The edgelands of edge cities: re-structuring the void

Moments of disorientation are something I relish. That instant when you know nothing about your surroundings. I look at these moments as a challenge, a test of my spatial awareness and navigational skills. I would describe myself as one of those people who refuses to ask for help when negotiating my way around a new city. This is not because I am too proud to admit when I am lost but because I enjoy finding my way back. That feeling of heightened awareness when one is looking for even the smallest fraction of something that is familiar. This is one of the many reasons why I love to travel. Over the past few years I have travelled to 4 continents, exploring different cultures and architecture. Regardless of where I am in the world, every time I travel to a new place I always find myself doing the same thing upon arrival. I stand still and imagine where I am in the city. I find myself drawing up a mental map that I fill with all the details I already know about the city and as I am walking down the street I am constantly adding to this map. I am aware that I am doing this but I do not know how or why I obtain certain information and not other details. This makes my mental map invariably incomplete and partially distorted, but yet I can find my way around the city with reasonable ease.