What does the Local Guides Program Mean to Me ? Connecting people and reaching lives
Google Local Guide has been a open community where I am proud to be a part of.
I came to know about this program and Google Map in 2016 during our tea break after our regular pediatric morning round from my friend.Being a medical personnel , it was never feasible to travel conveniently in a group, that’s why I had to rely either on local resident or Google map for direction. Using Google Map over asking local resident for places and directions was more convenient, reliable, easy and dependable to use. Afterwards, I started using it more frequently, and later on started posting photos of places I have visited , writing about their reviews and listing new places in Google map. What fueled doing me this was the notifications from Google about the reach of my posts and relevance of my reviews.And in a span of two years I reached from local guide level from 0 to 7 which is more than encouraging to me. The time-lapse of my travel places and history, lists of new places and cities I have visited, distances I walked on foot in a descriptive mail from Google encourages me to travel more and do more in Google Map.
During my medical career I have traveled far and wide in The Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal than ever before in life , and Google (Maps, and drive ) have been my travel diary. Pictures I took are posted to Google map, places are reviewed and the places are rated in terms of stars.Rating places and services would help other travel to make decision likes it does to me and good rating might be away of promoting them.
I always have had a dream of working and serving humanity beyond any boundary. My current medical profession and Google local guide program seems to have been a fusion. Travel has been my inner drive to know life more and working to serve the human suffering has been a driving factor.
I have not traveled beyond nation and even have not traveled extensively even within my Nepal.Among the places I have visited, there have been so many places and local travel destination that haven’t yet been displayed to this small global community. Things would have changed dramatically , lives would have been uplifted , their story would have been told and their world would have been different, only if they were known to this global world. This is where I feel sad where a potential heaven on earth have been yet remained a status of untouched and unexplored. There are so many such places in this planet and Nepal with a huge tourism potential is one among them.This is where Google Map and local guide program is filling the gap. And I feel honor to be a part of that program. This gives me a reason to travel not just for myself but also a reason to advertise to the world. I feel myself as a responsible candidate doing that job. This is what Local Google Guide means to me. A way of connecting people , inspiring life and exploring more. Hence I feel happy listing local business and places in Google map and writing reviews more about such unheard places, rating them with appropriate stars. And hope this would do justice to such places in the race of paid promotion in today’s busy life. I guess honest reviews would help honest reviewer like me to choose the place and services wisely.This also brings light about the unheard places and helps to boost the travel and local tourism. This seems true for so many local guides over here and I feel honored to have fulfilled that role through the local guide program.
I have been lost so many times (lost in the sense to have missed the usual routes ) during my travel and Google Map have been really helpful in such scenario. Just imagine that situation where you are all alone in the middle of no where. (worst if its not the daytime ). I owe Google Map and Google local guide community so many times for helping me whenever I have lost my way. This local guide program is a way of returning favor this community and the purpose would have been served if ever my post, reviews and pictures came be helpful to anyone.
And finally Thank you Google that I am learning more about my community each day and providing me a platform to return my favor. This Local Guides Live Connect 2020 and this Local Stories in Connect program is turning more than I have hoped for.