I have normally been able to find my way to a place I have been before. I didn't always memorize street names, more of a visual memory. I guess if you are not paying attention to all the details it doesn't stick in the memory quite the same.
That can be a problem.
True story.
I was visiting family in Chicago, and driving to a cousin's with my mother in the front seat and her sister - my aunt, of course - in back. Auntie was giving me directions. At one point, she said "Turn left by that red building."
I don't see a red building.
Auntie leans over the seat and points "Right there, that red building!"
I
still don't see a red building. Auntie slaps the back of my head. This goes through a couple of cycles, Auntie gets louder, the slaps get harder.
Finally, I said "Auntie, I'm sorry, I don't see a red building, you just keep pointing to a
green building over there."
A moment of silence . . . "WELL, IT
USED TO BE RED! (SLAP!)"