Reading a map is not the same as following a route. One is knowing where you
are. The other is knowing where to go next. Both are useful and they are not
the same thing.
Orienting the map
Hold it so north points up, or north points toward you, or north points toward
the thing you are looking at. Consistency matters more than convention.
Once the map is oriented, every line on the map is in the direction it appears
on the ground.
Finding yourself on the map
- Look around and identify something you can see from both the map and the
ground—a building, a tower, a hill - Find that thing on the map
- Understand that you are somewhere on a line between you and the thing
- Identify a second thing and draw a second line
- Where the lines cross is where you are
Following a route
This is different. A route is a line from here to there. You do not need to
know where you are as long as you are on the line.
Pick a feature on the map. Walk to it. Pick the next feature. Walk to it. Repeat.
Why this matters
A person navigating by a line does not know where they are if the line wrong.
They follow it until it is obviously wrong, then they are confused. A person
who knows where they are can navigate by any route, or by no route at all.
The difference in practice
I taught someone to navigate by a line—always keep the church on your left—and
they walked in a circle for an hour because they turned around and did not
notice.
I taught someone to orient the map and identify landmarks and they navigated
the same territory in the dark.
The map is not a route. The map is a conversation with the ground about where
you are.