Troublesome Travels

If you know me well, you’ll know that I could literally get lost in a teacup. In fact it has been said that I have the sense of direction of a plastic teaspoon; a metal one beats me because it could certainly at least find its way to a giant electromagnet, if nowhere else. I’m not joking when I say that I probably couldn’t even follow the flying coins, keys, and various kitchen utensils to find this electromagnet when switched on.

Both my parents are brilliant at following their noses so I really don’t understand where this Achilles’ heel of mine came from but it has always been the case. I remember in French lessons as a very young child being told to map out my house so that we could name all the rooms in French, but being completely flabbergasted by the task. I’m not sure why I couldn’t get my head round it. It seems I just find spatial visualisation very difficult. It’s not just places though; I find that my hand gets lost on the neck of my cello whenever I have to move out of the comfortable position where you learn to play most of the notes as a beginner. I think it’s for the same reason that I’ve never really gotten on with video games that are any more complex than simple puzzles – I just get lost!

When asked what their biggest fears are, many people will say things like “the dark”, “heights” or “spiders” even though they know these things pose no real danger to them. My biggest fear has always been getting lost and I can assure you that it is far from irrational – I have been known to lose my way in buildings as familiar to me as my school or college.

When I had my Spanish exchange partner staying, I arranged with a friend to meet up with her and her  partner in a café a just mile away from my house. It was this friend’s dad, who, after having dropped off his daughter and exchange partner, told me I was leading my Spanish friend in completely the wrong direction. ¡Qué vergüenza!

As you can imagine there has been many a funny tale with regards to me trying to travel anywhere without adult supervision. One time while taking a coach to the other end of the country, despite being ten minutes early, I missed it because the car park that was listed as the coach stop was so big that I didn’t see it arriving. My dad had to then chase the coach down the motorway for two hours so that I could join it at the next stop! At the other end my friend and I had to make our way to the train station about a mile away. We both got out conscientiously pre-printed maps, worked out where we were and then said in unison “Right, so we need to go that way” and pointed in opposite directions!

It has become so much of a joke for my family that whenever I get home later than expected, they simply ask “Did you get lost again?” The sad thing is; it’s usually true.

I have been getting better though – recently I lost my group on a skiing holiday and used a piste map to find my way back down off the mountain – I was genuinely really proud of myself! My train ticket collection now numbers 27, and I get the bus to college everyday, but I have yet to master tubes. They scare me to no end!

To be fair, it’s not just me who’s funny about public transport. I once had a friend who lived literally up the road from the nearest train station but had never caught a train before and ended up chickening out and taking the bus which is for some reason far less frightening. Another friend who took the train everyday but had never ridden a bus before, once had to ask me about how to buy the ticket and pressing the button at her stop. I don’t blame these people because that was me not so long ago. But it does amuse me somewhat because I thought I was late in getting the hang of these things, turns out I’m not as bad as some.

None of this stops me having recurring nightmares about getting lost unfortunately. Having said that, I also have recurring nightmares about being left in charge of motorised vehicles and about my tuba disintegrating– maybe I shouldn’t read too much into it.