Many people love travelling. I sure do. But when you travel, how do you find the things that are really worth your time? After all, you only have a limited amount of time during your trip. You could go to a tourist office, and for sure they will help you on your way. And while much of the information you’ll get at the tourist office will be useful to you, we’re all aware of the fact that many popular travel destinations are full of tourist traps, and the best restaurants to give you an idea of what the local cuisine is like are generally the ones where the locals eat, not the ones that target tourists.
Both when I travel as well as when I’m in places that I am already familiar with, I both use Google Maps to find new and interesting places, and contribute to it to highlight such places if and where I find them (and if required, add them to the map). When looking for activities and restaurants I have often times been helped by Local Guides’ contributions, as I feel their reviews are often more honest and elaborate, and pictures can be of great help when either planning a trip, or just when trying to figure out where to go for dinner. So naturally, I try to contribute.
So what do I mostly contribute to? If I’m travelling in a place I am not familiar with, I try to highlight those things that really left an impression on me. When I travel, I tend to try to avoid tourist traps. and try to experience what a place is really like. Contributions from other Local Guides who are familiar with the area can be really helpful for this. Likewise, if I’m exploring a place and I find something that really leaves an impression on me, I try to highlight it.
When I’m roaming around places that I’m already familiar with or have even lived in, I try to highlight the best things about the place. Sometimes these are obvious, and sometimes these tend to be hidden gems. When I do this, I think both in terms of what would be useful for other people visiting this place, as well as to the locals that maybe themselves haven’t discovered this particular hidden gem yet.
Specifically, the things that I contribute to most are restaurants, tourist attractions (either ones you’ll find at the tourist office, or ones for which you’ll have to venture off the beaten path for a bit more), and occasionally pubs if I find one that has an exceptionally good beer selection (I’m not so much of a wine person).
So what does this mean in my daily life? It means that, while I’ll give ratings or small reviews, or add pictures, to many places, I reserve the more extensive reviews (usually the ones with 5 stars) for the places that are really worth your time. The places that you ought to visit if you really want something exceptional or different, or indeed something that will give you a good taste of what a place is like. This is true both when I’m travelling, or just going about my life. By doing this, I hope to help other Local Guides and Maps users alike, in the same way that many have helped me.