Directions

A little while ago my husband's car key broke whilst he was at work. Obviously not wanting to have to start a new life within the school grounds he sent me a message to let me know so that I could cycle to his workplace with his spare key, deliver it to reception and cycle home. All in all, a pretty solid plan, it's not far and the route is not hard.

The problem is that I had never been to his place of work before, and I am shockingly bad at following maps or directions, I don't know why, I am an intelligent woman with many great qualities but a sense of direction is not one of them.

With trepidation I popped his postcode into Google maps, hoping that there would be some kind of magic that allowed me to arrive at my destination without turning any corners. Unfortunately (but expectedly) this was not the case. The little blue line told me that it would take me around 15 minutes to arrive where I wanted to be using a variety of quiet roads, I could have shaved time off if I were willing to cycle on a busy roundabout in the middle of a town populated with heavy traffic, but that's a thing I would rather avoid. So I stared at this blue line, I followed it with my finger, I recited the names of the roads it traversed like a mantra, muttering aloud as if it were a prayer to whatever deity or saint it is tasked with keeping travellers where they want to be.

Steeling myself, I put on my helmet and picked up my phone, the invention of smartphones serves as a wonderful tool for those of us who are directionally challenged, I hoped that my obsessive muttering would keep the route I was planning in my head, but knowing that my phone will almost always be able to find me and tell me where to go is very comforting. Even so, I was scared. Probably more scared than it was reasonable to be before taking a relatively short bike ride on what was actually quite a pleasant day, but the combination of new places, it being my first real ride on a new bike and the uncertainty of my route left me feeling as if I were about to deliver an important presentation to a group of important and judgemental people.

I did have to stop several times on the way, and my 15 minute ride did take me at least half an hour as I rode around various loops and cul-de-sacs, but I got there. And I got back. I managed neither journey flawlessly, but I managed them, and I arrived home feeling as if I had climbed Everest.

Next time I am called to go to a new place, well I'll probably still be scared, but at least I'll know that I can probably do it.