Where to get direction

The DirectionsRenderer handles display of the polyline between the indicated locations, and the placement of markers at the origin, destination, and any waypoints, if applicable. View example. A DirectionsRenderer not only handles display of the polyline and any associated markers, but also can handle the textual display of directions as a series of steps.

Doing so also ensures that you display the appropriate copyright information, and any warnings which may be associated with the result. Textual directions will be provided using the browser's preferred language setting, or the language specified when loading the API JavaScript using the language parameter. For more information, see Localization. In the case of transit directions, the time will be displayed in the time zone at that transit stop.

When sending a directions request to the DirectionsService , you receive a response consisting of a status code, and a result, which is a DirectionsResult object. The DirectionsResult is an object literal with the following fields:. Version 3. For versions 3. Only the main route should be draggable. Users can drag the main route until it matches an alternative route.

A DirectionsGeocodedWaypoint contains details about the geocoding of origin, destination and waypoints. The DirectionsGeocodedWaypoint is an object literal with the following fields:. Partial matches most often occur for street addresses that do not exist within the locality you pass in the request.

Partial matches may also be returned when a request matches two or more locations in the same locality. Note that if a request includes a misspelled address component, the geocoding service may suggest an alternative address.

Suggestions triggered in this way will also be marked as a partial match. Note that a route now refers to the entire start to end journey, rather than simply a leg of a parent trip. A DirectionsRoute contains a single result from the specified origin and destination.

This route may consist of one or more legs of type DirectionsLeg depending on whether any waypoints were specified. As well, the route also contains copyright and warning information which must be displayed to the user in addition to the routing information. The DirectionsRoute is an object literal with the following fields:. A DirectionsLeg defines a single leg of a journey from the origin to the destination in the calculated route.

For routes that contain no waypoints, the route will consist of a single "leg," but for routes that define one or more waypoints, the route will consist of one or more legs, corresponding to the specific legs of the journey. The DirectionsLeg is an object literal with the following fields:.

A DirectionsStep is the most atomic unit of a direction's route, containing a single step describing a specific, single instruction on the journey. When using the Directions service to search for transit directions, the steps array will include additional Transit Specific Information in the form of a transit object.

If the directions include multiple modes of transportation, detailed directions will be provided for walking or driving steps in a steps[] array. That step will include detailed walking directions for that route in the steps[] array, such as: "Head north-west", "Turn left onto Arelious Walker", and "Turn left onto Innes Ave".

The DirectionsStep is an object literal with the following fields:. Transit directions return additional information that is not relevant for other modes of transportation. These additional properties are exposed through the TransitDetails object, returned as a property of DirectionsStep. The TransitDetails object exposes the following properties:. Note : If you are rendering transit directions manually instead of using the DirectionsRenderer object, you must display the names and URLs of the transit agencies servicing the trip results.

Most cities will use generic icons that vary by the type of vehicle. Although I can tell my left from my right, it takes a tremendous amount of brain power and repetition to consciously figure out how I am oriented with respect to where I want to go.

I think it's because I'm trying to memorize the sequence of lefts and rights to get from one point to another. If I don't actively do this to orient myself, then I will be hopelessly lost even when I'm outside and driving where I can see landmarks.

I'd probably have to memorize some sequence of landmarks if I didn't want to rely on "left" and "right", which may be marginally better since landmarks never change. I had to determine largely by trial and error which direction to turn after exiting a lecture hall to reach the appropriate exit so I wouldn't have to backtrack once I got outside the building.

It's so embarrassing but I'm glad I'm not alone! Jenny, Boston USA This same thing is true for me, I am notoriously horrible with directions and I get nervous when I am put in situations where I have to give directions.

I am glad that there is a term for it and I am not alone because I hate feeling like I'm stupid because I can't remember simple directions that everyone else remembers with ease.

I am a very good student, I graduated college with a 3. I am intelligent; more intelligent than all of my friends but I still get lost while journeying to the simplest of places. I hate it and its not fair, but at least I'm not alone. Jermaine Felder, Jersey City United States Just googled this today and came across this site - finally, other people understand!!! I get lost in shopping centres, parking lots, can't find my way from one place to another if it is outside my regular route Ann, Canada This is me.

I do not buy the dispraxia argument. I have a very good sense of space with things in-front of me. I can draw and visualise. I can walk into a room but to leave I need to make a conscious effort to find the way out. If things look similar from street to street or rooms look the same I can't navigate at all. Simon, London UK I too have this problem and have had it all my life.

