Looking south (I think!) up (down?) Pennsylvania (I think!) in Indianapolis (I think!)

As previously mentioned, the hyper-organised grid layout of American cities is a vast improvement on The British Way. It’s logical, efficient, and it makes getting around easier. At the time, I predicted going places being trivial in solo ventures.

I was wrong.

It still makes sense, and I still think it makes for a great navigational system, but it requires a mindset that is far removed from what I’m used to in Britain.

We navigate by landmark in the UK. There’s simply no other way until you know the place well enough to get around without thinking. (Comparison here, if you need it.) We turn left at the hardware store, and take the second right after Craven Road, and drive about 100 yards past the school before turning right. You can’t do that here, because everything looks the same.

I tried to do it that way for the longest time. For the first few months here, the landmark I used to know what street we live on was a traffic cone sat on the corner. I know exactly where we live now, and I could get there blindfolded within a radius of a few blocks, but the cone was still the marker I used at first, and it became a habit after that. Because that’s just the way I’m used to when getting around. And then last week the cone disappeared. As I approached the corner of our street, I noticed that it was missing and had an “am I going the right way?” moment. Without the cone, it looked the same as any other corner in the area.

Outside of abandoned traffic cones, landmarks I was using were certain buildings and stores (turn left when you see Kroger), distance travelled (take the second right), and other miscellaneous structures like bars, war memorials, and trees (seriously).

It took a total of around 4 months to realise that simply wasn’t going to work, after noticing I could still barely make it downtown (a 20 minute walk) without getting confused.

So now I’m doing what I should have done in the beginning — making sure I always know what direction I’m travelling, and trying to remember which streets lead where and in what direction. Heather has been extremely patient with my constant confusion (“we’re walking north, right?”, “South!”), and trying to give helpful pointers where possible — like the fact that we live north of the city centre, and certain streets being one way in a particular direction (Delaware is a one-way north¹). I usually forget within minutes, but I’m finding eventual recognition with repetition.

I’m not really sure why this is giving me such difficulty — it’s pretty fucking straightforward, really — but I suppose the way you navigate your city or town (or country, even) becomes such an ingrained habit that it’s hard to change. Baby steps.

1. The high number of one-way streets is also an oddity I’m getting used to. They’re rare in the UK, generally reserved for back alleys and small roads that aren’t wide enough to accomodate two cars. Here, they can be 4-lane behemoths that serve as major streets.