The lost art of getting lost
One of the quietly profound pleasures of travel is renting cars in 'unusual' locations. I've done it in Azerbaijan, Colombia, Syria and Peru (of which more later). I've done it in Yerevan airport, Armenia, where the car-rental guy was so amazed that someone wanted to hire a car to 'drive around Armenia' that he apparently thought I was insane. Later, having endured the roads of Armenia, I saw his point – though the road trip itself was a blast.
Recently I rented a motor in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where they were slightly less surprised than the Armenian had been, but nonetheless gave me lots of warnings and instructions, chief of which was: 'Don't rely on Google Maps, it doesn't work out here.' As soon as I was told that I felt my heart lift, because it meant there was a fair chance of getting lost – and if I like renting cars in remote spots, I love getting lost, anywhere. And yet sadly, as technology gets ever more efficient, it becomes harder to end up completely clueless as to where you are. We are losing the fine art of getting lost.
Before the advent of Google Maps, GPS, Starlink and the rest, getting lost was a doddle. I've done it everywhere. Africa, Asia, the Americas, Surrey, the Antarctic peninsula (in a storm), Dartmoor. I've been really lost in south London without an A to Z (remember the A to Z?).
Amid this lexicon of lostness, some adventures still stand out. In Peru, while researching a thriller in the grey, weird, eerie Sechura desert north of Lima, I went looking for an ongoing archaeological dig, the excavations of which have revealed the unsettling sacrificial rites of the 2nd- to 9th-century Moche people, known for their incestuous sexual practices, culminating, it is thought, in the strangling of their own teenage children.
So it was that I got completely lost in the dusty scrub, failed to find the dig, panicked for an hour, then, as I finally worked out where I'd parked, I felt a scrunch underfoot.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- The Guardian
Chaos on German autobahns as Google Maps wrongly says they are closed
Confusion reigned on German autobahns and highways at the start of one of the busiest holiday breaks of the year on Thursday, after Google Maps indicated wrongly that vast swathes of them were closed. People using the navigation service around major conurbations such as Frankfurt, Hamburg and Berlin on motorways between western, northern, south-western and central Germany were confronted with maps sprinkled with a mass of red dots indicating stop signs. The phenomenon also affected parts of Belgium and the Netherlands. Those relying on Google Maps were left with the impression that large parts of Germany had ground to a halt. The situation was compounded by the fact that large numbers of Germans were on the road at the start of a four-day break for the Ascension holiday. The closure reports led to the clogging of alternative routes on smaller thoroughfares and lengthy delays as people scrambled to find detours. Police and road traffic control authorities were forced to answer a flood of queries as people contacted them for help. Drivers using or switching to alternative apps, such as Apple Maps or Waze, or turning to traffic news on their radios, were given a completely contrasting picture – reflecting reality – with traffic mostly flowing freely on the apparently affected routes. In ganz DeutschlandChaos bei Google Maps: Dienst zeigt unzählige falsche Sperrungenhttps:// Users took to social media to query the situation, as well as to vent their frustration. 'They can't have closed ALL the motorways,' one user said. 'It's like the autobahn system has suffered an acne outbreak,' quipped another. Some speculated over whether there had been a major terror incident, others suspected the intervention of a foreign state in a hack attack. The cause of the digital navigation breakdown is still unclear. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion A spokesperson for Google told German media it was sifting through the information trying to ascertain what had happened. He said once alerted to the irregularities by users, who are able to report suspected errors, the service started checking on and removing incorrect closure signs. He said: 'We cannot comment on specific cases.' He emphasised that the information is gathered from three main sources – a mix of third-party providers, public sources such as transport authorities, and the input of individual users. The map data is updated constantly, though the speed of this varies, he said. 'In general, these sources yield a strong basis on which comprehensive and up-to-date map information is based,' he said. Road users were advised to check more than one source of information when planning future journeys.
