If someone had asked me weeks ago what it means to me being a local guide, I would have said to share photos and meet awesome people from all over the world. But for weeks, it’s meant more to me, because now I realize what social distancing really means. At least I’m trying to understand it. But it’s hard. And I don’t just mean not being able to leave the house or go shopping for a while. We forget very quickly that there are many people whose everyday life looks just like this. Some have cancer, leukaemia, immune disorders or other diseases and can’t leave their house for years.
When I think of all the wonderful places I have seen in recent years, it makes me a little bit sad, because these people could not visit great places and had to fight for their lives. So it makes me proud to share my pictures and videos online, so I can take all of them on a virtual world trip and they can see all these beautiful places, friendly people and romantic sunsets I can see. Then it feels like these people are on the trip together with me.
Being a local guide also means community, help and fun in virtuality and reality. This is what I learned on my trip to Sri Lanka in December 2019 to January 2020. I travelled alone and met so many cool people through the community or other social media. I got insider tips, information about the country and the people and learned more than I could ever have learned from a travel guide on my own. During my trip I never had the feeling of being alone. Because I was on a “mission”, I felt important and useful.
It is also pretty awsome, when you tell hotels, that you are a local guide level 7. The reactions are great. You will automatically be treated as a VIP guest, because everyone is afraid of a negative evaluation. So you feel very strong and powerful in a specual way.
The Local Guide Programm also motivated me to improve my photography skills and now I am enrolled in a photography course. You see the world with different eyes. Looking for the next great shot to share. Better pictures means for my virtual travel buddies better experience. All the positive feedback confirms that I am on the right track to follow my goals and my dreams and share them with millions of people world wide. So all in all for me the Local Guide Programm means community, connection and a little bit of a healthy world in the current crisis-ridden world.
My favourite picture from Sri Lanka, Pasekudah Beach, East of Sri Lanka.
I’ve sent my application yesterday 
where can I check, if my application went through?