The ability to read and understand a map is a basic geographic skill. Today, maps are most commonly used to get from one place to another. Knowing how to use a key is critical to understanding which symbols represent which features, such as water, interstates, state highways and dirt roads. You need to understand the scale of a map to accurately estimate how long a trip might take. Besides a roadmap, you may also use geographic skills to locate nations or features on a local, national or world map.
Besides reading actual maps, geographic skills are also necessary and useful for creating a mental map of your surroundings. If you've lived in your neighborhood for any length of time, you know where the grocery store, mall and bank are in relation to your house, as well as the fastest ways to get to them. You also have a deeper understanding of your surroundings that goes beyond the merely spatial; for instance, even though one route is shorter, you may avoid it because you understand that there is too much traffic, or that it runs through unsafe areas.
Making decisions such as where to work and live requires a deep geographical understanding, not only of places and regions but also of human systems. For example, you may or may not want to live in Arizona because you understand that it is in a desert region of the United States. Similarly, you may or may not want to live in Arizona because of what you understand to be the "culture" of the state, or because you understand that Arizona does not have many job openings in your line of work.
People hear news stories every day that require both simple and complex geographic skills to understand. If they hear that Japan and China are at odds, they need a basic awareness of each country's relative location to fully understand why. At the same time, a full understanding of the situation may also require some knowledge of patterns of economic interdependence, the distribution of natural resources or the ways that human perceptions can be influenced by notions of place.