Spectator
2 days ago
- Spectator
The lost art of getting lost
One of the quietly profound pleasures of travel is renting cars in 'unusual' locations. I've done it in Azerbaijan, Colombia, Syria and Peru (of which more later). I've done it in Yerevan airport, Armenia, where the car-rental guy was so amazed that someone wanted to hire a car to 'drive around Armenia' that he apparently thought I was insane. Later, having endured the roads of Armenia, I saw his point – though the road trip itself was a blast. Recently I rented a motor in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where they were slightly less surprised than the Armenian had been, but nonetheless gave me lots of warnings and instructions, chief of which was: 'Don't rely on Google Maps, it doesn't work out here.' As soon as I was told that I felt my heart lift, because it meant there was a fair chance of getting lost – and if I like renting cars in remote spots, I love getting lost, anywhere. And yet sadly, as technology gets ever more efficient, it becomes harder to end up completely clueless as to where you are. We are losing the fine art of getting lost. Before the advent of Google Maps, GPS, Starlink and the rest, getting lost was a doddle. I've done it everywhere. Africa, Asia, the Americas, Surrey, the Antarctic peninsula (in a storm), Dartmoor. I've been really lost in south London without an A to Z (remember the A to Z?). Amid this lexicon of lostness, some adventures still stand out. In Peru, while researching a thriller in the grey, weird, eerie Sechura desert north of Lima, I went looking for an ongoing archaeological dig, the excavations of which have revealed the unsettling sacrificial rites of the 2nd- to 9th-century Moche people, known for their incestuous sexual practices, culminating, it is thought, in the strangling of their own teenage children. So it was that I got completely lost in the dusty scrub, failed to find the dig, panicked for an hour, then, as I finally worked out where I'd parked, I felt a scrunch underfoot.
The Courier
4 days ago
- The Courier
How Pitlochry tourist office closure sparked resurgence of printed tour guides
It's an open secret that Pitlochry is one of Scotland's most popular destinations, but when the tourist information centre closed last year, visitors found themselves somewhat lost. And in the age of digital first, it's perhaps expected for the company printing physical tour guides to see a continuing decline in the number of maps they manufacture. But not so for Explore Scotland. The makers of Explore Pitlochry and Highland Perthshire are instead experiencing a significant boom. And this year they've printed off 70,000 physical guides to meet anticipated demand. The business has worked with Pitlochry artist Dylan Gibson to reflect how the area has changed over the past three decades. Highland Perthshire companies have also welcomed the surge in guide use, allowing them to advertise prominently to tourists seeking somewhere to stay. The guides have been circulating in Pitlochry and Perthshire for 30 years. And when the new custodians of the maps, Marius and Angela Bezuidenhout took over during the pandemic, the expectation was for around 40,000 of them to be used seasonally at most. So in September last year, when VisitScotland shuttered their Atholl Road offices, they thought they would end up making fewer maps, as tourists turn to Google Maps and Amazon Kindle digital versions. But the opposite has happened, says co-director Marius. 'The demand has been unprecedented,' he said. 'We are already having requests for restocks. 'People probably thought that the printed tourist guide was dead, with everything moving online. It seems not. It is actually more popular now than it has been for years.' Head of design and development, Ali Penman, added: 'The previous owners and producers did a great job and published the Guide for 30 years. 'However, when the tourist office closed, there was no information that hotels, B&Bs and businesses that cater for tourists, could leave for guests. 'What it also shows is that Highland Perthshire remains a destination that visitors from near and far want to come to.' First published in 1997, the guide has recently benefitted from an update, upgrading old maps of Highland Perthshire towns which had not kept pace with new buildings and historic sites. The new hand-drawn maps have been commissioned from Pitlochry-based illustrator, Dylan Gibson, who has also incorporated popular walks on the new maps. 'Marius wanted to produce a definitive map of the area which tourists could use as a physical map and take with them, explore the town and the surrounding area. 'Some of the existing maps went back 20 years or more,' Dylan said. The guide nods towards changing visitor trends with QR Codes now placed on the maps, offering additional online access. But even with 10,000 downloads to Kindle last season, demand for an old fashioned paper map is higher by a factor of seven. 'The guide has been a remarkable journey,' added co-director Angela. 'People love accessing trip information and booking from phones but they also appreciate something physical that they can keep, even as a memento.'
