I came across the local guides program by accident. I’ve been a Google fan since the early days - one of those who got their full name as their email address. I started to post a couple of pics when I was travelling. Nothing too serious. Then one day I got an email saying 50,000 people had looked at one of my pics of the Tonga blow holes which was in itself mind blowing. Now that one photo has over 500,000 views.
I am a naturally generous person and I like sharing my experiences and what I see. I blog for a niche fly fishing magazine and I get to see some amazing environments which I can share much more broadly thanks to Local Guides. I have travelled to over 50 countries since I started to travel 49 years ago, and Google has made this so much easier. Local Guides is just the best tool for sharing and keeping people connected with good information. With all the knowledge of the world in my hand, I trust the data and images I get from Google more than any other source.
I can’t pretend there isn’t a bit of ego involved. Local Guides once sent me an email saying I had rock star status! Just the right thing to say to an old guy who has really always only ever wanted one thing - to play has axe in a rock band. But if I had to capture the essence of what the local guides program means to me it is about the satisfaction and sense of achievement I get from sharing with the world. A sharing economy where the only currency is satisfaction.
One final thought. When we were at risk of losing our house to the Australian bush fires in January, sharing images made it feel better, as if no matter what happened Local Guides would bear witness.
I’ve been around computers since the beginning and even worked in the business for a while. As a 19 year old technician I demonstrated the first ever magnetic character recognition swipe card, with a small thermal printer, to the Board of the Bank of England - at 1 Bank Street, London when it was a dusty old stone building. Forty years ago, and look where we are now.