3 ms·
I recently moved from the southern to the northern hemisphere. My (subjectively) good sense of direction and spatial awareness was _completely_ thrown off, and
by beAbU 3y ago
I recently moved from the southern to the northern hemisphere. My (subjectively) good sense of direction and spatial awareness was _completely_ thrown off, and it took me about 3 months to reorient myself and gain the confidence I had before. All because the sun is now in the wrong part of the sky.
- daveslash 3y agoI moved from the north east corner of the US to the south west corner. That threw me off. It used to be "everything in the US is to the south-west of me", whereas now it's "everything in the US is to the north-east". I lived on the Wasatch Front for a while, and mountains always ran north-south on your East. Now I work on the Front Range, and mountains run north-south on your West. I know the feeling you're describing.
- saltcured 3y agoI had a similar experience, but in the tropics, where this changes seasonally in the same place! I got over it, and like to think I've improved my self-navigation. But it's possible I've just deemphasized shadow perception, and might be worse off back where I first developed the skills...
- sib 3y agoYes! I moved from the US east coast (first three decades of life) to the west cost and it took about 6 months to reorient, as the ocean was now on the wrong side, which messed everything up...
- roughly 3y agoI moved from southern California, where the ocean was west, to Santa Cruz, where it was south, to San Francisco, where if you're looking at water the only thing you know is you're not looking south, and that's about when I gave up.