What is the most interesting thing I have done as a google maps local guide?
It’s always been fun and interesting to visit places and having to share photos or insight of such new places with the world. It makes me feel special and give me this sense of purpose, I feel I bring the world closer to people who can’t reach it and also makes it easier for people to get along when they visit new places.
Sometimes, I do have my friends both locally and internationally dragging me to places I have visited like many many times again but I always still get to go with them and it’s all about having fun and interesting things to do together.
But worth mentioning was when I posted about the global village in Dubai; now earlier this season’s opening, I had not visited the place yet but drove past it one evening after orchestral rehearsal and decided to pull off and took these amazing shots of the wonderful and colorful lights. Do, when I posted these photos on my social media platforms and on google maps, I had about 3 Chinese tourists contacting me to get more insights into the place. Now this is the interesting part, I haven’t been there yet for the season but I wanted to hang out with them to have fun and I didn’t want to seem like the place was new to me since I have been staying in Dubai for awhile now and they were just tourists looking for places to have fun. SoI bought a single ticket prior to the weekend I promised to send them there; so I visited the place earlier, and got acquainted with the new additions for the season and noted all the fun pavilions and all of that, I spent about 2 hours just walking around, eating ice cream, dancing and stopping to watch live displays here and there.
So the interesting thing is, I realized when I was back to my apartment exhausted, how much I ended up spending on that Wednesday evening just so I can prepare myself to give a completely new friends a good impression, but it was worth it during the weekend when I took them out. Calvin was a teenager and he insisted he took photos with the exact pose and spot as he’s seen on my posts earlier. Wr basically had a lot of fun and after the whole thing, they admitted that I did not only become friends with them but a family. So up till this day, we chat on weechat and I am proud to say I have a Chinese family
So interestingly, tho being a local guide isn’t a job, I do believe that it is always worth it to go an extra mile just so you would make someone’s life easier.
