Hi,
My name is Rani, I was born in Nazareth (Palestine/Israel) and moved to Haifa after high school. I am going to tell you a short story about how I got from Couchsurfing to Local Guide in google maps.
I have passion to meet new people from different places and cultures in the world, also to get to know the different cultures from the locals.
7 years ago I started to work in Haifa, as a Computer Engineer, and I knew that I have to live in the city for few years at least, this means that I couldn’t travel a lot in order to discover these places.
That’s why I joined couchsurfing, and I quote myself from 7 years ago “if I can’t go abroad, I will make abroad come to me”. So I hosted a lot of people, and then my second passion just appeared: Guiding!
So I started to do some alternative tours and “showing around” to my guests in Haifa or Nazareth (my hometown) and other places that I know here, and I always wanted to show my guests the most special places to eat or to see.
Therefore, when I started to travel abroad, I was always looking for Locals in order to show me some special places that they most like. Unfortunately, it isn’t that easy to find these locals who would want and have time to get you to their special places.
After few years, I discovered Google Maps reviews on places and I loved it! It has the biggest data base for reviews and places which are not listed in anywhere else. So I started to contribute to this great database as a Local Guide.
What do I love sharing most on Google Maps? I love sharing my experience about alternative or not touristic places which are with identity or a specific idea. Such as a not-at-all fancy fish place in the only Arab village on the Israeli coast (see picture below), or a small place in Haifa which only makes “Knafeh” (a special oriental dessert) which is the best in this city (in my opinion).
I prepared for the application a list for Google Maps called “Nazareth” - It is a list that you can follow for a 1 day trip in this city which doesn’t include the churches and mosque (which are a must to visit if you are there) but includes the best places to see or taste in this country.
Thanks,
Rani
Google Maps list:
“Nazareth Independent Tour - it doesn’t include the touristic places such as churches and mosques (must to visit if you’re there) but it goes by them.”
https://goo.gl/maps/uDT3U6UTA6Z545uWA
