I didn't forget Manhattan, I just don't consider it quality biking, and all my riding there is based on getting to destinations and back.

Anyway, how I or anyone else plans or navigates rides is irrelevant to your situation. You mention your lack of sense of direction, so you need to do what's necessary to your needs. Options include carrying paper maps, or a cell phone with GPS and navigation.

Another method is that used by children and animals as they learn their world. Develop a network of known arteries venturing out from home, and push beyond known roads in small increments adding to the network. This gives you a network of familiar territory which becomes a larger target to shoot for when lost. Now if you get side tracked you can use your limited sense of direction to head back toward home until you cross one of the routes you know, and then can turn onto it and head for home.

This sense can be as wide or narrow as necessary. For example when I ride in Westchester, I have a few reference landmarks or boundaries such as the Hudson River and Long Island Sound, plus the various parkways, and maybe a few arterial road. So the county is divided into long narrow slices, and all I need to remember is what I'm between, ie. between the Bronx River and Hutchinson Parkway. Now if I'm lost, I can turn to either side, and when I hit a parkway, I know which way is toward home, and can parallel that until I hit roads I know.