I’m a traveler from the moment I made a student exchange in Mexico, back in 2015.
That country offered me some of the most stunning landscapes I’ve ever seen, going all the way through ciudad del carmen to Cancun, visiting Guatemala and ending that trip in Chiapas.In that moment I didn’t knew about local guides but google maps was the salvation, always.
Here, in Colombia I made a volunteering in a natural national park where I think I was made a local guide with the pics of the city and the natural beauties of Otun Quimbaya Sanctuary back in 2018.
Then I finished the environmental engineering and start working in some places far from home. The first one was a munipality 2 hours away. Tibirita which seems to be stopped in time but with a calm vibe. After that, I visited la tatacoa’s desert where local guides made the very best change for a family, but I did the “bridge” only.
I helped a “post-conflict area” family that live from the incomes of tourism with adding the place in google maps and a big amount of people, mostly European, had seen the place and going there, contributing with the economy of the village and improving the life of those families.
I’m still discovering the big number of tools that a local guide can use and with every new trip, how to make google maps a better app for new travelers, native people and for economic dynamics of each new site to see. Because I think when you add information to google maps you encourage people to go to those places and when responsibly tourism strengthens, the territorial administrations tend to improve the conditions for it.