on life so that one could find “fun” in being lost? Isn’t that contrary to the nature of life on earth? Are these people just kidding themselves? What’s the S.D.? Cecil? Pedants? Experts? Dopers?
Back before the days of GPS devices, I use to be pretty good at dead-reckoning when driving my car or riding my bicycle so I wouldn’t call it being lost lost. Often when riding my bicycle, I’d just head off down a road that I’d never been on before especially when I lived in England. I saw some sights off the beaten path that were truly outstanding. I still like riding down the road less traveled.
Find that you are lost provides you with an exciting challenge. Getting un-lost. During the process, you may meet new people, discover new places, get eaten by creatures that you’ve never heard of before.
Go with the flow, enjoy the moment, use your skills to solve the puzzle, and quite possibly enjoy yourself.
You see, taste, eat, drink, smell, photograph, feel, hear things you didn’t expect. You can, if lost, study a map or GPS intently and miss everything going on or just accept that you have no friggin’ idea where you are and take in the scenery.
That is if you’re lost physically in an urban or suburban area - which I have been countless times. If you have either a phone number or address of your hotel (I’m guessing you’re lost because you’re traveling and not suffering from dementia) then you always can just jump in a taxi and either go to your hotel or find a hotel nearby.
Also there’s a sense of achievement if you find out where you are and your way back to your bed. This gets more difficult with fading light, landmarks tend to become more difficult to find with neon or pitch black everywhere you look. Again, just savouring the area - how high are the walls around that house, why do those people sit on their veranda, are those young people out for a fun night or do they hang around there every evening, is this coffee better than the last place, can I get a good photo of the city if I steal my way into that tall building and get on the roof, what music would be suitable for (compliment) this environment, could I go to a local bar and talk with people in there, is there anything all-night I can stay in if I can’t get back to my hotel, or where is safe, dry, and enclosed I can get a few hours sleep before morning?
There are things you can do to possibly increase your enjoyability of being lost, but a lot of it depends on the person. Some people like more order and planning than do others. Some things that can help:
[ul]
[li]Probably the most important thing is to have the time to explore–either having nothing planned later, or having plans that can be blown off without consequence[/li][li]Being in good health, able travel long distances and spend a long time awake without feeling drowsy or exhausted[/li][li]Being prepared, having proper clothing, money, and whatever else is needed[/li][li]An interesting location that is worth exploring[/li][li]Being somewhere that you feel safe; if you don’t feel safe wondering around, you’re not going to have a good time[/li][li]Having good company who you enjoy spending time with[/li][/ul]
I don’t think many people intrinsically enjoy being lost, but rather the feelings of exploration and camaraderie that a challenging situation produces. It isn’t for everyone, but for young, healthy people with lots of time, no fears, and nothing else to do, it can be quite enjoyable.
Start wandering around a place like Venice, Italy. It is like a life-sized labyrinth consisting of narrow passageways and bridges over the canals. You will get lost badly there but it is part of the fun. One reason is that it isn’t bad in a case like that is that you get to see interesting things which is the point of going there in the first place. You also cannot get too badly lost because the whole city is made up of islands so you can’t wander past the outer edge unless you take a boat or decide to swim the Adriatic.
OP - you didn’t distinguish ‘you’ as being alone, with a friend, or with your family. To me the rules are very different, especially if you have family with you. I won’t ever get lost if I’m responsible for anyone else, being lost and having your partner/wife and kids with you is completely different to being on your todd or with a mate or two. Same goes for when I’m taking a class to a lovely cathedral or museum in a city I’m not familiar with. Then, I do not get lost. Ever. No way will I not be 100% aware of my surroundings and which route we should be taking; a totally different kettle of fish.
For some people, finding one’s way through unfamiliar territory is an enjoyable challenge. My cite for this is the existence of corn mazes and hedge mazes, maze-type segments in video games, and those pencil-and-paper mazes many of us did as children.
Did that many a time in Venice. Another great place to “explore” is Tokyo by bus, subway, train.
I’m with the OP. I almost never get stressed except when I am lost. Being lost is not fun, it’s miserable and scary.
I wonder if this is a male/female thing. Any females enjoy being lost?
In that case, I must be female. Venice just annoyed the bejezus out of me. There is usually nothing I enjoy more than strolling around a beautiful city, but bumping into canals and dead ends every five seconds was just frustrating.
Looks in pants
No, I seem to be male. Oh well.
I think most people would agree that getting seriously lost is scary. Getting temporarily “lost” when you know that you can and will find your way back to familiar territory within a specified interval can be fun – if you like that sort of thing; not everyone does, and it’s OK to be either way. It’s a bit like the difference between going on a thrill ride at an amusement park (intense experience but no real danger) and actually being in an out-of-control vehicle.
Ditto Chinatown, NYC.
You’ll live, you’ll be fine.
Back in college, my roommate/best friend and I would regularly get lost (let’s not argue and bicker about who killed whom - not really relevant how or why, and what we were drinking on some occasions). It happened so regularly that I finally embraced necessity and started calling it “adventuring”. We had adventures. From that point on, it was fun.
There’s a big difference between being lost and not knowing where you are. I’m often not sure of exactly where I am, but I know how to find a familar landmark, or a recognizable feature, or ask for help in enough languages that I rarely worry about it in urban areas.
The only time I actually was nervous about being lost was on a trail run at dusk, where I lost my way, lost the daylight, and wasn’t prepared with my phone or headlamp. I ended up using the sound of highway to orient myself, and walked in the dark until I found a trail sign that made sense and slowly worked my way back to the car.
Getting lost in a city, or while driving in an unfamiliar place is a great way to explore. There’s little danger and as long as you’re not on a strict schedule it’ll all work out eventually.
This is better suited to IMHO than GQ.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Cocktails. Cocktails are what makes getting lost fun.
I am a city boy from Los Angeles. I thouroughly enjoy my trips back east and getting lost on country roads. It is never more than a few hours before I end up on a road so i don’t worry about it. Out west I don’t get too crazy on taking dirt roads in desolate places, had a bad experience doing that once.
I’ve had so much fun being lost that I do it on purpose. I will sometimes go off on the bike doing what I call “road chasing” - just head a general direction, usually hitting all the back roads I can find. A lot of times I just turn around 5 or 10 miles down a given path but sometimes I find myself a hundred miles into Ohio and only crossing the occasional highway. There is a pleasure in finding places that really aren’t supposed to be found and being off the beaten path so to speak. And some of the locals you cross paths with are very different but very interesting people. Everyone goes to Disney - I’ve been to Austintown and Tiffin. And probably had more fun doing it.
I don’t think you can make it fun. I think it is fun or it isn’t fun, depending on your personality.
Usually when I’m on vacation, I’ve got no problem being lost. I’m exploring anyway, I’ve got nowhere in particular to be; I may as well enjoy I am than where I “should” be, and I can get there later. Or not. Also, I can’t really be lost, I just don’t know where I am, exactly. I’m probably either in the city somewhere - because I can only walk so far (and if I go too far, I can turn around and go back, or find a bus, or taxi, or something that will take me back eventually). Same with public transportation - it most likely goes both directions. In the car, the road is going somewhere, it wouldn’t be here if it didn’t. It’s not like I’m exploring uncharted territory, so I believe that it’ll all work out eventually. And in the meantime, I’ll just look around at stuff. It’s often very interesting.
I get this from my dad, who is nearly always lost and totally ok with it. My mom gets nervous and agitated and freaks out when she’s lost. This makes trips with them interesting.