With or Without Google Maps

Even Alicia Vikander says it's her favorite app - she relies on it whens she's in a strange city (Yes, it's a fact I watch way too many of her interviews. Check out the video of her teaching Swedish slang.....Nirvana). On Monday afternoon, I learned exactly how much I rely on it. So, Monday morning, I took the bus from Gothenburg to Oslo. I had cell service the entire way. The entire way. Even in tunnels. Then I arrived at the bus terminal in Oslo. I expected (assumed) that all I'd have to do was program the name of my hotel into Google Maps and bada bing! I'd have directions. No stress. Chaos controlled. In a matter of minutes I'd be safely checked into my hotel. 

Wrong. I had no GOOGLE MAPS. Technically, I had nothing. Well, except a shit storm of chaos. In a word, I was fukt. In a couple words, my phone wouldn't connect to the Internet. Just whip out my map of Oslo? It's the fucking digital age. Do they even make those anymore? What to do? WHAT TO DO? I was in a strange city at a bus station and my phone wasn't working. At all. Ok, so I'm sure something worked. I probably could have called my mom to cry, but that wasn't going to get me any closer to my hotel. 

I think we've talked about me and chaos before and how much I detest it. I can't do it. I can't. In the face of it, the introvert in me looks for a blankie and wants to curl into the fetal position. It's my nemesis. But it's also why I travel. At home in Austin, chaos is minimal. I've worked the same job for fifteen years and lived in the same part of town for years; I avoid new things and new places. When I travel, everything is new and chaotic. The challenge is to stay in control and minimize the damage to my psyche. As of Monday afternoon, I'd never failed. 

But I'd never been to Oslo. If my phone service had decided to take a crapper in Copenhagen or Gothenburg, the first two stops on my Scandinavian vacation, I'd have been ok enough. Neither were new or chaotic. I had reservations at the same hotels I stayed at a year ago so all I had to do was remember my way. Which I did successfully without incident. Or Google Maps. Oslo, though, was different. 

Just breathe.

Because I had looked up the location of my hotel in relation to stuff around the city when I booked it, I kind of remembered its general direction from the bus station, North-ish. I could head that direction. Of course, I had no idea which way North was (Yes, I realize my iPhone comes with a compass app that doesn't require an Internet connection..... In the moment, that was not my first thought).

Just breathe. 

I opened Google Maps again. Still nothing. This time, though, I noticed that somehow, some way Google knew my current location. And it was on a map. Given that I knew basically where my hotel was, I studied the map until I found it. Then I plotted a course the old fashioned way - I read a map (I could have still used that fucking compass app...). 

Just breathe. 

And wouldn't you know it? The little blue dot that marked my position moved closer and closer to the location of my hotel. Soon enough I arrived and checked in. Of course, that only solved one of my issues. If this Internet dis-connectivity thing continued, Oslo was going to be tough. For one, I wouldn't be able to text or access the Internet unless I connected to wifi. For two, I wouldn't be able to text or access the Internet unless I connected to wifi. When I travel my phone is EVERYTHING. Map, tour guide, weather adviser, connection to home, boarding pass, camera (I know the camera works without the Internet), calendar, running partner. I print out a copy of my itinerary before I leave home just in case, but I certainly never expect to use it. It's the digital age.

Just breathe.

In all my travels (acknowledging I'm far from a world traveler), my phone has never not worked. Given that Oslo is one of the biggest and best connected cities in the world, surely there was something I could do. I opened Settings and hunted around. Cellular? Nope. Carrier? Yes, Carrier! If I turned off the "automatic" toggle, I could chose a different carrier. I picked a different one and boom! I had LTE and Internet. Chaos averted. 

Exhale.

I knew I was dependent on my phone, but I didn't think it would matter. Not where I travel. Turns out nothing's a given. Just to be safe I grabbed one of those cheesy city maps all the tourist hotels have. It'd be good enough in a pinch. Google Maps and the Internet can crap out now and I'll be ok-enough. Well, at least not lost, geographically speaking. 

Just to solidify my ability to navigate Oslo without Google's help, I challenged myself another way today. I got off the bus several stops before my hotel (I wanted check out the waterfront) and walked to my hotel without the aid of Google Maps. I glanced quickly at the map to check where I was and the general direction I needed to go, then I set off. Soon enough I found that I knew exactly where I was. Sure, Oslo's not that big. However, after the previous day's map-free-chaos, I'd decided to pay attention, really pay attention, to where I was. I walked the city for a good couple hours memorizing land marks, then I studied the map when I got back to my hotel (the actual paper cheesy thing). I might not know street names (those suckers tend to be long and unwieldy in Scandinavian cities), but I can still know where I am (I ran this morning, too, without the aid of map or tour guide and didn't get lost. Go me.)

When I get to Bergen on Friday, I'm going to grab a map and take a walk. That's not to say I won't rely on Google Maps; I don't think I could get around it if I tried. It's the digital age, for Christ's sake. A paper map can't tell me what bus to take or what time a museum opens, nor can it send me to a website so I can see a restaurant's menu. I'm addicted and almost completely reliant. Almost. 

Challenge presented, challenge accepted, challenge overcome. Every day I travel I learn something and I get stronger. I don't know how I do it, but I always seem to find inner strength right when I need it most. I knew when I started this adventure last year - an introvert who fears experiencing new things alone traveling alone - that I'd either sink or swim, love it or hate it. Turns out, with or without Google Maps, I love it. 

*** Alicia, I hope you can read a real map, just in case. Then again, what am I saying? You have people. One phone call and the cavalry shows up. Fame has its perks. But where's the lesson in that? ***