I used to be.
Phone mounted on the dashboard.
Key in the destination.
Follow the blue line.
Now I don’t.
When I drive, I memorize routes. Not just the turn-by-turn, but the structure.
The map of Singapore as a whole. I anchor directions to landmarks, buildings, flyovers, MRT lines.
The mental model matters more than the instruction.
The phone stays face down in the dashboard slot.
My attention is on the road, not on a small glowing rectangle.
Safety improves immediately.
There’s no split-second glance to confirm a lane.
No micro-adjustment because the map zoom shifted.
Just flow.
Before smartphones, I relied on a printed street directory. You had to understand the grid. You had to think ahead.
In Singapore, that’s manageable.
Signage is consistent.
Expressways are logically named.
We don’t have state-level variation like in Malaysia, where signage standards can differ across states.
Do I use GPS in Malaysia?
I don’t drive there.
I fly in and use Grab.
Not ideology. Just context.
Tools are useful.
But dependency is different.
When the tool disappears, do you still know where you are?