travelling for 20 years,changing cities,countries and even continents was a real,deep,interesting and not an easy challenge regarding finding the good area to live in,grocery,transportation,foods,cinemas and even finding the conventional maps to drive back in the 90th and early 2000,
BUT, since the evolution of google maps and its all facilities life has become really easier,for eg ive just moved to the UAE for the past 7 years, its one of the most dynamic countries in the world, the local population here is less than one million out of the population which is almost 10 million (less than 20 percent) which makes most every one new and an expat here,indeed its a big challenge here to find the right recommendations about daily life needs and week end plans.
google maps and local guides were my savor, specially for a family with a baby, i found it really cool,helpful and generous how people add pictures,reviews comment and even rating to every where they visit,this really made life easier,so i was like,mmmm,why should not be helping others by doing the same great help which gonna cost me almost zero money and effort, and that was the start (:
here we go,im level 10 local guide,father,husband,dentist and i have my own business that was added by me to google maps and many people contacts me because of publishing it on the maps.
and once, a very popular resultant here was permanently closed without any notices,it was my plan to go with my family for the week end,i drove there with a big disappointment
when we saw it was closed and i knew many people would have the same, so i know i saved many people days disappointment and i suggest the closure and here we go
futher more,i added my work place where i practice dentistry, and i always read peoples reviews about me and other coworker to improve the experience of the patients and to help them for the best choices
in the end,god bless google maps and all the guides who help others unconditionally (: