It all started when I visited France for the first time for a seminar about education, where I met people all over the world discussing the same topic. But what was utmost important for me was how much I talked about my country and our lifestyle; introducing Lebanon - not a very well known country - to the rest of the world.
After coming back to Lebanon, I remember getting a message from Google Maps asking how were the places I visited; that’s how I discovered I can be a Local Guide! This is where it all starts.
First I thought it was a matter of helping people getting real reviews about places, then I discovered that I can actually add pictures; YES I still remember the first picture I ever posted on my Local Guide profile (it was a picture of a yummy lazy cake). You can imagine how it went after that, from reviewing to posting pictures to adding missing places. I was enjoying this too much to keep it for myself, therefore I told two of my friends about it and they became Local Guides too, one of them is applying with me to “Connect Live 2020” and he’s a level 7 Local Guide now.
Being a Local Guide gives me also a sense of responsibility, how?..
Posting pictures or reviews on Google Maps is not like any other social platform because it has to be honest and real. Every picture, every review, every place added, every question answered was bonding the world to create more room for people to take a closer look at certain places. In 2019, my friends and I planned and organized a 13 days trip to Europe - with a full schedule from morning to midnight - by only counting on what we saw on Google maps. It felt safe, they’re Local Guides like me, I can trust them!
And the ripple effect didn’t stop here, it went further. Motivated by this newly-created love for wandering, my friends and I created a web series to discover Lebanon and its hidden gems and non-touristic territories, and I posted all about it on my Local Guide profile of course. Here you can find the link to have a fast glimpse of the places we saw; two of them are in the pictures below. We even went beyond just discoveries and started to organize volunteering missions to clean up or restore some of these places!
I can’t wait to share with you the new places we’ll discover and all the places you’ll help me find through your contributions!
