I don’t travel to far away places due to my schedule but i travel local in my current city (Dehradun, India) and hometown (Ghaziabad & New Delhi, India). Observing things has always been my habit but i had never penned them down until i came to know about Local Guides program through a colleague. The idea struck me as a fantastic one because not only did it allow me to put my knowledge to use but also gave me another interesting hobby. I started posting reviews and photos wherever I visit.
Dehradun is a small, growing commercial city where small businesses are emerging every day. I like to help others by adding these new places. This helps others to get to know about the new facilities and services that are getting available to them. It also helps those small businesses to get known easily and grow at a faster rate. People get to visit these places and review them which adds confidence to the business and also improve based on feedback. Ratings and reviews make them competitive and provide a better service to us. This way, I like to help both the businesses and consumers.
Local guide program has helped me to meet a group of people locally who are weekend explorers. We meet on weekends and explore the fantastic city of Dehradun which has diverse areas to explore, like it has places that gives a glimpse of British rule in India, places of untouched natural beauty on the foothills of the great Himalayas, the mountains, river valley, the tribal areas, the Buddhist colonies, etc. Thanks to Local guide program, my weekends are more vibrant now.
On the Google Maps, I had observed that some added places needed to be updated. Dehradun being a gateway to Himalayas, is a tourist place. Lots of new people come here from far away places. Being a local guide, I like to update the information on Google Maps and help them find their way.
My colleague and I have a very friendly competition where we would discuss the places we added, the photographs we added and the number of view that each got. We would then share what more detail we could add so that the reviews can be both short and informative to get more likes.
It is always very encouraging when I get a ‘Like’ and see the statistics that I get in email for my efforts and contribution. The Local Guide program has made my life more exciting and gives me satisfaction that my small efforts are helping others.