I'm 54 and the last few years I have been trying to sort it out by making myself do journeys that I am unsure of. It has not been successful. I even get lost when walking the dog. My husband can find his way anywhere, even if he has never been there before.

He says he feels as though he has an inbuilt compass. I come out of a shop and don't know which way I have to go. I used to get lost in schools, colleges, hospitals, etc which made me feel very panicky. It is a very frustrating problem which is very confidence draining but I am also relieved to hear that it is so common.

I also have a lot of dreams about not being able to find my way around. I get made fun of all the time. No one understands the difficulties I encounter due to this challenge. Anna, Aguanga Usa I am so relieved to know I am not alone.

When attempting to retrace my steps I invariably turn in the wrong direction, even when exiting a room, store, etc. I started wondering whether it had anything to do with being left-handed?

More importantly, is there anything that can be done to fix this? Cecilia , Johannesburg South Africa I am pleased others are the same as me. I have been shouted at some many times, because I cannot remember directions. I have always been a slow learner, and have to write down things in order to remember.

I am now doing a driving instructor course, on with my part 3, and worried so much that I have taken on something beyond myself. Karen Wilson, newcastle upon tyne England Thanks to all for sharing. My son, now middle aged adult, has always had this directional problem in spades.

First real notice came when we learned that he could not find his classroom or other locations in school. But to get from point B to point C, he must first return to point A. His mother has similar problems. His sister and I do not.

Warren Rucker, Ruckersville, Virginia U. This makes me feel so much better. I learned to drive late in life 54 and thought it was down to that but reading these posts it sounds so much like me.

I dont get lost in my own town but going anywhere strange is a nightmare and frightens me to the point I will make excuses not to go. I am extremely dangerous in a strange town with lots of lanes mainly because I panic and all rational thinking goes out the window. I also find that even when I do find a place successfully reversing the route on the way back is very confusing for me.

I'm finding it's getting worse as I get older, too, though maybe I'm just less confident. Driving is hopeless, and walking is almost as bad although at least on foot you don't have to find a side street to turn round in and then get disoriented by turning round and go the wrong way out of the side street I feel as if the magnetic direction-sensing gizmo everyone else seems to carry inside them is broken in me, and it just spins helplessly whenever I change direction.

I currently live in New Haven CT where the city is constructed as a grid around a central square, which should make things easy but I swear the square spins round as soon as my back is turned.

I took a short cut home the other day and ended up back where I started. I think I don't take enough notice of landmarks, partly because of a lifetime of allowing myself to be guided by others whenever possible, and partly because to some extent things look different each time I see them. Just like the square in New Haven, I suspect them of having moved when I wasn't looking. Very very glad to hear the stories of all you other lovely people and know I'm not alone!

OMG, never put it together. I can hardly remember dreams The dreams I can remember always have to do with me never being able to get out of a building, area, etc. I spend the entire dream trying to get to my destination but never making it before I wake. I just felt like crying after reading this. No one seems to understand, I've never encountered people who have suffered to the same degree as me before. Even to the point of getting lost in buildings I've been in hundreds of times.

Or having a blue sign as a landmark which gets changed then getting completely thrown by it. I won't go on motorways because of the roundabouts, I'd never know when to get off and have real panic attacks about it.

It has stopped me doing so much in life. Everybody smirking as you take a wrong corner in the supermarket hall you grew up in, the fear when need to go to a new place. Seeing that evil yellow diversion sign that fills you with dread. I have above average abilities in some fields and have quite often heard "how can someone so intelligent be so dense, ha ha!

Even on a route I know by landmarks, I can't do it in the dark and put me at a random point and I'm lost. Show me a short route 20 plus times and I'll still get lost and have no memory or sense of where to go. It's actually very sad because people don't laugh and ridicule dyslexia but we put up with it, often agreeing and apologising for our stupidity all the time. I'm glad I'm not alone.

Sheila Kempster, Southampton Hampshire England oh my goodness how nice to stumble upon a site that makes me feel 'normal'. For me driving is fine in familiar territory but outside of that its like I have to concentrate so hard I think fire must shoot out my ears!!! Its so frustrating!! Highways, road maps, malls especially any direction that requires turning around!!!

If you want to lose me I could tell some stories about me that would make you cry or laugh!! But yeah, it affects more people than you realise..!

Gladys Diener, United States I have the same problem. Memorizing the route before leaving helps but if I miss a turn I am lost.

