Hello, my name is Alexandra Khoury, I am 29 years old from Lebanon, I work as a freelance video editor, and I am a local guide level 7.
What does the local guides program mean to me?
Actually, when I knew about local guides and started to be one of them, I was doing it because I liked the idea that I can put a review to any place I visit, positive ones so people can know more details about that place and see more photos about it, so they will be interested in visiting it to feel the same thing I am feeling. And negative ones sometimes if there was something I didn’t like or if there was any problem with that place or the treatment or even the quality, so the owners can check them and fix what they can.
Now, and after more than 2 years, this thing became a habit, and local guides started to mean something more to me.
first, since I like making friends specially from different countries, now, because of the local guides program, I became able to meet new friends from around the globe, discuss with them many topics, and get to know more about their countries, specially that these people will be able to tell you about the best places in their countries.
second, I become really proud of myself when I see that my contributions are helping thousands or millions of people, not only from my country but also from around the world. And I like the idea of helping them to know about a place they didn’t know about before. At the same time, i like to help local and small business owners by adding their places to the map and posting some photos and reviews so people get to know more about them.
The third thing I like about being a local guide, is that there is a small competition between us local guides, which motivates us everyday to give more.
And since I have a list of countries to travel to and discover with my husband, and since I also like people to know more about my country Lebanon, this small country that has many historical and natural places and restaurants to discover, I will continue what I have already started. I will take more beautiful photos and videos, and post reviews, so I can always let people feel what I am exactly feeling in that place and let them imagine that they are present with me there.
This is my second time I apply for the meet up. Last time I wasn’t accepted, but I will keep working on my contributions and on my application, and I will keep trying until one day I get that message telling me that I am in.
Why? because first I would really love to visit google campus and meet some of the people who are behind this huge application that the world actually cannot live without anymore. And second, I would like to meet new friends from around the world, and maybe some of them I already know from the local guides connect so we can share our cultures and experiences.
And finally, I would really like to start hosting meet ups, but I am not sure how to start them and what do they do exactly. Moreover, I have many questions about how to improve my contributions, so if I could join this meet up I might be able to learn these things and get answers about all my questions.
I really hope this time to be part of this meet up, and if I was able to, I will shoot many nice videos for the best moments there with all the people I meet and I will edit it to make a small trailer so I can never forget those moments and the lovely people who will be there.
