In our house, my other half likes the theory of Walkit but never uses it…preferring his GPS to tell him he is at the bus stop round the corner/on the train near Peterborough/hopelessly lost (delete as appropriate) rather than do a bit of planning on Walkit, navigate by landmarks, use his inate sense of direction or ask for directions…

I also like maps and can read them so we're not all stereotypes here.

In this household, the man plays lots of sport but typically drives to get there; the woman (me) tends to incorporate walking into other things to exercise as I go. When he does walk he usually just sets off & works the route out as he goes; I like to have a plan. Maybe it's a sub-conscious need for safety.

I've really no idea. It's never even occurred to me that it would be a 'girl thing' or a 'boy thing'. How did the tweeter explain his strange words?

Never noticed any gender-related pattern myself. But then I know too few people sufficiently motivated to use walkit.com to identify any pattern at all.

I would point out the 'boys and toys' theory doesn't really hold up. Walkit.com is a toy! It's full-on geeeky techy gadgetery. Personally I do use a GPS thingymejib on my pda/phone as a map. But I still frequently use walkit.com as a more convenient way to plan routes and see how long things will take.

The maps-not-direction theory doesn't make much sense to me either since… walkit.com has maps! (for me the maps are more important than the directions).

And dad has the car because he needs it for work )……….

And little kids legs get tired quicker than adults, so the shortest route is required……..

Why not turn to walkit???

Theory 2 – Related to theory one. Anyone who has to go on a journey with kids really doesn't want the prospect of getting lost with them (and perhaps would like to be able to answer the question 'Are we nearly there yet?'). It therefore becomes eminently sensible to know the precise route before you set out rather than simply sallying forth with the A to Z tucked under your arm!!! (And yes, that is the voice of experience talking )

The thing is, we do this pre-planning for so many years while the children are growing up, that even after they've flown the nest (with or without maps – LOL), it is ingrained in us and we just keep on doing it.

Theory 3 – Someone sent me an email recently saying that the chemical difference between men and women (I think it was testosterone levels), generally gives men the edge in spacial awareness. I've no idea if this is true, but working on the basis that it is, men may be able to extract all the turn left, turn right info from a map alone, whereas the instructions on walkit aid people (mainly women) who are less likely to be able to get the info from just looking at a map.

Theory 4 – men are more likely to jump into the car than women, even for short journeys. When I was a-courtin' my first husband, he always offered to drive me where I needed to go. One day he offered this for a journey that, due to foot paths, was much, much quicker to walk. My mum said to him, “You do realise that you can't drive up the aisle don't you?”

Thing is, every man I've ever been out with has been the same and my dad is too.

General comment – it would be interesting to see if there is this gender split in the use of Google maps which gives driving instructions. If that proves to be closer to 50:50, or more men than women, it looks like it could be down to who uses the car more, rather than any of the theories listed by Jamie in the original post.

I go with the “Have map, will read” and “calory counting is for girls” theories myself.