[shiro]

I guess the main complaint of OP is not about finding a particular location, but to create a mental map with the area of concern. To create mental map efficiently, the map has to show large enough to cover the area of concern, yet has to show enough landmarks to associate with. It's crucial to have both information simultaneously in a single sight---if you have to do something to see one information at a time it becomes very inefficient.

That said, I suspect that there's a fundamental difference of processing maps among people; I like to store a map in my head and trace mentally. When I drive, I prefer to see the map always north up, so it's easy to synchronize with my mental map. However, most car navigation systems orient the map as your direction---I find it very uncomfortable, but apparently that's most people want.

[kibwen]

In Google Maps, tapping on the compass icon in the upper right will toggle between north-is-up and forward-is-up views.

[wtbob]

I really wish someone would add an east-is-up mode, since that's the traditional orientation for maps — and the root of the word 'orientation' to begin with.

[pvinis]

I've never seen a map with east-is-up. Why is/was that preferred?

[groovy2shoes]

Because the sun rises in the east. At least in Indo-European cultures, which were once reliant solely on agriculture and transhumance, the sun was extremely important. Without a compass, it's also extremely convenient, being the easiest celestial body to spot. As such, ancient Indo-Europeans stood facing east when performing religious rites. The reconstructed proto-Indo-European words for "north" and "south" are also the words for "left" and "right" respectively, because the north is to your left when you're facing east, etc.