While coming out of a shopping complex for example, I have no idea which is the way back home. I use the GPS and once I am on the right road I remember the route so maybe the situation is not so bad. Suraj, Gangtok, India I have lived with this handicap for many years. I am top of the bell curve in left handedness and wonder if there is a connection Ann Bristow, Broughton Village ,Australia Me too guys! I get lost coming out of bathrooms, trying to find stores in our mall that I've been to a million times since I was 7.

And just forget the roads. It probably took me literally 30 times to memorise how to get through my neighbourhood. If I had a big house I'd be lost. Wow, someone needs to study us all. Looking at a map just confounds me, and I feel so stupid. I only drive for very short distances, and even so I am at terrible risk of getting lost even in familiar areas. When someone asks me for directions I get majorly embarrassed.

It doesn't help that my boyfriend knows the city like the back of his hand, and if I ever have to drive him somewhere, I think I might die! Thank goodness for GPS, it's my only hope. Trying to get directions from someone - they talk too fast and you shake your head yes. It is very embarrassing.

They say turn right after 2 stop signs. As soon as you get back in the car you are in a sweat as you can't remember a thing the nice person has told you. My family get annoyed at me when they try to give me directions and I just can't take it in. If I, by some miracle, find my way I can never reverse it to come back. I feel so stupid but no matter how hard I try I loose concentration and get lost. I am sure there must be a scientific reason for this.

Lilian Docherty, Edinburgh Mid lothian I have this problem and I found out a few years ago my dad does too.

East and west kick my ass when I'm driving. It happens indoors as well. I will simply not know which way to turn when walking out of a room in a place where I've been for years.

GPS has been a savior "turn left on blah road" but it's a crutch. I have PhD and teach at a university and have extremely good recall with music, which may or may not be relevant. I can sing entire albums from start to finish but I go the wrong way when trying to exit the building I work in! The brain is a funny thing. What got me to this place was a 60 Minutes TV show special on "Face blindness" which I found fascinating and made me wonder if it's a second cousin to "directional dyslexia.

Secondly my sense of direction is so poor its unbelievable! My first day at a new job, I spent 20 mintues trying to find my way out. Then the manager saw me I told her I was struggling to find the exit.

She looked at me like I was a lobotomized gibbon. Not only that I get lost in central london and I used to be a tour guide! Ohh the shame. I too cannot find the exit in big shopping malls and has countless times of wandering around in car parks finding my car. Even when I have used the route many times, I get confused when I drive in the reversed order. Now I realise that my sense of direction also affects my line dance skills.

Any dance that requires me to change direction - degrees turn, full turn, left and right turn I get confused, panic and totally cannot follow the steps. My poor sense of direction is worst at night. GraceWong, Ipoh Malaysia I got lost coming home today. I was given directions to my cousin's house,and with much anxiety, made it;however, as always.

I have no idea where I went wrong, and terms like 95 North and 95 South are useless to me. I graduated with a 4. Only those closest to me know my secret. To me, north is whichever way I'm facing. I know that's not so, but it seems so. I had to develop a short hand note system as early as the fourth grade because I had to write down everything the teacher said which forced me to focus. Otherwise, I would get lost in the ramifications of her first sentence, and while I was mulling it over, she was going on to something else.

My fifth grade teacher threw a book at me while I was standing at the chalkboard trying to do long division. Her words still ring in my ears, which were hot with shame,"Sit down, Stupid, you can't learn this.

As far as dreams, my constant nightly terror was a large granite wall, cold and unending. I couldn,t find my way around it. I couldn't see the top of it. I spent all night it seems in that dream world trying to find the end of the wall.

I am right handed, and I believe, extremely right brained-very good with words-spoken,read, or written. I am so disorganized that I can never find anything, and when I try to organize I overdo it, and can't remember which folder I filed it in. I have no sense of time either. How does someone like me achieve a 4. Mama has trouble with right and left also. The pencil in the air trick? I thought I invented that one. I could not find my way to school, then got lost at work.

I get lost in ladies toilets going into another cubicle thinking it is the exit. I cant find my seat in church if I go forward for communion! I go round in circles in supermarkets passing the same shelves maybe 4 times. I can step out of a shop and think I am in another town, things are not quite 'the same' it has been so bad that my husband has to come and find me.

Driving is a nightmare and closed roads and diversions leave me with severe panic. I could tell of incidents that would make you die laughing but I am crying inside. I am now 73yrs old but can recall this manifesting itself when I was about Bless all you brave people for confessing, this is the first time I have done this myself.

