I was wondering, how do you handle getting lost? Do you freak out and panic in a cold sweat, or do you go with it saying all roads lead to somewhere??
I read a book based on Lovecraft's Innswich and it made me say hmmmmmmmmms. I generally go with the flow and figure, ok, well I'll find my way there eventually. But the idea of actually being truly lost, of nothing familiar, people disappearing around you...that is sooooo scary to me. How would you handle a situation where you are lost in a terribly foreign place with no idea of how to get home??
Well, I have never gotten lost, mainly because I'm 13 and have no car, also I don't really go anywhere.
But I do have a video to share, from an awesome youtuber called Swoozie.
The whole video is pretty funny, later in the video, but... well you'll see what it has to do with getting lost.
I don't know how I would react when I really got lost. Would I stay calm of would I panic? I trully don't know .
In 2008 I was in Beijing with a couple of my colleges during the olympic games at the invitation of one of the Chinese suppliers from the company I work for. Imagine that I would get tossed alone in the centre of that huge city with people rushing around you who speak a complete unknow language, numerous cars, buses and trucks rushing in all kind of directions, strange and unreadable signs and symbols all around and no not a single familiar something, looks quite scaring to me . But dying of hunger? No. Even there they got a f*cking McDonald's
I really don't get lost. I have an excellent sense of direction, I've had orientation training since childhood, plus I used to work as a land surveyor. I've been called a 'rat in a maze' a few times (doesn't sound flattering, but it was meant as a complement - I hope).
But, if I did get lost somewhere on earth - perhaps awaking in a strange place, I think I would be fairly calm about it (as calm as could be expected). I'm a logical person, and I really don't 'panic'. (I've been told by at least one person irl, that I reminded them of a Vulcan).
If in a civilized area, I would ask people questions - with caution, they could be my abductors. If I was especially suspicious of the people around, I would move away from civilized areas, otherwise I would try to find some military/law enforcement to help me.
If I was in the wilderness, I would try to find a water source, and then stay put (build a shelter/fire/traps, etc.). I would get my bearings (latitude is easy, longitude - well that's a bit different). Knowing which way is 'north' doesn't tell me which way civilization is, but it is useful when I venture from 'base camp'. Hopefully the local fauna/flora would offer some clues as to my locale, as well.
I, of course, would miss my loved ones. I would be more concerned about them then my own plight.
I'd like to think that I would stay calm, and if I had to guess I would say I would, but i've never really gotten truly lost before.
I Cross Country run and bike as well as backback so i've been in plenty of situations where I COULD get lost but i've never had a problem getting where i'm going.
In general day-to-day operations, I rarely get lost. When I'm not sure I'm going the right direction, I turn around and go back the way I came for a bit until I hit something familiar. Or I keep track in my head which direction "familiar" or "known" things are. I usually have a good sense of where things are located in relation to each other in a rather general sense.
Now if I got truly lost (teleported to some weird location)?
First, I'd sit down and have a little panic attack (I know better than to start running about). Then once I've gotten that out of my system, assess where I am, what I have with me, and what I need first (water? a fire? food? money? telephone?). Then go from there. While later having another panic attack.
Rune has it all figured out like a sir. If I got lost in the woods I think I would be more okay with that than getting lost in a completely foreign place that I didn't speak the language or know anyone. I have done a lot of hiking, caving, etc. I could make it back to civs. I'd just go the opposite of the way I think to go.