To be honest, being a Google Local guide didn’t seize my interest in the first place. The opportunity I involved in the Local guide program was the experience that I went to a high-priced Japanese yakiniku restaurant for celebrating my boyfriend’s birthday. We didn’t expect that we enter such a high-tier restaurant that most of the meals were unaffordable for us after looking at the menu. Since all we ordered were those with lower price, we thought that the clerks won’t deliver good customer service. But things went beyond my expectation, they spend time demonstrating how to Grill meal nicely and introduced every ingredient in the meal clearly. The service, food, the atmosphere was all perfect at the restaurant. Such a high-quality restaurant should be known by more people. This was how I started my first review and became a Google Local Guide.
The review helps people like me who are interested but also hesitate to try this restaurant due to the limited budget. They will not be afraid that they would encounter bad service in this high-end restaurant. Being a local guide empowers me to help others to know whether the place is worth visiting or not, it gives me a sense of achievement.
I like to travel, no matter across the country or between countries. I found a beautiful and relaxing coffee during the trip to Japan with my friends last month. The view and the food there were astonishing that I won’t willing to lose the opportunity to share with everyone around the world. I wrote a review and upload some of the pictures taken there. One of the most popular pictures received 11,444 views so far, is the delicious Croissant there.
It’s inspiring that through Google Maps, we, as the local guides, can assist each other via sharing. Whenever I am planning my vacation trip, I always investigate reviews on Google Maps beforehand. It seems like I receive truthful and real suggestions from my friends telling me if the place is worth going and what should be careful from reviewing the feedback written by other local guides.
The most impressive experience that I received help from reading the reviews was in last December. To go to a campsite at high altitude, I had been gathering lots of resources and collecting lots of information to think about how to get there successfully. Thanks to local guides, I knew the road to the campsite on the mountain was narrow which was hard to allow two vehicles to pass one another. That being said, the driver would better the one who is proficient at driving. That was a huge tip for us that we replace our driver eventually so that we were able to get there safely and successfully.
We had a good time at the campsite and enjoyed the masterpiece of nature. In order to help most people arrive successfully as well, I also wrote a review as a head-up to remind other travelers who want to visit here must have the capability of driving at a certain level.
Sharing is our universal language to communicate. We connect with people by sharing our thoughts on Google Maps, even though we are all from different countries.
I will keep exploring and trying new things with my passions and sharing with others. I hope I can have a chance to see you guys in Connect Live 2020 and share the best things in Taiwan with you.
