In May this year I reached the milestone of having my 70th birthday. When I was younger, I never thought I would see the day but it goes to show just how useful I must be to still be hanging around, ha-ha. Our winter is setting in and it’s getting colder by the day and anyone who has visited Ireland will tell you how it can rain day after day here in winter and of course with the clocks moving forward its now dark at 16.00pm making the day shorter. So instead of going around the country photographing Historical locations I have been sitting and thinking what comes now when I no longer can travel around and capture the locations I have yet to visit and what does my local guide future look like. I recently contacted MBP in order to see what they might offer me on my Canon R5 body, my Canon RF 14-35 L4 lens and my Canon RF 24-105 L4 Lens and was satisfied with their offer. But I still want a camera and two lenses, so I purchased a Canon 6D II and two lenses equivalent to the ones I am getting rid of. This will leave me with a €2000 surplus. I will not be going out as often as before as the locations I visit are remote, require walking, or climbing over walls, through tall grass over uneven ground and the risk of encountering a rabid bull. So getting cheaper gear which I have used before and consider them to be very good especially for their price second hand was a no brainer. Also, each time I head out it costs me about €45 to €55 for fuel and as I’m now retired I want to stay safe, use my time and money wisely.
So my plan is the following: do most of my locations in the best weather and with the longest day light, spring and summer. Restrict my winter location visits to once ever two months because each time I head out, I cover between 10 to 12 locations. This will ensure I don’t fall, slip and get chased by a bull (yes that did happen twice before and boy is it scary). I will save fuel money and when summer comes around again, I will be longing to get out there and capture the locations in the best of our weather. So how will I pass the time in winter? well I have just re-edited over 45,000 photos and I’m now touching up all the same original photos I have taking. I have sever arthritis in both my hands and one foot, so the rest will do them good but as a retired carpenter I always have a home project on the go. I also have a small home gym and I exercise on the treadmill and exercise bike at least five times a week for at least 1.15 hours. So the reason I wrote this was so that you might start thinking about when your local guide contributions will not be your priority and what are the things that might replace the satisfaction you get from reaching different local guide levels, please reply and share your thoughts and remember as a level 10 local guide myself then reaching the age of 70th was a greater satisfaction that any I ever got from all my own local guide contributions. Finally, I have to say I never really enjoyed being on Local Guide connect, I found it to be full of moderators who instead of encouraging others were more intent on showing their leverage over anyone who had a different opinion to theirs or who offered construction criticism. I can say with my hand on my heart I have giving so much more to Google Maps than it has ever giving me. I certainly won’t miss them and their small minds. But to the rest of you, best wishes and take care
Even at 70, love for photography and exploring new places continues. A true reminder that passion never retires 
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