I'm not sure if this really fits in this thread, but it landed here just by dint of the fact that it is a bit strange, but only minorly so.
There will be others who are a similar age to me (56) who have had a lot of various driving jobs over the course of time, originally navigating 'the old fashioned way' (maps/atlas/A to Z) and have now also started using a satnav of some sort for those less familiar journeys.
And the strangeness I refer to is that moment on a 'new' journey, across country, from one familiar town to another, but not a route you have followed before, and you turn out of one road onto another, only to suddenly realise that you recognise just exactly where you are, and suddenly your 'mental map' gets an update, linking the places you've driven through together in your minds eye.
(This has happened to me a number of times this week due to moving my son from one house to another, 50+ miles apart, and trying to take varying routes to avoid traffic and/or add a bit of variety to the drive)
It's that "Oh! I know where we are now!" moment as you see that pub, or particular road junction, or other landmark, which acts as the trigger - how is it that our brains are so good at doing that????