Asking for directions takes thirty seconds. Being lost and proud can take all day.

The cost of a question is paid once and the cost of avoiding it compounds. What stops people is the admission underneath, that you do not already know, and that gets more expensive the longer you postpone it. Nobody remembers the question, they remember the afternoon you wasted.

When you have been stuck for more than fifteen minutes, make that your signal to ask rather than your reason to keep trying. Say plainly what you do not understand instead of hedging it. The brief discomfort buys back hours, and people generally think better of you for it.