Originally Posted by
joer1212
How could you possibly not understand that? How would you know how to navigate a strange city you've never been to without a map?? Would you just wander around, like a chicken without a head? How would you find anything?
And, hell yes, I would be better off staying home rather than getting lost in a foreign country like that. I travel intelligently, not haphazardly.
I've been to plenty of new places without the need to carry a map with me 24/7.
Having done some basic research and reading signs on the road will work in quite some destinations.
Having a GPS enabled map app on the phone is useful to get some local information around you, but basically to explore a city, any person with a sense of directions/distance doesn't need a map to get directions right.
You seem, however, to be a completely different person, and obviously you wouldn't find fun in such an environment. Just don't expect everyone to be like you.
Just like I don't expect that everyone can read a map properly. In fact, everyone enjoys to explore a city in different ways.
I also quite agree with you on one point - exploring a city by foot, between the "points of interest", is a great thing. I've done this in many places, but I don't really "prepare" for that even 1% as much as you do. Still I get around. And a change my plans quite frequently when exploring in such way, staying flexible.
Also, neither in Shanghai nor in Taipeh you can really get lost. There is literally a sign to the nearest metro station at every corner, and it's seldom that a metro station is farther away than 1km anywhere half downtown.
While I would certainly take more precautions when travelling in "dangerous" cities (say, Detroit, Sao Paulo, Jo'burg) whenever I'm in a reasonable "safe" city, just going with the flow is the best way to explore for me. And this works in about 90% of the "big city" destinations. Be it in Jerusalem, Madrid, Shanghai, Singapore or London. Now I don't say this is the best for everyone. Some people really need to have their "checklist" ticked, some just don't feel good when walking around without clear directions. But for me, and quite some friends I know, this is how we're exploring new places.