Those lost incidents remind me of several occassions with friends over the past few years. In both instances we were in places neither of us had been before and my friends were attempting to navigate using maps and landmarks. I didn't have a compass but I was able to accurately able to to determine that we were headed in the wrong direction and also whether we were headed North, South, Southwest, etc.

In one instance the guy was looking down at the map and then around himself completely puzzled as to why nothing on the map matched our surroundings. I told him that we were headed in the wrong direction and then pointed to where I believed we actually were on the map. Turned out I was right. He asked how I'd known since he felt we were both looking at the same things. My response? That we weren't looking at the same things. He was looking at the map and his surroundings at eye level, while I was looking up. He still didn't get it. So I had to explain the concept of navigating by the Sun or the stars. He had thought we were lost without GPS or navigation software or at least a compass.

Personally, I think we should have had at least a compass or a GPS before we left, but it's still a good idea to be able to do things the "old fashioned way" just in case all that technology isn't available or breaks.