This is my first post and i am going to tell you guys about what i love sharing most on Google Maps and why i do love it.
The beginning
I can start from the beginning. It all started when i was at holiday in Antalya in Turkey. By the way i am a Turk but born and raised in Denmark. I love to travel, and mostly warm places. But back to the story, because you will have plenty time to hear about me when we see each other at Connect Live 2019, hopefully :-).
In Antalya there is a very long beach with only 4-5 stars hotels, but sometimes you get bored at the hotel and want to look what is around. The city center is little long way, if i dont remember wrong, it was about 30-40 min drive with Taxi. So instead of that me and my friend wanted to find a Cafe nearby or a hookah lounge/shisha bar (I know it is unhealthy to smoke but i have a weakness for shisha). We did like most people search on google maps, where we find a shisha bar with good reviews close to the hotel. And without google maps we would never find this place because it was on a side street.
I was so much happy for this place because of the service you get from the owner and first time i did smoke shisha in Turkey with European standards as i know from Denmark (Apparently the owner was a Turk born in Germany, which have moved to Antalya and opens his shisha bar). I wanted to reward the owner without expecting anything from him. And i also wanted other people to find this place. Thats why i did decide to write a review on google maps (my first review). At this time i did became a Local Guide even if i did know it yet.
I would have posted a photo from this place, but at this time i did not take any photos but only did review the place. So i will just give the link to this place, where you can see photos from other Local Guides.
Keep calm and continue with Local Guides
You did learn about how and why i did became a Local Guide. The times is come to learn about why i did keep being a Local Guide. I fly back to Denmark after my one week holiday in Antalya. One night i did begin to read more about google maps and Local Guides, because i was curious after my first review. Then i begin to review some of the places i did like when i earlier in my life did eat at the place (Yes you did read correct the places which i “like”. I think most people remember the bad experiences which they want to review. But apparently not me, i find out that i remember the good experiences).
At this point i did realize i became a Local Guide, a newbie one with still no photos on reviews and short reviews with not many details. Suddenly i did stop reviewing places but did explore the other features in Google Maps which i did know before being a Local Guide. I also did want to get those badges, so i did make a lot of edits, check facts and answers question of shops nearby i know. I am gonna be honest, i did more enjoy and love to write reviews than edit, check facts and answers questions, so i did stop doing this after getting the Master Fact Finder Badge and use my time to review places, which you also can see with the picture below. I know i am little behind with the Reviewer Badge and Pioneer Badge, but it is difficult to get likes on my reviews even if i thinks it is good reviews that can help people. And it is little difficult to find places which have no reviews or photos jet, when i mostly visit and try popular places.
One month later i did travel again, this time to Istanbul in Turkey. It is a coincidence that both places is in Turkey, i like to travel and explore new cities and countries (i know those of you which are watching NCIS will say there is no such thing as coincidence, so maybe both new holiday destinations was in Turkey because of i am a Turk but who knows :-D). I did it again and give some Easter Eggs from my live, my bad, i will try not to tell more about my life, so you have questions left to ask me when we see each other, hopefully.
My passion and love
Back to the story, i did begin to take photos of the places we did visit. At this point i did find my passion for sharing on Google Maps which is review places where i eat food and smoke shisha. Food and shisha are the one of the most things i love. Just to show how much i love food, i will show you guys one of my favorite dishes which i did try few places in my holidays in Istanbul (yes, i did visit Istanbul second time this year, just because of i did love the food).
I want people to get the same good experience and sometimes avoid the bad experiences, especially when they are on a new country or new place that they dont know so much about. If i did read the reviews on the places in Antalya, i would not have found the place and probably i would not have been a Local Guide. Thats why i love to share on Google Maps about restaurant and shisha bars i visit, especially the places i visit on my holidays, so other tourists can benefit from my reviews and explore good places to eat and smoke shisha. My passion grew, when i could see more people did read my reviews, where now most of my reviews are with many details. And i also enjoy take more and more pictures of the places i do review, when i could see that some of my pictures did get many views. I will end my post with my second most viewed picture, which also is the last Easter Egg of my life (this one makes more sense to those who will see my 1-minute application video).
Sorry for making a long post, but i wanted to tell a story about my unique experience with Local Guides, so i did give you the details. I really want to make one of the best posts to see you guys at Connect Live 2019 