How to not get lost (and to retrieve your corpse)

Unless you are a Ranger with an exceptional Sense Heading skill you will probably find yourself a bit lost in the wilderness of Norrath once you travel by night. Or you maybe don't know where in that forest your corpse is lying around.
In cases like this the /loc command is really handy. The key to finding your corpse is knowing its x and y coordinates. You may want to put a social shortcut of it to your hot-buttons, so you can press it just before you die to get the coordinates. After you have been resurrected use the /loc command to get your current position. Knowing these two sets of x and y coordinates allows you to calculate the heading from where you are to where your corpse lies.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that the /loc command will give you the coordinates of any object you have targeted instead of your own. When in battle this doesn't matter much because the monster that kills you is at the same coordinates you are so in effect you are getting the coordinates of your body. Just make sure before you set off on your calculated heading that you didn't have someone else targeted when you wanted your starting coordinates.
Since the beta the /loc command got changed, so that it no longer gives the heading direction. On the other hand you can fairly easily determine your heading yourself if you just do a /loc then walk two steps and do another /loc. Each zone is basically a square. The 'logical' center of the map (0,0) is almost always not in the geographical center of the map though. X increases north, Y increases west (note that it usually increases to the east in RL). So if you walk a few steps and both numbers increase, you are either heading north-west (positive numbers) or south-east (negative numbers). The following picture illustrates the layout of the zones:
Zone Layout

Most important note: There is a nifty command that is not mentioned in the game manual that will help you finding your corpse and helps you a great deal when trying to retrieve it from a spot where big bad monsters are killing you on the spot. The command is /corpse and it works like this: If you are close enough to your corpse (exact amount unknown) it will summon your corpse to your feet. It looks like your corpse 'jumped' in your direction. So you can run in, use the /corpse, command and run to safety again. Also useful if you have abilities like hiding or invisibility. Then you can 'drag' your corpse into safety this way (I had to do that when I died right on the carpet in Meldraths living room in the middle of the Minotaur Caves in Steamfont).