Theresa Solly, Kent England Thanks guys. Saved me a trip to the neurosurgeon to make sure everything was intact. I used to think I was dumb not being able to find my way out of a doctor's clinic in a hospital when I was able to get in? When I do a lot of turns in driving, I lose my sense of direction; though not totally - thanks to GPS. I have been an outstanding student throughout my student life and excelled in my professional life ,passed a lot of difficult examinations and achieved a lot of successes modesty aside , so how could I feel and act as stupid in my sense of orientation when I am driving around the small city streets I have lived in for years?

If my friends hitched to a party or a co worker to a conference area, and there are changes in routes and planned venues, I am totally embarrassed. However, don't worry guys, I have read somewhere before that this occurs most commonly to smart, gifted and or people with above - average intelligence.

However, I just speculate that perhaps we think so much that we may have focused on one side of our brains and other functions may have been used less? This disorientation problem deserves real research. I feel ashamed and oh so stupid when I get lost or can't remember instructions sequentially.

My husband and kids have learned that the only way i can learn is the "One, two, three" method. Each part of completing a direction or process especially on computer I have to write each step down, even if there are only 4 steps.

When I go to a mall, if I don't memorize the department I have to walk through, or the name of the entrance I entered, I get so lost, and it is definitely a feeling of panic. Preparing for a trip and then taking it is painful.

Recently I got so lost driving, there was no cell phone reception, just endless towns with no place to stop to get help. I thought I was inside a nightmare. Forget about reversing a trip or finding an unfamiliar place at night.

I am so happy to learn that I am not alone and stupid. I worked at a well known newspaper for 30 years and before that I had a professional singing career. But those things don't matter when I am lost and afraid. I have had this problem since as long as I can remember, I get so embarrassed when I get in the car with someone and they ask me for directions and I do not know them. I cry about it from time to time because I'm 20 years old and I thought that I should know my whereabouts but sometimes they just don't click.

I have no idea what it is that I'm focusing on in the car but directions just don't stick! I'm getting better and I have gotten better since I started driving earlier this year but still it's a problem that I've honestly been trying to fix. Have to take stock, look for land marks and hope there aren't too many doors in a building. I'm sure to take the wrong one. Some members of my family are the same.

I have lived in the same small town for almost 7 years and I can never find my way around! I was about to go to pizza hut so I turned on my gps like always but I couldnt even make sense of it and I just pulled over and cried really hard for a good ten minutes. I'm an intelligent person and talented in many areas, always A's and B's in school in college- but put me in a car or a big building and I'm done for.

I thought I was stupid or something and have always been made fun of for it and it really hurts. There is literally nothing I can do to help with this directional dyslexia and it is mentally and emotionally exhausting.

However I am very glad to know I'm not the only one. I hope someone can find a way to help people like us some day. Until then I guess I will have a panic attack every time I'm traveling to a new place or just my hometown pizza hut.

Thank you for sharing everyone. I have the same problem and it's pretty bad. Although I've never told anyone this, it's one of the main reasons I didn't go to college. I knew I could never find my way around and it would just be too embarrassing. I'm 31 and I still have trouble finding my way around the local mall!

I find I have to try and memorize what stores are next to what instead of just automatically knowing which direction they are in. I live in a small town so I do know my way around here but when it comes to bigger cities I just get disoriented. GPS really doesn't help a lot because I also have trouble judging distances and all the roads just seem to "jumble up" in my head. I also have trouble with math as i said before the "jumbled up" feeling also applies to numbers. I often wonder if it is somehow connected.

I don't ever talk about it because someone without the problem isn't going to understand it or be able to relate. So I'll continue to do my best to try and hide it. Rhonda, Maryland USA I've always thought there must be a reason why i can't remember directions, when my brother seems to be able to find his way to places we've never been to, and always has been able to. We got a lift through the town, after many beers, to a house party.

Come 5 the next morning my brother managed to guide us straight back through the town, on foot, after a couple of hours sleep, with a hangover and straight to the car! When I exclaimed 'that's ridiculous, how have you managed that you lucky git? It just felt like the way to go! We were only across town!! I'm currently learning to drive and just failed my test, for the 4th time!

It soon became apparent however, that asking me to drive from point A to point B, even without changes in the route, without help was an exercise in futility. It doesn't seem to matter how many times i drive a route, it never seems to cement in my mind, there's always an element of it that feels like the first time I'm seeing it. I realise i don't have that knowledge at my disposal. It's very scary and frustrating and i have all the empathy in the world for you all.

