this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2026
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I still remember... an apartment I lived in till the age of 8... like I could draw a map of the interior...

I still kinda remember some of the places of my relatives that I've been to frequently, although those memories are a little bit more blurry.

I remember some of the schools I've been to... like the general vibe of it, idk if I could actually draw a map... more of a notebook doodle maybe

I used to draw maps of my neighborhood when I was in brooklyn... yeah so... I wasn't allowed much computer time and didn't have a phone... and my brain kinda turned my attention to the surroundings and I just get so bored and draw a map of the neighborhood lol.

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[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 4 points 4 hours ago

When I’m stressed out and need to calm myself, I run through the layouts of old buildings I used to work, live, or go to school in.

[–] CaptPretentious@lemmy.world 5 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Nearly every place. Apparently we lived in a place for a few months when I was first born.

Freaked out part of my family when I drew a map of the first house I remember. I think they finally figured out that children do remember things... And a lot of the shit I was put through I might remember

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 5 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Freaked out part of my family when I drew a map of the first house I remember.

My mom brought me to her workplaces at least once... or maybe more times than that... (I don't even remember how many times tbh) and then one day my older brother wanted to fight me so I got scared and I "ran from home" when I was like 6 years old... and at some point, I had the idea of just I want mommy so I took the bus there and I knew which stop to get off, but she wasn't there at work because she already got notified by grandma so she went to file a missing persons report and so I took the bus home... then I got to the mall area near my apartment and saw a bunch of cops...

so when I told my mom about it, my mom was so shocked that I made my way to her workplace...

I doubt the cops even thought of looking that far, they probably just went around the neighborhood.

(literally Home Alone NYC shit, but it was in Guangzhou, China instead)

I just became like my family's navigator basically.

My mom scolded me for running away, but then also praised me for being smart enough to find my way.

I remember them saying that I used to guided them around places because they stuggled to understand maps or whatever... idk... I don't really remember about those from this point in time, just the memory of being told I was good at finding my way.

I also was their navigator throught NYC metro system... idk if my parents actually sucked at finding their way... or maybe they were just trying to make me feel confident in myself.

[–] curios@piefed.social 4 points 6 hours ago (1 children)
[–] lennybird@lemmy.world 3 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

I launched TFC and went into a dead 2fort server not long ago. That was a major blast of nostalgia I can't even begin to describe. Dustbowl, Well, Avanti, Badlands, etc. Good times and I think my first online mp experience.

That and Battlefield on bonus.com back in the day.

[–] Lor@mander.xyz 7 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

everywhere i have ever been...

[–] massacre@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

Same. I pretty much have eidetic spacial memory.

[–] suzyq@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 7 hours ago

Pretty much, yes. I could probably draw them now, but I make no assumptions that it would be to scale.

I can't draw you a map of routes I've taken, but I can see them in my head.

I remember drawing floorplans for fun as a kid after my dad brought home a book of them from a housing company - that was 30± years ago.

But I can't tell you what I had for breakfast this morning.

[–] hperrin@lemmy.ca 7 points 8 hours ago

I remember basically every house or apartment I’ve lived in, and every office I’ve worked in. Probably quite a few stores and restaurants I’ve frequented, schools I’ve attended. I can recall neighborhood layouts. Basically anything spatial.

Now, can I tell you what someone’s name is two minutes after they’ve told me? Not a chance.

[–] tanisnikana@lemmy.world 31 points 11 hours ago (4 children)

My entire memory operates spatially. I have accurate floor plans of every place I’ve been to at least more than once. I can navigate any number of places. Even still have the layout and significant memories of my old middle school. (Interestingly enough, when I went back there, the whole building felt about 30% smaller in every dimension—hallways narrower and shorter, ceilings lower. Turns out, this is because I’m 30% larger than I was when I was twelve.)

[–] Corngood@lemmy.ml 5 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I'm like this too. I can go back to a city I've been to once, years ago, and I know the way around. I remember the layout and location of my childhood friends houses, even when I don't remember their names.

I'm terrible at remembering exact quotes from books, TV, etc, but I have pins in my mental map for where the scenes took place, even in fictional worlds.

