Greeting Fellow Local Guides,
I declare there is no pleasure better than meeting old friends and redefining friendships.
This post is to thank and demonstrate how Local Guides Community is growing faster than ever, creating bonds stronger than ever and making one’s adventures greater than ever, from a personal experience. This year, I got to visit 3 of the Connect Live alumni, traveling more than 11,111 Miles and back from Raipur, India to Los Angeles via Mumbai, Boston and Connecticut. The fact that we were able to pull this off, coordinating our respective times and the support that these LGs showed still astonishes me. This is the most amazing thing happened to me this year and it would take much of a bigger incident to beat this one. Here it goes:
Meeting @RiyaM in Mumbai: Riya Mathew is a young ball of energy and so full of life. One mention of me traveling Mumbai and we were so excited, she started listing the places we will be covering on the phone itself. We visited Bandstand, Church Gate, Celebrity Houses and Marine Drive. I got to see Riya transforming from a working professional to a foodie to a shopaholic to a ruthlessly amazing Local Guide within seconds! I didn’t know one could do that so smoothly. She traveled from another part of the city to make the meet possible. Discussing how we came across the program and what our future plans were, the time flew without us noticing. Seeing such young people focused and devoted for contributing to the society left me feeling proud as a fellow Local Guide.
Meeting @anyaamorimV in Boston: Both Anya and I were short on time but the tight schedule didn’t stop us to quickly do an LG alumni meet. She took me under her wing, showing me places and explaining her detailed work as a Local Guide and Environmentalist. Being a Vegan isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and she makes it look so easy on her posts on Local Guides Community and social media. She’s walking her talk and inspiring people without even realizing it. Her hopes and dreams and the contribution for the environment made me think how even individually we can create a long-lasting impact and all this while being true to our health AND the environment. She showed and talked about all her favorite vegan restaurants and places she enjoys visiting. We planned to promote such concepts in India as well and concluded the meet while enjoying a vegan meal.
Meeting @AshleySundquist in Los Angeles: When I told Ashley, I would be coming to Santa Monica; I wasn’t expecting a dinner invite that turned into a full-fledged meet-up of two enthusiastic Local Guides. I was welcomed warmly by her family. From sharing our experiences from previous Connect Live Programs, sharing notes and insights from my meet-ups in Raipur, India to concreting a plan to organize LG Meet-ups in Santa Monica, we were full on in our brainstorming mode and everybody around us got pretty scared seeing our dedication. She introduced us to the local cuisine and culture in USA. She shares her love for Yoga and promotes a healthy lifestyle on Local Guides platform and social media. Her commitment towards creating a balanced life motivated me more. We bid adieu with packets of my favorite Cheetos and couldn’t resist ourselves striking a pose. We discussed thoroughly on how we can increase the reach of Local Guides Program in both remote areas and in the cities.
The best thing about it all is how all these LGs also traveled miles to show me their cities, opening their doors, welcoming me to their homes, making me feel like a family away from my home town, taking care of small details so that I feel belonged, inviting me again and sharing with me their stories. Who will believe I had met them before just once only for few hours? And where in the world is such thing even possible? Well, now I know and am sharing it with you all. It can only happen when you are around Local Guides. They are families in the shape of human beings and there could not be a better name for the event than Connect Live. It IS connecting lives. It IS happening with other local guides around the world and they are feeling welcomed everywhere they are visiting. If this is not amazing, I don’t know what is!
I feel myself lucky to have such graceful friends all over the world and even more fortunate as a human being that Local Guides like these exist, coming for rescue at any given time, any given place, either by being physically present or by coordinating through technology. Would I ever be able to thank the community enough? I guess not!
Here are some more Interesting Things I did as a Local Guide:
Swimming with Whale Sharks and Helping in Conserving Marine Life in Baja California
Promoting Local Guides’ Message on Other International Platforms
