[netsharc]

Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear mentioned in passing, that you should always program your navigation device so that north is up, not direction of travel is up, and (in his typical hyperbolic manner) "you'll never get lost again.".

I liked this tip, it shows me the general direction I'm going (east/west/south), not "up" through an unfamiliar geography that morphs when you turn.

[arnvald]

Oh my, I find it so annoying when maps in public places don't have north up.

Usually when I'm in a new place, before leaving my hotel I look at the map and I remember where to go, which turn to take etc. There only problem is metro - I don't know which exit to take, so I always check the map of the area at the metro station. So I look at the map, I know the street I'm going to is in the south, but I cannot find it. Only then I remember to look around the corners of the map, and then I realize, that south is on the right!

I've been wondering why don't just all maps have north up, and I could never come with a very good explanation.

[oe]

Barcelona is one place where this happens. The coast goes SW - NE but many maps are aligned to make it look going north - south. We got lost once trying to navigate west :)

[lurquer]

Ha. Can't believe someone mentioned Barcelona. Went to London and a few other European cities and my cheapo-wrist compass made it so easy to navigate.

Then we reached Barcelona, where every damn road is at a 45 degree angle! Argh. It's not trivial -- at least when you've had several sangrias -- to stand at an intersection, facing NE, and then try to figure out whether to turn left or right to go SE. (Yes, yes... In sure someone here will reply as to how simple it all is... But, keep in mind the sangrias...)

[et-al]

Those maps are usually orientated so that the direction you're looking at them is how things are laid out.

From traveling in different countries, I've learned to first look for the compass rose before assuming north is up.

[mannykannot]

This may be unique to following roads. As far as I can recall, the advice when performing pilotage (navigating by the correspondence of the landscape to the map), whether hiking, sailing or flying, is to orient the map according to the direction you are looking, which is most often the direction you are traveling. When using an electronic map in a car (as a passenger of course), I prefer north-up if I am finding a route and forwards-up if I am following directions.

[toast0]

That's fine if your navigation device has a big screen or is at least close to square. With the typical aspect ratio on a phone, you can't see far enough ahead if you travel east or west with north up. (See also, why don't more navigation systems show you the next three or four turns, so you know which lane to choose when you make turns)

[ptaipale]

I didn't know Clarkson said this (though I know he said many other things). Here I've been taking his advice without even knowing he said it.

[salgernon]

This is a low grade source of tension between my wife and I. Neither of us used gps until about 12 years ago. She didn’t actually drive for a long time - was driven or took public transport. So north doesn’t mean nearly as much to her as “what’s right in front”l right now”. Similarly, I find the 3D exit ramp overpays distracting - I always feel more comfortable with plain maps.

[ptaipale]

Likewise. It's not because my wife can't read a map - she's an orienteering enthusiast and can handle it, but alas, orienteering competitors tend to hold their paper map with the direction of their line of running on top.

I can't even do a run in the forest so that I'd turn the map, I still want to keep north to the top.

[4ad]

Maps that always rotate with you are the bane of my existence. I don't understand why would anyone want such a catastrophe. Luckily, you can lock north on top in most apps.