I’m Brazilian, but my parents lived in Sydney (AU) for almost 9 years. After 4 years, they got pregnant and came back to Brazil, where I was born and then back to Sydney. We lived there until a was 4 years old. And that’s how I also became Australian. And after that, even with the double citizen, I never came back to Sydney.
Pic caption: my young self running in a park - Sydney.
I’ve always been "THE android girl” among friends, and sure I used maps as my main tool when looking how to go somewhere in my hometown, of where to eat after work in a business trip. Sometimes on vacations I would just download maps to have an “offline day” without losing Google maps help to move around. But it was not until much latter that Local Guides Program really appealed to me.
During my teen and young adult years, going back to Sydney was always in my mind, but somehow, even having travelled for pleasure and work, that opportunity never presented the way I was planning. Maybe because it’s a fairly expensive and long trip, and I didn’t want to make this one in a hurry, what demanded more time, more money, more planning.
I wanted to rediscover the places from my early childhood, so I was not looking for a backpack thing. I wanted to go where natives go, really have the locals experience,. “LOCALS” is the keyword here!
My dream trip finally happened last year! Sydney, long time no see! Here I go, be nice to me!
Pic caption: My first day back, happy AF.
When you first arrive in a city, you have tons of apps and sites that tells you the “MUST SEE” places and attraction. Of course there is a pleasure to it, but you usually are much exposed to mainstream places, some of them very crowded or very “touristic like”.
That’s why Local Guides was a game changer for me. What I was aiming when I went to Sydney was more than sightseeing. Sure I wanted to visit Opera house and the beaches, but I also wanted to go where the Aussies go after work to drink beer, or discover that delicious bakery in a residential area, learning from the attendant why they named an Aussie dessert over a Russian ballet dancer name. Oh my, I ate some good Pavlova. I’m now a “Pavlover”!
That’s how I started do give much more attention to Local Guides reviews. You see, reviews on “trip based” sites are, mostly, from travellers. But with Local Guide program, the sense of community is much more sharp. Sometimes I would ask someone I just met about a place or a hint for something tasty or fun. When in doubt, my tiebreaker was Local Guides reviews.
After a while, I started to look for indications on the reviews of other local guides. If someone’s reviews were nice and the place ended up matching my style somehow, I could check out the other places that person have visited and rated well. You have no idea how many fun nights I had discovering places, and how many times I was the only outsider there on any given Tuesday.
So, yeah, Google Maps and Local Guides helped me fell back home after all those years. And, having learned so much about the value of Local guides reviews, since them I “upped” my game and began to dedicate more time reviewing places that catches my attention, specially back home, as I learned from experience that those reviews have such a special value. And that’s how, naturally, I began to post more, and was surprised one day with that “top 1% of local guide in Belo Horizonte” message.
Pic caption: me and Amy The Dog looking for new places to sniff around my hometown.
And this is when I should start bragging about my city and the places I love, right? But how about leaving that for my lists, other connect posts, and, why not, a personal chat in Connect Live 2020?
Hope to see ya around, Guide Friends!