I'm sure this has been posted somewhere, but I can't tell you how valuable a digital camera can be when you are in a foreign country with a language barrier. The basic idea is you snap a photo of anything that might need further explanation and then just look at the details on the view finder (zooming to any detail you want). Here are some original ways I was able to use it:
- Taking photos of train maps at the stations. While you are on the train you can look to see if you are going where you think you should be going.
- Taking photos of maps in the phone book (or anywhere you see a map that isn't a brochure). Show the map to people in the neigborhood and you get to the right place eventually.
- Map of a landmark that you need to get back to. I took a picture of my locker at the 2 sq. km tokyo train station with a recognizable koala statue in the photo. 4 hours later when I needed to find the locker, the staff knew where I should go.
- Photos of intersections that you walk through in any big city, then check them later when you're lost and you think you've been there.
The funniest momemt when I used this technique was when I was lost on a train with no station map. At every stop I would frantically run out (you've got about 20 seconds) look for a map, try to get an in focus picture, and then run back in right away.
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