No, I did not go to California to attend Connect 2019. Infact, I was not invited to the event. I did put my entry thou as Level 5 Local Guide. I was around 700 points when the even was announced and today I am at Level 7 and soaring towards 8. So what changed in these last few months? The one-word answer is my “Outlook” and hence I proclaim myself as “True Winner of Connect 2019 event”.
Like most of you, I was also excited to participate in the event and then came the questionnaire. Frankly, I felt underwhelmed with my own response and I got into thinking, do I really deserve to be among 150 googlers worldwide. While the obvious answer was as resounding NO, it did force me to introspect. Do I really travel that much and for that matter do I even love travelling? Well, I did love travelling but I was simply putting off the travel plans for later. Later never come. Filling the questionnaire, making video and exploring googleconnect website got me into thinking “Am I really that constrained to travel?” What happened next was the Winning experience of Connect 2019.
While I started taking few short trips to fulfil my grotesque hunger for travel, I had no idea that the biggest experience yet to come. In 26 days I covered 2000 Km including 200 Km trekking with max altitude of 5.59 Km through famed Himalayas. The was one of highly famed Kailash Mansarovar, The fabled home of Hindu Good Shiva and his family. Had Connect 2019 not inspired me, perhaps I would not have gathered courage to embark upon the travel of a lifetime – The mystic, The daunting, The one of its kind trip to Kailash Mansarovar. So thank you Connect 2019 for making me the winner, perhaps not in traditional way but in my own wired and twisted way. And special thanks to all the Google Local Guides around the world whose stories and photographs inspired me to take the plunge.
Scenic beauty somewhere between Almora (India) and Dharchula (India)A Ball of Fur plant in little village of Nabi (India)A cannabis (Marijuana) plant with unbelievingly huge leaves at a tiny place named Gunji, India The revered AUM (OM) Parvat (Mountain) where Snow always fall in shape of Mystic Indian Word OM, Nabidang (India-Nepal Border)The Holiest of the Holy Mountains in Hinduism, Bhuddisim, Jainism and Daoism, The Mount Kailash, TibetThe Mystical lake of Mansarovar, Tibet (China)