Modern Times

Getting Lost Might Be The Last Great Fantasy Of The 21st Century

When was the last time you were lost?

I used to teach English in Lyon.

It isn’t the biggest city in the world, but big enough to get lost in.

And I did. Many times. Regularly ending up in industrial estates and backstreets with absolutely no idea where I was. Lost in the labyrinth of an old French city with no way out.

This was 2010. Smartphones were available, but I didn’t have one — just an old Nokia 105. So I used ‘old-fashioned’ maps to navigate my way around the city to get to my clients.

You might think this would be stressful. It was.

But I enjoyed it.

Do you remember the bit in the Shawshank Redemption when Andy plays the Duettino Sull’aria from The Marriage of Figaro over the prison speakers?

He knows he’s going to get punished, but he doesn’t care. For those few moments, he’s in paradise.

That’s how I felt some days. Standing in a part of the city I’d never been to before. Lost but happy.

Until my boss phoned.

‘Where are you? Your clients are waiting!’

If I’d had Google Maps back then, none of this would have happened. I would have never had my Shawshank Redemption moments. Just opened up my phone and voilà! There I am. A blue circle.

This was a really important time for me. I discovered a whole city simply by being lost. On my days off, I would roam the city further with a few cans of beer and a sandwich in my bag.

It’s difficult to get lost these days. You can leave your phone at home. But who does? This raises fundamental questions about who we are.

If we can’t get lost, then we’ve already relegated ourselves to the status of robots. Automatons whose days are dictated to by a phone and a flashing blue light.

The counterargument to this is that technology helps us, it doesn’t control us.

I personally enjoy getting lost in strange cities, but most people don’t. And for many, having the safety — or at least perceived safety — of a phone in their pocket is a great comfort. Not only is it useful, but it might save your life!

Difficult to argue against.

But by living like this, how can we explore if we always know where we are? If the path is already laid out in front of us.

Let’s imagine, the route to my lessons in Lyon had already been determined? That I knew where I was going. Depart now. Arrive 13:54. Follow the blue line.

That would have been hellish!

I didn’t enjoy my job that much; I found teaching boring. So sitting in my car with my map stretched over the steering wheel, a cigarette burning in one hand, trying to figure out where I was, injected some fun into the day.

And if I couldn’t work it out, I had to invoke human contact. Go into a café and ask the owner if he knew where I was. Show him the map. Engage, chat, have a coffee, a quick beer. Discuss the weather, who won the match? You know, normal stuff.

But if I’d had a phone, I would have looked at the blue circle, and would have never been late for a class again.

Until my phone went dead…

Because then what? What happens when the lights go out. When there’s no power. How will we know where to go?

Or will we just fumble around in the dark once again. Lost.

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