The only direction I know is up & down. I also have problems telling my left from my right ~ many years ago I started pointing when telling someone which way to turn.
I have the same problem; I always have to stop and think, ‘which hand do I write with’?
My husband is always saying, “No, your OTHER right!”
But I have a very good intuitive sense of where I am and how I got there. If I’ve been someplace once, I know where to turn, etc; and I know how to get back the way I came...but it’s not mental at all, it’s feeling.
-JT