Hi everyone! Welcome to Local Guides Connect. Please take a moment to introduce yourself to our community.
As “Introduce Yourself” threads can be lengthy, we start a new one each month and lock past threads. You can check previous threads, like August’s, to see who recently joined and where they’re from. We’ll merge any “I’m new” and “Hello world” posts we find elsewhere with this thread to keep things organized.
Do you want to be featured in our monthly Introduce Yourself posts**?** Share your introduction in the comments, following the five prompts below, and a horizontal photo of yourself (in landscape mode). We will select one of the best introductions and include it in our next month’s post. Please note: Your response may be edited for clarity. By taking part in this challenge, you agree to us sharing your answers and photo(s) publicly here on Connect.
This month, meet @WanderR ! Alex is a Local Guide Level 6, and here’s what they shared about themselves.
Hello from Catalonia, a region in the northeast of Spain featuring 580 km of coastline to the east (half of it consisting of sunny beaches) and the beautiful Pyrenees mountain range to the north that runs along the border with France.
1. Name: Alexandre (but please call me Alex)
2. Location: I currently live in Lleida, the capital of the innermost of the four provinces of Catalonia. It has a rich history, spanning over 2000 years, lots of nature (including the Segre River that crosses the city), and great traditional gastronomy.
3. What I love about being a Local Guide: I decided to become a Local Guide after discovering that there were barely any drinking water fountains depicted on Google Maps in my city. As I kept going, I was surprised to discover many other places and things that were missing: gardens, monuments, paths, street art… I love to add these uncharted places and make Google Maps more thorough and helpful to others. Being a Local Guide also helps me look at mine and at other cities with different eyes. I feel like a 21st-century explorer!
4. My favorite thing to explore: In these times of increasing freshwater scarcity in many parts of the world and particularly of drinking water, I enjoy learning about water bodies, water infrastructures, and water resources available to us and adding these on Google Maps. It gives me a sense of purpose.
**5. Fun fact about me:**When I was a kid, I loved climbing trees. The first signs of a fledgling explorer? 
It is a pleasure to be a part of this community. I’m looking forward to many interesting interactions.
Nice to meet you, Alex! Local Guides, don’t miss the chance to say hi to Alex in the comments below and to share your introduction, too.
Did you know about this fountain?
I am very honored that my particular local-guiding story has received enough attention so as to be featured this month. I look forward to post here often, to share hopefully good stories related to local guiding and to try to inspire others in the same way as others are inspiring me.