I grew up the southern hemisphere way outside of a city in a very mountainous terrain with valleys and walking tracks which I frequented regularly as a kid and

I grew up the southern hemisphere way outside of a city in a very mountainous terrain with valleys and walking tracks which I frequented regularly as a kid and I never got lost. It seems subconsciously I always knew where the sun was. Having moveded to the city, if say I have to drive to a suburb I've not been to before I'll head for it without consulting a street directory or GPS, I only do so when near my destination to fine tune the actual address. This has drawbacks, I sometimes encounter roads that I want to enter with no entry or with one-ways going in the wrong direction or there's a bridge 'missing' when a river gets in my way. What's key is that I instinctively know what direction I want to go and follow my nose so to speak. I have a colleague who's the opposite, he grew up in the city. Occasionally we have to visit some location, factory, supplier etc. together and if he's driving he'll consult a street directory before starting out then hands it to me and expects me to follow it every inch of the way which I find unnecessary and irritating. He's since got GPS in his vehicle which he programs before the journey and I'm subject to its incessant squawking all the way which is also irritating. I simply don't understand why he hasn't a clue where he's going, it's very frustrating to travel with him. I mentioned growing up below the equator. When north in cities like New York which is not home territory I'll consult a map before setting out and not bother to consult it again until I'm near my destination. The trouble with this is that I have to be mindful of making a correction at the beginning of the journey, if I don't then as I've done before I'll find myself traveling 180° in the wrong direction. When south, I don't consciously look at the sun or even think about it but just head where I want to go. When north I have to be conscious of the sun until I get used to it, after some months there my automatic direction flips 180° and I'm back to normal. I recall similar frustrations when doing map reading during army training. To disorientate and confuse us we'd be blindfolded and stuck in the back of an enclosed truck and driven around in 'circles' in rugged terrain for what seemed like hours and then dumped at random locations in pairs. The purpose was to find our way back to base some 20 miles or more away with the aid of a map and compass. We'd then locate our position on the map by a process of triangulation (locating mountains, ridges etc.) then follow the map with the aid of the compass. I'd head beeline for home and only check the compass occasionally whereas some guys would be constantly checking their maps and compasses which would slow us down. What's important to say is that my sense of direction wasn't that exceptional in that I'd reckon the majority of guys who were brought up roaming around in the bush and on tracks as young kids without parental supervision were just as good as or better at directions than me. BTW, I don't have GPS in my car.