To gain some cash during studying architecture in Adelaide, South Australia, I worked part-time as a postman at a real estate agent there. My job at that time was to deliver advertisement flyers to the residentials in the suburban of Adelaide. In carrying out my duties, I was quite helped by Google Maps and the local guides who provided information, especially regarding places to eat and public toilets around the suburb. Those things are important because I had to work using public transportation to non-familiar locations that are located far from the city. The post-delivery did not only gain some cash to my pocket but also add my insight of places around Adelaide. It enables me to be a local guide to check the fact of places, correcting the error tags, adding photos, videos, reviewing places, and suggesting some lists of the city. The point I have got, put me in the top 10% of local guide in Adelaide.
Earlier this March, I finished my study and returned to my hometown, Lhokseumawe, a city in the northern part of Aceh Province, Indonesia. In my hometown, I am no longer a postman. However, during my first weeks in Indonesia, I had to deal with my postal parcels that had not yet arrived from Australia, whereas, I had sent it two months before. After calling and visiting the post office in the area, it turns out that they had difficulty finding my address. It also happened to some other parcels and letters that stuck at the post office. Based on my experience, in Australia, the home address of each block are listed on Google Maps and the maps also assisted with Google Street View technology to check the correctness of the location, so that helps the postmen to deliver the parcels and letters easily. However, in Lhokseumawe, the development of information on Google Maps is not that advanced yet.
Last week, a friend who works as a postman invited me to take a tour with him while he worked to deliver the parcels in Lhokseumawe City and North Aceh Regency. On the way, we found a lot of addresses that were difficult to find through Google Maps. Sometimes, we have to call customers to ask for the address. If they do not pick up the phone, we have to ask the people on the way about the address information. From my travels and conversations with postmen in hometown, the activity of verifying addresses, places, street names, as well as photos and street view locations are very essential to the delivery.
Based on my ‘postman’ experience in Adelaide and the experience of postmen friends here in Lhokseumawe, I want to convey a message to the world that what we do as a local guide really means a lot, for me and everyone using Google Maps in their activities. Local guide program also brings together people with this positive hobby to disseminate and improve information related to their local area. Keep posting, keep reviewing and keep being local guide fellas!