The Clever Trick For Finding Your Car In A Parking Lot Or Busy City Street

We've all been there: We drive to an unfamiliar area and park our vehicles, only to return to the same parking lot without having the slightest idea of where we left our car. Things would have been easier if it was a mall or a supermarket you frequent, but when it's a place you rarely visit, the parking lot or street becomes an undecipherable maze. It's even worse if you're using a rental car with which you're not too familiar. Finding a parking spot is hard enough. Apparently, remembering how to find your parked car can prove to be much tougher.

If you've found yourself panicking after forgetting where you've parked your car, you're not alone. It happens to the best of us. A study published in the Nature Human Behaviour journal found that people have the propensity to quickly forget things that require detail and precision, including parking locations. We tend to remember things that are associated with patterns, though, so you're less likely to forget your usual parking spots around your hometown.

If you're traveling soon and want to minimize your forgetfulness with parking spots, a foolproof way is to park your car near an easily identifiable landmark, so you will have a better chance of locating it later. If you have a smartphone with you, you can also put technology to work and have apps be your additional sets of eyes.

There are many tricks that you can try with your smartphone when it comes to locating your parked vehicle. For one, you can take a video of the surroundings of your car, or even record the path from your car to your destination so you can easily retrace your steps later. People have the inclination to simply take pictures of the area, but if you record footage, you will fare much better if the parking lot or street is particularly busy.

If recording your path is way too labor-intensive for you, the good news is you can use GPS-based apps to note the location of your parked car. Apps like Google Maps and Apple Maps have features that allow you to mark a specific location and save it in-app for later reference. With Google Maps, all you need to do is tap your location on the map, click "save parking," and you're good to go. Meanwhile, with Apple Maps, you would just need to click "mark my location" and save it in your favorites, and you can return to it when you're finding your way back. Another option is to pair your iPhone with CarPlay via Bluetooth, but not all cars have this specific feature.

Want additional peace of mind? You can even share the saved locations with your companions, so in case your smartphone dies, you can still reunite with your car with the help of the link from someone else's phone.