The Most Interesting thing I've done as a Local Guide: Smashing Stereotypes

I used to be too afraid to travel on my own. I am a young woman in my 20’s with a very poor sense of direction and zero self-defense skills. However, a few years ago I got impatient with waiting around to find friends that had similar travel budgets, interests, and vacation days as me and finally decided to face my fears by going on a trip entirely alone. Fortunately, it ended up not being anywhere near as scary as I had pictured it being inside my head.

Google Maps was an invaluable asset for my solo travels. Even when I didn’t purchase SIM cards for mobile data, I could use Google Maps offline to figure out how to get where I needed to go. I could wander around the streets of new cities aimlessly and pull out my phone whenever I needed to orient myself. I did this a lot while travelling. I’m not a huge planner and don’t really have the attention span to create hour by hour itineraries of what I want to do in a day. I like to walk through streets and look for things or places that catch my eye. When I get tired of doing that I’ll check Google Maps to see what’s nearby me that looks like it’s worth checking out. I look for places that have a lot of positive reviews from other Local Guides and browse through the photos Guides have posted at that location. I love taking photos and I’m especially drawn to locations where I can practice getting some beautiful shots.

With each trip I took I would increasingly try to challenge myself by going to places that were outside of my comfort zone. For my first solo trip I had gone somewhere where English speakers were abundant. But technology like Google Translate has made it so much easier to communicate with people that don’t speak the same language as me. I didn’t want to restrict myself by only going to places where English was widely spoken. Last summer, I decided to go to Mexico City alone after finding a cheap flight there from Toronto. I had shared a hostel dorm room on two separate occasions with solo female travellers from Mexico City. They raved about their city and encouraged me to visit if I ever got the chance. (Sadly, they were not around during the week I was visiting.)

When I told my family and friends that I was going to Mexico alone, they had a lot of preconceived notions about Mexico as a whole being unsafe based on what they had seen and heard in the media. I would have had the same assumptions had I not met people that actually grew up there. After reading about the experiences from other solo female travellers that went there, I knew that Mexico City was just as safe as many other big cities. Even living in Toronto, I always take precautions for my own safety.

I prepared for my trip by basically browsing through social media posts, watching YouTube videos, and exploring the top rated places listed on Google Maps. I saved all the places that I wanted to go to in a new list that I created. This is pretty much what I do for any city I plan on visiting. I always end up adding way more places than I know I can possibly visit during the duration of my stay, but doing this means that I know I’ll at least never run out of things to do. I can optimize my time by opening up the map view for my list and going to areas that have the highest concentration of things I want to see. I can add notes for places on my list such as a food item that I must try since it came up a lot in the reviews. Best of all, I was able to share this list I made with a friend that was inspired by my travels to visit Mexico City herself. It was a city that had never been on her radar before. I was able to show her how many remarkable restaurants and unique attractions this wonderful city had to offer. I was able to show my family and friends that there was so much vibrant culture and beauty in this city. I’m very proud that my experiences as a Local Guide here was able to smash their stereotypes.

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