One of the best things about being fit is in having the confident ability to get lost and explore, to find and see places you wouldn’t otherwise see. Running, cycling, swimming, walking, climbing – most of the things I do let me explore. From the tops of (or sometimes partway up) cliffs you see obvious views, but from the sea you also see new perspectives on the coast. The different paces of running and cycling let you see different things. It’s very different to driving speed.
I’m bad at travelling but I’m good at getting lost. I don’t get lost by making navigational mistakes, more I intentionally lose myself as best as I can. I enjoy the feeling. I’m good at exploring and finding my way out. At the very least I can backtrack and follow the breadcrumbs. My son Jack hates this and it’s taking me a while to convince him that sometimes, when you have the time, getting lost is a good thing.
Away on holiday these skills tend to come to the fore. Cycling down the coast I can take the time to pick random turns, following a general sense of direction if not the map itself, often with a general idea of a roughly planned out route that usually takes too long because of unexpected hills or sightseeing. Or maybe because I got lost.