Let’s start with a star-wars-esque “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” before google maps had reviews or in a time of where maps were not even on your mobile device…!
How did you find a place or where did you go to see the reviews about something? Can you even imagine the above scenario now?
In my younger days when I was living in India, all we needed were our 2 or 4 stroke motorcycles to check out far-flung places for a late evening ride or explore new places around where we stayed and try the local cuisines/markets. There was always a chance of getting lost - having no idea where we were and if the places we were trying to visit were even inhabited or worse riding all the way back on an empty stomach!
But there was a charm to it which people complain is missing in today’s ever-connected world but I beg to differ as one of my favorite quotes by Hunter S Thompson goes "Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!” so does this mean you would not want to plan ahead? No, absolutely not. It just means you should enjoy the ride!
I for one, have my route planned along with any stops even before getting into my car and religiously check out not one but at least a couple of pages of reviews of the place I’m visiting so that there are no surprises.
When maps first came out the prices for data were still in the orbit but the ease of use and the necessity of them in places where there no road signs or signposts was life-altering for a lot of travelers who till then had to resort to different ways to reach a destination. I remember in the nascent stages of trying to tour in India, we had to call in at every stop we made to a service we had purchased from an avid traveling group called HVK’s Hivaykings they were pretty helpful but having your own itinerary and routes in the palm of your hand makes all the difference in going through a trip according to someone else vs. you taking your time and enjoying the trip.
When the reviews feature was started in 2007, I initially thought it might not take off but I am pleasantly surprised to see the form it has taken now after more than a decade in existence and with the way of technology I am waiting to see how it can transform in the next ten to help people better. When I initially started checking places on maps and saw the reviews I was happy to know a bit about what to expect but in the early days these were just one-liners or heading they did not have the information. But with adding photos, videos and long review sections I had all the information I needed to take a decision, that is when I started to make my own posts and post photographs of places I visited with what to expect for people like me. I believe that the Local Guides program gives a transparent, non-partial, non-biased reviews and what to expect from places for people like me which is awesome!
I think I personally went through a lot of changes on how I plan or visit places after we had a baby, because more than half of the places we visited with a young infant were not equipped to cope or we were not satisfied with the conditions - For example imagine a quaint Italian place/bistro blasting music at a very high volume just because it’s a Thursday ladies night out for them! It was experiences like this which make me post detailed reviews so that at-least other’s are aware. On that note, I hope we grow as a community and help or rather “Guide” each other out! Peace…