I just can't find my way through the town I live in when I need to in order to pass my driving test. And yeah, i feel like an idiot too, but know I'm not and neither are any of you ;0 Hang in there all!

Paul, Huntingdon England I have laughed to the point of crying when reading through the above comments.

I am just like all of you! Explore the World Map. Africa Ask: What is all the way to the west on this map? Arctic 4. Have students use the compass rose. Extending the Learning Show students the true cardinal directions using a compass app on a smartphone or tablet. Replicate the directions by drawing a compass rose in chalk on the classroom floor, or alternately on the playground blacktop. Review what N, S, E, and W represent. What do you see? Have students create as a homework assignment their own 2-D or 3-D maps of the world using their choice of media, such as paints, clay, collage, tissue paper, or other art materials.

Have them include a compass rose and label the continents and oceans. Find your state in the collection of State MapMaker Kits. In small groups have students assemble their state and find the compass rose. Then as a whole class they can write or call out information on the relative positioning of different features in the state based on the compass rose directions. Ask: Is the direction north always at the top of a map?

Challenge students to redraw a map of their state, their neighborhood, or the classroom including a compass rose where the south arrow points toward the top of the page. Show students maps that include a north arrow instead of a compass rose. Ask: Why would a mapmaker choose to only show the direction north? How might a map reader determine the other directions? Teaching Approach Learning-for-use. Teaching Methods Discussions Modeling Visual instruction.

K-2 : Use maps, graphs, photographs, and other representations to describe places and the relationships and interactions that shape them. K-2 : Use maps, globes, and other simple geographic models to identify cultural and environmental characteristics of places. Resources Provided The resources are also available at the top of the page. The procedure for finding your direction with the watch differs based on where you are in the world.

If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, position the watch so the hour hand points at the sun. Find the halfway point between it and the hour hand -- that direction would be south, while the opposite direction would be north.

During daylight savings time, which occurs spring through early fall, your direction will be slightly off. To get the correct direction, adjust your watch's hour hand earlier by one hour to get the most accurate results. Method 5. Evaluate the trees for their heaviest side. Trees are rarely symmetrical, so one side always seems to have more growth than another. Because plants need sunlight to grow, the side that gets the most sunlight will usually appear heavier. In the Northern Hemisphere, the sun spends most its time in the southern part of the sky, so the denser side of the tree will usually be facing south.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the heavier portion of the tree usually points north. If you only look at one or two sides, you may not be able to tell where the tree is most dense. It's easiest to use this method with lone trees in an open field. In a wooded area, trees compete for sunlight, so it's not as obvious which direction they're growing in.

Look for moss on trees. In many cases, moss tends to grow on the side of the trees that is most shaded. In the Northern Hemisphere, that means you would usually find moss on the side of the tree that points north.

In the Southern Hemisphere, you would typically find moss on the side of the tree that points south. Trees that are shaded by other trees in a wooded area and trees that grow on slopes may throw off your direction. Look for the giant barrel cactus in the desert. This cactus, which is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, grows slanted toward the south.

That's because the northern side of the plant is mostly shielded from the sun, so it grows more quickly. If you spot a giant barrel cactus, you'll know the direction that it's growing toward is south, so the opposite direction is north. The giant barrel cactus typically grows between 3- and 9-feet, and features spines in a variety of colors, including red, tan, and yellow. Older cacti often produce bright orange or yellow flowers.

Track the location and movement of the sun in the sky over an hour or two. The sun and moon both generally move east to west. Not Helpful 12 Helpful Not Helpful 1 Helpful When you can't use the sun, moon, or stars to navigate, observing nature is often the best way to find your direction. Looking to see which side of the tree is heaviest, as described above, can help you differentiate between north and south. Not Helpful 18 Helpful I need to write an essay on how we use the things in the sky to navigate like the stars and moon and sun.

What should I do? You can use this fact for your essay: in the Southern Hemisphere, there is a star constellation called the southern cross it looks like a kite with a tail. Wherever the kites tails points is South. Not Helpful 4 Helpful 9. The southern hemisphere is the bottom half of the globe. Not Helpful 6 Helpful The southern-most tip of Sri Lanka is almost six degrees north of the equator. That puts it in the Northern Hemisphere. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 5. Pakistan is located in the northern and eastern hemispheres.

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0. If I stand erect, with my arms outstretched and my right arm pointing at the rising sun, would I be facing North or South?