{"id":12593,"date":"2023-12-11T09:38:20","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T08:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/11\/scrawled-bits-of-paper-and-an-a-z-how-i-went-cold-turkey-on-google-maps-ned-vessey\/"},"modified":"2023-12-11T09:38:20","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T08:38:20","slug":"scrawled-bits-of-paper-and-an-a-z-how-i-went-cold-turkey-on-google-maps-ned-vessey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/11\/scrawled-bits-of-paper-and-an-a-z-how-i-went-cold-turkey-on-google-maps-ned-vessey\/","title":{"rendered":"Scrawled bits of paper and an A-Z: How I went cold turkey on Google Maps | Ned Vessey"},"content":{"rendered":"

The more I navigated using my phone, the more unsettled I felt. Was it robbing something from me?<\/p>\n

In August this year I moved to Bristol. After spending most of my life living in villages or small towns, being constantly surrounded by the busyness of a city was a shock. Not owning a bike and not wanting to be reliant on Bristol\u2019s very creaky bus system, I walked everywhere. Almost automatically I used Google Maps to help me. Whereas on a traditional paper map I would first have had to locate relevant landmarks and street names before positioning myself within the map\u2019s landscape, the blue dot on my screen showed me exactly where I was. The procession of smaller blue dots stretching out to my destination revealed the fastest way to get there. I arrived at things mostly on time, and was very rarely lost.<\/p>\n

However, the more I used Google Maps, the more unsettled I felt. I often find inspiration for my writing as I walk. That can come from things I notice as I go, or from the way that walking seems to get my brain to think in a way it doesn\u2019t indoors. But this was not happening. Instead, I simply worried about not following the dotted line. Or in other words, getting lost.<\/p>\n

Ned Vessey is a freelance writer, with a particular focus on landscape and place<\/p>\n

Continue reading…<\/a>
\nThe more I navigated using my phone, the more unsettled I felt. Was it robbing something from me?
\nIn August this year I moved to Bristol. After spending most of my life living in villages or small towns, being constantly surrounded by the busyness of a city was a shock. Not owning a bike and not wanting to be reliant on Bristol\u2019s very creaky bus system, I walked everywhere. Almost automatically I used Google Maps to help me. Whereas on a traditional paper map I would first have had to locate relevant landmarks and street names before positioning myself within the map\u2019s landscape, the blue dot on my screen showed me exactly where I was. The procession of smaller blue dots stretching out to my destination revealed the fastest way to get there. I arrived at things mostly on time, and was very rarely lost.
\nHowever, the more I used Google Maps, the more unsettled I felt. I often find inspiration for my writing as I walk. That can come from things I notice as I go, or from the way that walking seems to get my brain to think in a way it doesn\u2019t indoors. But this was not happening. Instead, I simply worried about not following the dotted line. Or in other words, getting lost.
\nNed Vessey is a freelance writer, with a particular focus on landscape and place Continue reading…Technology | The Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The more I navigated using my phone, the more unsettled I felt. Was it robbing something from me? In August this year I moved to Bristol. After spending most of my life living in villages or small towns, being constantly surrounded by the busyness of a city was a shock. Not owning a bike and …<\/p>\n

Scrawled bits of paper and an A-Z: How I went cold turkey on Google Maps | Ned Vessey<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":12594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12593"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}