What’s the most interesting thing you’ve done as a Local Guide? Taking and sharing pictures.
Google maps definitely help people get clear directions on how to reach different places. But one thing it also does great - the discovery of unique places. As a traveller, in 8 out of 10 cases, I prefer to visit places which will be unique for my trip and not just another “TOP 10 places to visit when in…”. I find those unique spots using Google Maps and contributions of fellow Local Guides.
One memorable example is from 2014 when together with wife we visited Sicily. I was looking for a place to sleepover reasonably close to Comiso airport as in the morning we had our flight back home, and by using Google Maps we have found Scoglitti - a small fishing village in south of Sicily, which become one of those rare experiences which stick in the memory for long years after. First, we accidentally came at the time of San Francisco Festival, which was great fun local experience and second, on maps we found the restaurant Gazirat, which still after over 5 years holds best sea-food restaurant title in my experience. Without Google Maps and Local Guides community- probably would be impossible to find such gem.
By using “random spots-on-the-map” method for travel discovery, the hard part comes when having to chose those few places which I will be visiting during my next trip. There are hundreds and thousands of those - choosing may become really difficult. If I will decide to go by reviews - I will end up in those “TOP 10 places…” I’m trying to avoid. So what I do - I use random selection and look for photos of that place and decide if it’s worth a visit.
This is how I have found Novi Vinodolski - a small town in Croatia with amazing wild beaches. Probably, only very rare would recommend such a small town, but we had an amazing time there.
And then after several years of travel using Maps experience and shared pictures by Local Guides, I have understood the power of community and pictures and the impact it can make to any traveller. My math teacher once told “If you are doing something, no matter how strange, be sure, that there are at least another 1000 people doing the exact same thing”, so leading this philosophy I have started taking pictures and uploading those to Google Maps with my reviews with the hope of helping someone on the Globe.
I’m glad to see an increasing number of my shared photo views, which encourages me to to put even more effort. Taking and sharing photos is the most interesting activity for me as a Local Guide.
Playa de la Arnia, Spain, August 2018, 9 400 views
“Dine” restaurant, Vilnius, Lithuania, January 2019, 21 800 views
Olmsted Point, USA, September 2019, over 10 300 views.
“Ertlio Namas” restaurant, Vilnius, Lithuania, February 2020, 1 300 views
