I’m in my 50’s, so when I learned to drive there was no GPS or phones or anything to help me. I liked to explore and see things, so it all had to be done by maps. So I quickly learned to oriented myself against NSEW and the roads.

Later in life I likewise got into hiking prior to GPS being widely available. That really motivated me to be aware of my environment and directions.

I am not perfect at it and can get disoriented if I’m not careful, but generally speaking I almost always have a background thread in my head keeping track of where I am and my orientation when driving.

This came in incredibly handy a few months ago when my phone died and I was picking up my son at a friend’s house an hour away I had only visited once before. It took a bit but I was able to find the house again with zero electronic aids.