Three years ago, my friends and I had a weekend getaway at a place called Hampi.
We were searching online for a hotel and came across this guesthouse: Mowgli Guest House.
There were no pictures of what the guest house looked like on the inside, but we still went ahead with the booking.
Fortunately, we had a pleasant time and enjoyed a lot during our stay.
I was wondering why this modest guest house did not have any clear pictures online, even though the place was really good.
I logged on to google maps and uploaded a few interior photos of the guest house.
A few days later, I noticed that my pictures were gaining a lot of views.
The fact that my photos actually helped people got me motivated. After exploring a bit, I accidentally discovered the local guides program.
Even though this photo does not have the highest number of views, it is special to me. Because it made me realize the value of my contributions.
The local guides program has since then motivated me to be an ardent contributor to Google maps.
To date, I have uploaded 7511 photos and have a total of 7,500,850 views!
Thereafter, I have had wonderful experiences across the world meeting new people!
One such story happened in Mount Takao, Japan!
Mount Takao, Japan:
This is the story of my first solo hike to Mount Takao, Japan. The return trail I chose was offbeat and completely isolated. Google maps helped me to stay on-trail. But, the tranquility I felt along the path was unmatched. That’s when I captured this photo. I guess the sentiment echoed with many people because this single photo has 1,939,836 views!!
I wasn’t missing civilization until I came across a suspension bridge halfway through the hike, and wanted to take a picture of myself.
Multiple attempts resulted in the failure of taking a decent picture.
Luckily, after some time, a Japanese couple with their adorable daughter came by and offered to take my picture.
Even with the language barrier, we managed to strike up a beautiful conversation.
We talked about the weather, the forest, food, and even politics using Google translate at every step!
That was one of the best and memorable conversations I have ever had and I am glad to share it!
Proud to be part of a map that serves people worldwide while also being maintained and constantly updated by those same people.
Capturing my journeys and sharing the memories is the most interesting thing I’ve done as a Local Guide!