Why I Banned Myself From Using Google Maps

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Emmanuel chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

During my first semester at Emmanuel, I banned myself from using Google Maps. It was my first time living in a city, and as a directionally challenged girl, I knew I would struggle to get around without constantly getting lost. When I committed to college in Boston, my family was excited for me but concerned about how I would live on my own. As my grandpa so delicately put it, “that girl can’t find her way out of a wet paper bag”, and from the laughter that followed it seemed the rest of my family agreed. It was then that the ban had begun. I was determined to navigate this city with nothing but my own brain. Overall, this idea was incredibly stupid, probably because it was born out of spite. However, at the time I thought of myself as a genius problem solver with a brain like Einstein’s. The plan was that each day I would go for a walk. Just pick a direction and walk wherever I pleased for an hour. At the hour mark I had to stop and find my way back to Emmanuel without opening any type of map app. Taking the train was allowed, but only if it was raining, and absolutely no Ubers or Lyfts could be called to take me back to my dorm. 

The first time I did this I left around 11:00am. I did not return until 3:00pm. It was truly a terrible experience. The heat, my lack of headphones, and the frustration of realizing my family was right had me ready to pull up apple maps. While I hate to admit it, I got my phone out and hiked all the way back to school with the help of my directions. It was only when I stared at the map did I realize I had basically been walking in huge circles all afternoon. Only after returning to my dorm and throwing myself to the floor did it hit me how angry I was at myself. The one thing I had set out to do, and I broke the rules on the very first day. The hot shame of not being able to stick it out like I had planned couldn’t be cooled by the grubby tiled floor, but it fueled me for day two. After my final class I set out again. This time with headphones and a little more patience. After walking for an hour I stopped and looked around. I had no idea where I was, and no clue how to get back to Emmanuel. I guessed which direction to head in and hoped for the best. Another hour later passed and I was still lost, but by now the sun was almost down. All of the times I was told not to walk by myself at night echoed in the back of my mind. In hindsight, I probably should have just called an uber, but my stubbornness won out and I kept walking. The Prudential had eventually come into my view like the North Star of Boston, showing me the way home. As I headed for my guiding light I passed the public gardens, Newbury Street, and eventually the Pru itself. From there I trekked past the world’s smallest Trader Joes, Berklee, and eventually Fenway Park, finally returning to the Emmanuel campus just as the chapel bells rang in the new hour.

I would like to clarify that purposely getting lost in a city you don’t know is not something I would recommend. I definitely made my family worry and I got myself into some less than ideal situations. However, I now know how to navigate the city without any problems. I can admit that this idea was not my brightest, but I was continually impressing myself by getting lost and finding my way back. When getting lost didn’t happen as often, I had realized that the whole spiteful plan had actually helped me a lot. I had proven to myself that I could get completely turned around and still find my way all on my own. As I was transitioning to living in a new city and college life away from my family, my long walks had shown me that even if I was on my own I could navigate this new era of my life just fine.