I’ve always loved photography and traveling, but sharing my adventures and experiences publicly with others was not something that I did. This was my partly due to laziness and my misguided sense of “protecting” my “hidden gems” so that they would stay that way, mine and mine alone. It wasn’t until I was reading an incredibly helpful review on Google Maps from a Local Guide about a particular jungle lodge in Belize with some amazing pictures and I instantly knew I had to go. So go I did! Not only did I have one of the best weeks of my life, but I also met the love of my life who just so happened to be on a solo adventure of her own at the same lodge (she is pictured above at our wedding at the Cape Florida Lighthouse on Key Biscayne, FL). It was after this amazing experience that I became a true believer in the Local Guides program and opened my eyes to the importance of earnestly sharing truthful experiences that can have major impacts on the lives of others.
Once I returned home I started sharing my experiences and pictures with others on Google Maps so that they might experience something truly magical, like a unique sunset at a quiet beach, exploring a rustic lighthouse off the beaten path or maybe, just maybe, a place where you meet your soul mate. As I travel now (with my wife pictured above at Dry Tortugas National Park in the Florida Keys), one of the things that I look forward to the most is writing about my experiences and sharing them with others. I have basically become an “evangelical” Local Guide and encourage everyone to get outside, explore and share.
If there is one major lesson that I have learned being a Local Guide the past few years is that life is better when you have people you can share it with, whether that be your friends, family, strangers or in my case, the love of my life (pictured above watching a sunset on Virginia Key in Miami, FL). So, what does the Local Guides Program mean to me? It means the world to me, and for that I am forever grateful.