How did it all started
When I started contributing to the Google Maps I had not even thought about what a huge impact it could and would have. I only wanted to help the others in the same way they helped me. My first contributions were pictures and reviews from Thailand, my second stop in my 6 months wandering through Southeast Asia together with the best partner in crime, my boyfriend. From what was meant to be just a helping hand to other travelers like me it all turned to be much much more. My “target group” extended from all travelers also to the people around me, my neighbours and citizens of my hometown. I also realized that nothing has changed at all and we all still do rely on maps as much as we used to in the past. What has changed is the way we use them. We don’t carry paper maps with us anymore but have them in our smartphones available 24/7. Maps no longer show only location but also give us priceless tips to save us money and especially the most precious thing we have, the time.
My first review & collage from traveling thru SE Asia in 2017/2018, the beginning of everything.
My opinion counts
Even though I’m just a girl from tiny republic not many people even know about, my pictures and reviews are viewed by thousands and make their life and decisions easier. Local Guides program gives us all the opportunity to express ourselves and share our ideas, knowledge and experience with the world, no matter where do we come from. And this is what makes it so special.
Helping others in making decisions
Not everyone is so decisive. There are rather more people who look for help and advice than those who know what they really want. And it’s us, Local Guides, who are more than pleased to help all these people putting our biggest efforts in writing the best reviews with all the information one could be looking for, uploading best pictures to give people the idea of how the place looks like, reviewing the map and correcting false information in order to save others from getting lost.
Food & drinks reviews, the best part of being LG ?
New dimension of traveling
I love traveling and I try to discover new places on our beautiful planet as much as possible. I don’t only love to plan my new journey but I also like to share my experience and helpful information with others after my return back home. I write short travel guides for one Czech website and I am very grateful for this possibility to share my view with the public but what I like on Local Guides program is that I can share my experience and impression immediately. Our feelings are always the strongest at that very moment so having the possibility to write the review right after we’ve had a great (or bad) time, is priceless.
Museo Piaggio, Pontedera, Italy.
“NON CORRETE… VESPIZZATEVI!”
Everyone can be a Local Guide
Local Guides program is for everyone. It does not matter where do you come from, what language do you speak or who are you at all. Seeing me taking pictures all the time, checking the correctness of data given in the map, also my family and some of my friends became Local Guides and this is what really makes me super happy. My mum took it very seriously and she doesn’t only share pictures and writes reviews, but she also tries to add new businesses to the map to help them to open up to the public and attract new people.
Totally agreed! ?
I am part of the Global Community
Being chosen for Local Guides Connect 2019 totally astonished me! I did not expect to be chosen at all and when I got the email from Maps Team, I could not believe it all. I am very grateful I had a chance to meet so many wonderful people that literally took my breath away. The way many Local Guides work with the map helping disabled people or those with specific food allergies was simply stunning. My stay in the Bay Area opened my eyes a lot and I realized that the Map and the whole program has a bigger potential I could imagine. Since then I always try to make my reviews more helpful and look at my contributions from the viewers perspective but of course there’s still so much I need to learn and improve.
EU group + few more ? at Connect Live 2019
Even the smallest acts can make the biggest impact.
It does not matter if you post a short review about the best burger in your neighborhood to give locals good tip where to eat or you add new roads in the remote parts of Cambodia to help with the information about the local infrastructure. Even the smallest and maybe at first sight unimportant piece of information helps other like me and you to make our life easier and this is what it’s all about. Local Guides are real people and they are here for people too.
