My interest in becoming a Local Guide first blossomed when I posted photos from a trip to Jamaica just for fun. I stayed at the Castle View Guesthouse, in Mandeville, Jamaica, for about 1 month. I absolutely loved it and took a few photos which I posted on Google Maps. I was delightfully surprised when I kept receiving emails from Google Maps, congratulating me on my steadily mounting views! I now have tens of thousands of views on some of those photos. This really got me interested in posting even more photos of my travels on Google Maps!
The greatest thing that I’ve ever done as a Local Guide was planning a trip to France and actually achieving it! In my online search for a counselor job, I found American Village, France, on LinkedIn. I became very interested in it, applied and was accepted to work as a counselor for two months in Spring 2019. Honestly for me, this was a super crazy idea because as a single mother of 1, I honestly couldn’t afford a trip across the pond to France! So I decided to turn to my community.
I live on a small island in The Bahamas but our community here can be really close-knit and very supportive of young people and their dreams. With this in mind, I created a sponsor sheet requesting local businesses to support my dream of going to France. The experience would be great as I have dreams of starting my own camp. My community is very passionate about youth and education so I sincerely felt that they would assist me. They did exactly that! My sponsors allowed me to purchase a roundtrip ticket all the way to Paris France.
This trip to France was the most amazing, wonderful, exciting, adventure that I will never regret and I will never forget! I had so many memorable experiences working at the English immersion camp, American Village, two different areas of France. I met wonderful new friends with whom I am still in contact with. I explored so many fantastic, new and interesting places! I saw so many things that I never in my life thought I would see! Very, very different from my country! The language, the culture, the cuisine, the sights and sounds of nature and the city, the architecture! Everything was so amazing!
When I went to Gréoux-Ies-Bains, France, I was able, with the help of Google Maps GPS, to go hiking through the quaint, quiet, town by myself on the weekends. I stopped at a little sidewalk Cafe and enjoy a delicious treat that I’ve never seen or heard of before and I will never forget! A waffle ice cream!
I found a photo of the Eiffel Tower online before I was certain that I would make the trip.I photoshopped a picture of myself onto it just to remind myself to stay focused on my dream and not give up. I still wasn’t sure at that point that I would afford the trip to France. I was actually able to reach my goal of standing beneath the Eiffel Tower in the very spot where I had photoshopped myself! Google Maps helped me to hike from Saint Christopher du Nord Inn, all the way to the Eiffel Tower!
Using my GPS, I hit the road and I had a most unforgettably, breathtaking experience! I posted many, many photos and gave a few reviews of my trip to France and even though my views on Google Maps weren’t as high as my trip to Jamaica, I had also posted on my social media. Many of my friends and family all over were also enjoying my trip, that many would never be adventurous enough to try, through my photos that I posted everyday!
