[nabs-l] A Couple More Travel Questions...

[Carly Mihalakis]

Good morning, Kerri,

Sounds like we have things to talk about!
Wanna call me here in Berkeley, California?
cell: 408-209-3239:05 PM 12/9/2013, you wrote:
>Hi Everyone:
>
>First, I want to thank everyone for responding to my last post a
>couple of weeks ago. You have no idea how much your responses helped
>me. It truly made me feel better and encouraged me to know I am not
>alone and others struggle as well. Your responses also made me think
>about a lot of things, and made me realize how I could push myself
>more.
>I have a couple more questions. One thing I worked hahrd on in
>training but still majorly struggle with is mental mapping. For me,
>mental mapping is thinking about and really paying attention to where
>I am going and the turns I make.
>What often happens though is that if I am in a restaurant or somewhere
>I will do well mental mapping part of where I need to go but will
>forget one little detail. Then, because of that one little detail I
>forget I will often get lost.
>For example, if I am in a restaurant and I follow the hostess to my
>seat I will often forget a turn or something and will get lost when
>trying to find the door once it is time to leave.
>Another example is if I am somewhere and I try to find the bathroom
>often I will find the bathroom and then mess up getting back and find
>myself lost unable to find my seat.
>Or, I will go somewhere with someone and when we arive they will give
>me good directions and I'll again remember most of it but then when it
>is time to leave I will forget one little turn or thing and I'll go
>the wrong way.
>This makes me feel very embarrassed and awkward. I wish I had better
>mental mapping skills and these types of things didn't happen. I
>realize travel is not perfect, but I think in my mind I still feel
>awkward and embarrassed when I get lost or don't know where to go.
>Do others struggle with this mental mapping thing? Is it common to
>forget one little thing when you aren't familiar with somewhere and
>get lost?
>What do you do in these situations and how do you keep from feeling
>negative about them?
>When I was in training if this happened the next day I would have
>another travel class and would do something else and so would easily
>move on and make up for whatever mistake I made the day before.
>However, now that I don't get nearly as much practice and
>oppportunities, when I don't do well mental mapping I feel negative.
>Do you just have to tell yourself you will try harder next time and
>laugh it off?
>Another thing I struggle with is when I go to say a basketball game or
>the mall or somewhere by myself sometimes I want/need someone to show
>me where something is and or walk me to my seat and other times if
>something is nearby I just want to get directions and try to
>explore/find it on my own. I notice when I try to ask people to give
>me directions though they often insist I walk with them or they take
>me to where I am trying to go. This is sometimes fine, but I think it
>would help my confidence a lot if sometimes I could just get
>directions and try to go on my own.
>When I was in training if i asked directions and the person wanted to
>take me I would say"I am sorry but I am in training. I'm supposed to
>just get directions."
>However, now that I am not in training anymore when I try to ask for
>directions and the person insists on taking me or walking with me I
>don't know what to say. I'm not in training anymore so...
>How do you handle this? Should I say something like "Actually, thank
>you but I am trying to work on some skills I learned. Please just give
>me directions."
>What do you say to people so you can just get directions?
>Thanks,
>Kerri
>
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