[elcapitan]

Looking at the title, I guessed this would be an article about Tristan Gooley, and yes, it was - I read "The Walker's Guide to Outdoor Clues & Signs" and it was both entertaining and informative. If you do outdoor activities, it is a nice supplement (even if you keep using GPS etc). Just parsing the environment a bit better is so much fun and kind of deepens the experience.

I recently started to watch the birds as well when hiking, and that again gave more depth and makes me feel more a part of nature. The example in the article of loud bird cacophony as a sign for something interesting happening is a good one. I was in Berlin's largest park yesterday, with birds tweeting around everywhere, but at some point, it was a bit off, so I stopped and started looking, and sure enough, there was a beautiful buzzard hunting.

Trees are the kind of obvious thing to watch, and they tell a lot about the environment. The next thing I'll try to get a better understanding for is weather phenomena (actually the most helpful thing to learn for outdoor activities as it can save your life). There's also a similar book by Gooley on how to "read water" which looks interesting.

[bklaasen]

Tristan Gooley was interviewed on the Rough Guide podcast late last year: https://pca.st/RvTf I found his approach to staying oriented fascinating.

[nicbou]

I live in Berlin too, and I do that a lot. I put my phone in my pocket, take random directions until I get loss, then slowly find my way back. I discovered a lot of things that way, and learned to orient myself in the city. I also saw lots of nice little gems that go unnoticed if you are not paying attention.

A useful one for Berlin: trains usually drive on the right, so you know which way a station is by looking at the train signs.