[–] tanisnikana@lemmy.world 1 points 8 hours ago

And I can effortlessly visualize and move through places I’ve been to enough to learn the layouts as well. I’ve stood in the spot, where, back in high school, I turned down a girl who asked me out. I stood there, on a quiet and cold night, on the grass with no one around, and apologized to her, twenty-three years too late. Apparently being turned down was enough to put herself in a tailspin that even at the twenty-year reunion, she hasn’t pulled herself out of. Maybe I’m not to blame? But I still stood in that spot and said sorry.

It’s easy to remember where all the spots are.

[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world 8 points 10 hours ago

I'm like this too

[–] palordrolap@fedia.io 3 points 11 hours ago

Even as a relative youngster I remember visiting previous schools for some reason or another and being astounded by just how tiny the chairs and desks were.

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 3 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

when I went back there

So you got kids now and went to a Parent-Teacher conference?

Damn I'm kinda nostalgic for a school I used to go to...

I mean I kinda wanna go back to the neighborhood where I used to live in and then raise kids there... and then have a moment where I'm like: "Hey kiddo, when your dad first arrived in this country, that was the school I used to go to"... like nostalgia + being able to relate to your kids...

Cuz my parents went to school in China and they had no idea what my experiences were... like I doubt they can relate to me, cuz I can hardly relate to them...

(I remember 1st 2nd grade before I came to the US, they had meter sticks they used to hit kids with and the teacher would throw chalk at kids that looked like they weren't paying attention...)

[–] tanisnikana@lemmy.world 6 points 11 hours ago

No, I don’t have kids. A friend of mine cleans there and asked me if I wanted to see the place after a couple decades away. Dead of summer. No one around, just wandered for a few minutes. Lonely, but nothing moved an inch.

I’m trans, asexual, and taking this virginity to my grave. My bloodline stops with me.

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 3 points 10 hours ago

I went back to my high school as a substitute teacher, but they had remodeled it and aside from a few familiar hallways, it was completely different.

Which is even more confusing than never being there at all, because I THOUGHT I knew where I needed to go, only to find they had moved that room to another area.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 3 points 7 hours ago

Yep. Couldn't tell you dates, names, or many events, but I have a great mental image of what the places looked like and how they were laid out.

[–] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 22 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

I've lived in 21 apartments/houses, and I remember them all except from four where I didn't live for very long.

Side note: I've worked offshore rotation for years, and a ship becomes your home away from home. I remember them all.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Wow, I'd never considered you'd remember a ship that way, but of course you would.

[–] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 4 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

One of the ships is "famous" in the industry; Most seismic companies lease it at some point, and I discovered a couple of years ago that when my former employer folded, my new coworkers employer leased the ship, and we had been sitting in the same chair in the instrument room.

He cracked up when I told him there's a counterstrike map somewhere based on that ship. Because we needed something to do during standby days.

[–] leadore@lemmy.world 3 points 7 hours ago

Yes, I thought back through them and I can totally remember and visualize them. But I've forgotten a lot of the address numbers.

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 3 points 7 hours ago

There was an apartment we lived in when I was 6-7 which for some reason has some hazy spots, but besides that yeah pretty much. Friends' houses, schools since 9ish (at least the parts I went to), every workplace, theme parks, basically anywhere I've been a few times.

[–] crwth@piefed.zip 6 points 9 hours ago

I think I could do fairly well with any place I'd frequently been in, and with enough autonomy to get disoriented and reoriented. Some of the houses I've lived in are not much more architecturally elaborate than a shotgun shack, but I could also do my elementary school, most of a middle school, two college dormitories, and most of a university library.

[–] THE_GR8_MIKE@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago

I remember every place I've ever lived. My mind will not forget those things.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

The house I grew up in? Sure. Like the back of my hand. A couple other places maybe. But there was essentially a decade where I moved so many times I couldn't even tell you what the house or apartment I rented looked like much less what the inside looked like if I tried. It’s been 30 years since I lived in my hometown, I wouldn’t get lost ever, but I don’t think I could find all the places I used to know.

[–] super_user_do@feddit.it 2 points 7 hours ago

I lived in the same house for most of my life and before that I was at my grandparents' place 

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 8 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Yes. Interesting observation that we remember that.

