I started using Google Maps on my trips the first time I went to Europe, about four years ago.
But I did not realized about Google Local Guides until my last trip to Arequipa. Here comes the story.
I went to this beautiful city for a trainee and I took one aditional day for vacations.
I was not sure about what I was going to do on my free day, so one night before going to bed I started thinking about which new places I would like to know in Arequipa. Since April 2016 I am in a personal journey to find places where to have the best cup of specialty coffee everywhere I go … Soooo? That was iiiit! I was going to visit the best specialty coffee shops in Arequipa!!! So I googled it: "Cafeterias especialidad Arequipa " (That’s Specialty coffee shops in Arequipa) and I found this web page “La ruta del cafe peruano”.
I had to pick five places from many because I just had one day and the challenge was going by myself walking and because I only have one stomach 
xD
The centre of Arequipa is not so big and right now it takes less time walking than going by bus or cab.
So I pick my five places, my most confortable sneakers, my travel back pack, my handbook (for notes) and of course… My GOOGLE MAPS!!! 
I choose to go first to the nearest shop from my b&b. It was KaffeeHaus. Right there, while waiting for my Italian Moka coffee I started to look at the location and distances between my next four destinies. Soooo good. I was able to figure out the best path to visit all four places in a day and to get back for a shower before the sunset.
There was this specialty coffee shop, Kafi Wasi, where I had the best Chemex in my life. After a great chat and a beautiful demo of specialty Chemex preparation by the owner of the coffee shop - thank you Diego - I was ready to go for my next destination. On my way, I received a message in my cellphone to give some stars to Kafi Wasi. I was so thankful for the experience that I decided to click five stars and write my first opinion in Google Maps. Some days later I discovered I had become a local guide.
Since then, I continue to share my experiences of every place I go and everytime Google Maps ask me for.
It feels so good to know that with Google Maps I can give my opinion about a place and share it with a lot of people and help them with that. Also I love to be able to thank the shops and places for their services and to make them get known and improve as I can also criticized them if my experience was not completely good.
I love Google Maps and I am proud of being a local guide. The idea of being part of a great big community that helps each other to do what I love more: Travel by myself, discover new places, have new experiences, share them with others and give back retribution with my opinions and answers… It is very very exiting and very rewarding.
You can find Kafi Wasi on google maps and in facebook.
Here are my other four coffee shops in Arequipa for that day:
KaffeeHaus, Maná, Nacion, Ristretto.
