I am a female and I don't ask for directions... even though I'm famous for getting hopelessly lost. Fortunately, I usually intuit pretty quickly that I'm going the wrong way or that I've missed a turn somewhere. I call it "using the force". When I get that "feeling" that my direction of travel has gone off course, I pull over and look around for the path that "glows". Now, I have been late to several things but I have always managed to get where I need to be. My husband thinks it's hilarious and will ask me when I've returned from God knows where, "so what did you see while you were driving around, trying to find your way?" And that's the cool part, I always come across the neatest stuff. The bad part is that I can never find them again because I didn't know where I was. That's why I always carry a camera in the car. My son, fortunately, is quite understanding as well and has been known to comment, "we're lost again, aren't we?" My redemption is that I can usually reply, "Yes but look at <insert whatever cool thing here>!" Then I don't have to tell my husband about the neat stuff we found because my son beats me to it.
Now maps are wonderful things but I generally forget to take them with me. My husband keeps putting the darned things in my glove compartment but then I don't have room for anything else so I take them out. He's planning on some sort of car mountable GPS thingie for my next Christmas present.
p.s. I don't ask for directions because I invariably run into a local who, while fun to chat with, will share some useless piece of information like "turn left at the boulder sitting on Carter's front lawn but make sure it's the big one because there's a smaller one on Flemming's lawn." Who? What?? Where???
