Hi there, my name is Igor, I’m farmer and I’m a Local Guide from Lviv, Ukraine. In my childhood I liked reading books, especially adventure novels. Reading novels of such authors as A. Conan Doyle, Mayne Reid, Jules Verne and many others, I always took mind travels with their heroes to far lands. I always had the Atlas of the world under my arms, because I wanted to find on a paper map where was the place, which was described in the book: an island, a river, sea, a town etc. In early 90th my maps weren’t very detailed and often included only “big names”.
From that time the Map is something sacral and special for me. Skills to read the Map often helped me in different situations. Especially when I entered Institute in 2000 and moved from my native village to a city, such as Lviv.
Today’s technologies help us find any place in seconds and get the complete information about it. Our world becomes smaller, distances closer.
As a journey of thousand miles begins with a single step, my Google Local Guide history started with one photo taken in June 2015. That was Pidhirtsi Mayetok (a Manor house in Pidhirtsi village) in my native Stryi district, near Lviv. I didn’t take it seriously, but in a few weeks, I suddenly saw that viewer numbers of my photo increased, so this is interesting and helpful for people. Step by step I became active Google Maps contributor. Today that photo of Pidhirtsi Mayetok reached 17 900 viewers and became my personal top contribution.
For me the best way to relax is cross country travel on a bicycle. Cycling through small towns and villages I am visiting many interesting places, of which there are many in Western Ukraine. Whether I’m posting landscapes, churches, historical buildings or mini-football pitches, I love this activity.
Recently, what I like the most is to see the positive changes in infrastructure, responsibility of people and people’s values in our communities. They are rebuilding roads, children playgrounds, football pitches, improve garbage collection etc.
My Ukraine is in a state of transition now and experiencing times of fast development. I am proud to be an active member and a witness of these changes. I would like to share more information about us to the world, because we have enough to show, but are unknown and currently underestimated.