The Local Guide program has brought me so many wonderful things in life. To me, being a Local Guide means giving back, friendship and easy travel.
First of all, facing the danger of the fading of many traditional villages in Viet Nam. I asked myself what should I do to prevent this? So, every time I visit any traditional village, I check to see if their location is available on Google Maps yet, if not I will add it. This helps tourists easily access traditional villages. Also, I always leave positive reviews with many photos. To me, photos are the best way to show how the thing is beautiful. After a long time with the Local Guide, I am now a Master Photographer (1,021 photos - more than 1.9 million views). Then, the traditional villages that I visited are known to many visitors, their lives also improve. This makes me feel happy and wants to contribute more.
In addition, Local Guide gave me the opportunity to make more friends around the world. Through the Local Guide Program, we met, hung out, shared our hobbies, enjoyed local food, and learned the culture of each other. Then, I became a non-professional tour guide to introduce my hometown. In the beginning, it was so hard for me to communicate with other Local Guide because my English was so bad. I always used google translate. But by the time, my English get improved a lot and I became more confident in myself. After 4 years have gone by, I was traveling to 6 countries in the world like the United States, Israel, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Cambodia. Although we have differences in culture, occupation, religion, gender … but the Local Guide Program has helped connect us together, helping us to have more experiences. And the most important thing is we became friends!
Furthermore, Local Guide makes traveling with my friends easier. Through the reviews of Local Guides, I can see actual photos, know the actual service quality, phone numbers, open hours of hotels, restaurants, resorts … that we want to visit. Thanks to the contribution of Local Guides, I avoided the bogus, poor quality places. Before departing, I usually save places to visit on the “Want to go” list and share it with my team.
Finally, a big thanks to the Local Guide Program!
Marvin Hua
Viet Nam