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 4 points 11 hours ago

Lol I thought I had a great memory for remembering my apartment at 8 years old, then I see all these comments and I'm like... oh, so I'm not that special after all

[–] Sharkticon@lemmy.zip 2 points 8 hours ago

Basically anything after 5 I could probably draw you a pretty accurate map

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 7 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

I have only lived in 3 places. I can definitely remember the second place, the longest one. I vaguely remember the first house I lived in until I was 5. Not sure how close my memory is to reality tho. The second house I could just load up a Doom .wad I still have from when I made my house in the game if I ever forgot or felt nostalgia for.

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 1 points 9 hours ago

I made a Quake map of the restaurant I worked at for a college assignment! No clue where that file ended up though. Probably on a zip disk somewhere.

[–] Suck_on_my_Presence@lemmy.world 3 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I call myself a homing pigeon because I have some wicked intuition with spatial knowledge.

So that being said, yes. I could definitely map out everywhere I've lived or visited for an okay amount of time. I could also probably give a pretty decent map of the surrounding areas of each.

[–] warm@kbin.earth 2 points 10 hours ago

Same, I could map everywhere I have visited more than once (real life or virtually), not just where I have lived!

[–] Medic8eme@piefed.ca 3 points 10 hours ago

I have the spicy brain. I remember everywhere I've ever driven to and that's a lot of places. Across Canada several times. Lived in 5 different provinces and traveled extensively throughout. I map everything in my head. I am terrible with cardinal directions though.

[–] villainy@lemmy.world 4 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Every home I've lived in, every school I've attended, and every office I've worked in.

What's weird is when I have a dream that takes place in one of these, they almost always wrong. When I can remember the dream I can also remember exactly how the space was different from my memories. Of course my waking memories are the correct ones, right? Right? Oh no.

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 3 points 11 hours ago

Of course my waking memories are the correct ones, right? Right? Oh no.

I can imagine you being Loid Forger (from Spy x Family) and sneaking into the school and gathering intel lol

[–] snoons@lemmy.ca 4 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Easy, most of the places I've lived in are one bedroom apartments.

[–] thenextguy@lemmy.world 2 points 9 hours ago

We lived in a shoebox in the middle of the road.

[–] FinjaminPoach@lemmy.world 4 points 11 hours ago

I have exceptionally good memory for this kind of thing so yes. I can probably remember the layout of every building i've ever fully explored or 80% explored.

I remember some of the schools I’ve been to… like the general vibe of it, idk if I could actually draw a map… more of a notebook doodle maybe

I think you'll surprise yourself. You piece things together at the time, E.G "I can't go there because it's staff only; therefore that entire area must contain the teachers' lounge, where they make the food, and the headteachers' office." By process of elimination you could probably figure out what each room was used for in your old school even without having gone to all the rooms.

[–] Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 hours ago

Sure, one good one is bike paths, if you’ve used them enough, you get a good general layout of the neighbourhood.

[–] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 3 points 11 hours ago

Any place I've frequented I guess

[–] mrmaplebar@fedia.io 2 points 10 hours ago

Not really. Maybe vaguely. But not as well as I wish I did.

[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 hours ago

I have only lived in 5 places in my life and some of them were for only a few months at a time but I still remember every room of them

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

Hmm, I only have a rough idea about my elementary school, come to think of it. I remember the field outside much better. Later schools are easy, though. Houses are all there, and relative's houses. Certain stores and a church or two, as well.

I remember a radius around every place I've lived outside, but could only draw it geometrically where there's been grid layouts. Otherwise it would be kinda abstract, like they did it in Rome:

Central Europe and Africa pictured, lol.

[–] hdsrob@lemmy.world 3 points 11 hours ago

I'm 53 now, and could easily draw a map of the 2 houses that I lived in as a kid between 5 and 18 years old, along with most of the 10 or so houses I've lived in as an adult (a couple were very short term as a young adult, and I'm kind of vague on the exact layouts).

Before 3 years old I don't remember much, a couple of vague things that could just be from pictures of me in those houses, rather than real memories. I kind of remember some of the house from 4 - 5 years old.

[–] disregardable@lemmy.zip 3 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

I only remember one because it was a shot gun layout. Kitchen-living room-mom's bedroom-my bedroom all in a straight line. Super inconvenient because I had to go past her room every time. The other places I lived were bigger, so I don't remember them exactly.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 4 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Hear that guys? Smaller is better. If you have a bigger one, she won't remember it....

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 2 points 9 hours ago

If you promise her a night she'll never forget, the worst sex she's ever had technically fulfills that promise!

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