On being ... a direction follower

By Ingrid Sapona 

Do you use Google Maps? Or maybe Waze? Or Apple Maps? If you do, how do you feel about it? I use Google Maps, but I’ve got kind of a love/hate relationship with it. 

Until about 18 months ago I rarely used a navigation app. One reason is that once, while using Waze, my phone started to heat up. I tried to exit the app but was unable to. Then I tried to turn the phone off, but I couldn’t do that either. I was pretty far out of the city and there were no cell stores to be found. Eventually I came upon a Staples store and I stopped to get help. 

I walked in feeling quite stupid but I asked the (as my father would have referred to him) young fellow if he could help because I was concerned my phone was getting quite warm. The first thing he did was try to turn the phone off. When he couldn’t do so, he suddenly seemed more sympathetic to my situation. He reconned the phone was overheated. (Gosh, is that why it was getting warm?) Then he went on-line to look for a solution. To my surprise, he suggested putting it in a frig for a few minutes to cool it down. Thankfully there was one in the staff lunch room. Cooling it that way worked and we were able to turn the phone off. But, I never used Waze again. 

So, for a long time, if I was going somewhere I had never been before, I preferred mapping things out on-line and printing the directions. Old school, I know, but it worked. Post-Covid, however, traffic has gotten so bad here in Toronto that most people I know rarely head anywhere without checking a navigation app. For me, Google Maps has become an indispensable planning tool because it estimates the travel time. Though it’s still annoying that a trip that used to take 25 minutes now takes way longer, if I check Google Maps before I leave, odds are better that I’ll leave myself enough time to get there. On the other hand, the app’s dynamic adjustments to traffic conditions can also add to my frustration. Nothing more irritating than being 15 minutes into a trip that Google initially estimated would take 1 hour and 10 minutes and en route it recalculates and tells me the destination is now 1 hour and 15 minutes away. Ugh…   

If I’m going someplace I know how to get to and I’m using Google for ETA information, I typically don’t pay attention to the directions she gives en route. (In case you’re wondering, yes, I’ve got a woman’s voice programmed on the app because I don’t like a man’s voice telling me what to do.) I keep the app on while I’m driving because sometimes, based on the conditions ahead, she suggests a faster alternative. But, unless the new route is lots faster, I usually just continue on the route I’d normally take to that destination. When I ignore her directions, I do feel like a disobedient student and I usually mutter a quiet “sorry”. But the more times she tells me to do a U-turn, the less apologetic I am as I tell her to adjust her routing. 

Not long ago I was going someplace I’ve been to a few times. Google Maps showed a couple different routes and none of them were that familiar to me, so I let her choose. She took me on a delightful route that meandered through some lovely side streets. It was such a nice drive, I made a mental note of the neighborhood, as it would be a lovely place to become more acquainted with. 

Indeed, the serendipity of discovering new streets and parts of town as a result of following Google Maps has happened a few times lately. Every time I’m surprised by such a discovery, I chide myself for not being more open to simply following Google’s suggestions. Besides, though we’ve all heard stories of drivers who blindly follow an app’s directions and then end up in a lake or worse, even if I let her guide me, it’s not like I’d ever stop paying attention to what’s actually up ahead. So, I guess what I’m saying is that I’m finally coming around to the realization that if I’m going to use such technology, I’ll get more enjoyment out of the experience by embracing it, rather than second guessing it. 

What about you? How good at following directions are you? 

© 2025 Ingrid Sapona