Edit: I was not born blind, i am VI. But I thought I’d share, I’m sorry that I’m not the intended audience of the post, i can remove this comment if need be!

I do something similar, but I have some vision, so I still use images, just *my* images rather than the true picture, if that makes sense. I have certain distinct features on people and places that act as identifying markers. A lot of it too is memorizing paths rather than places, so I can tell you how to get to another building based on my path, but not tell you what it looks like.

With people’s faces, my brain fills in gaps, so it’s strange how often I forget their “true” face until they get close to me, esp with professors.

Supermarkets and stuff are similar to campus- the Target near me recently completely remodeled and it fucked me up so much!!

I have never been able to keep track of overarching directions (like driving). I do notice landmarks that let me know I’m about to be where I’m headed, but that’s it.

Mental maps are absolutely exhausting to keep up with, so I only bother remembering “important” faces- the people on either side of me in class, my profs (if I like them), my friends, family, and the children I babysit (moreso than their parents). Places are easier because they so rarely change, but they’re still a huge pain in the ass.

Sighted people so rarely understand that these maps take so much thought and memory, and often when you would be focused on an activity or task, we would be torn between cross-referencing mental maps and the actual task/activity at hand. That’s why accommodations matter- they free up brain space that we shouldn’t have to lose to things like this, we should be using that space to do the same things our peers are.

I do several things. As you say, at some level I use a sort of logic of go a distance until x happens then turn right, wait for y and then do such and such. I also try to have a sort of schematic view of it in my head, but it's not a real map at scale or anything, more of a sense of directions and angles of turning. Once I've done a route a lot, it becomes more of an instinctive thing though, and it's a matter of getting a feel for the distances involved.

I use all sorts of references though sometimes they change and its annoying: texture of the ground, type of walls, sounds, smells, etc.