In this post I want to share with you my life philosophy which I have been shaping throughout the last years thanks to different experiences. And as thanks to Local Guides I have been able to carry out a much more intense experience.
As soon as I started my university studies I knew that a new stage was beginning in my life which would bring new people, new challenges and new places. I also knew that I had something pending to change: to know the world more deeply and in a real way. Since I was a child I was lucky enough to leave my country (Spain) and travel with my family to different places in the world. But at this stage it was time to grow up and change the ways. I didn’t want to travel, I wanted to explore.
So I knew that if I wanted to explore new places and get into the cultures in a more organic way, it would had to be through local people. And for that the best way, obviously, is to get together with the local people of a place. That’s how I got to know Google Maps and its Local Guide system. To start with this idea (my way of seeing the exploration process) I knew that a person who visited my city and its surroundings would not have enough time or resources to find those special places that would leave their mark on their journey. So I began to write reviews of those places that I visited little by little and that left me stunned, or those restaurants which, even today, I still taste those delicious traditional flavors.
When I began to travel abroad, I no longer used the classic travel agencies or tourist guides if I had a giant database of local people at my fingertips. Since then I have applied this way of traveling in my successive trips and removals. Living in Finland I had the opportunity to see Northern Lights that are still engraved in my memory. I found the right place thanks to people’s recommendations. When moving to New Zealand I had the best road trip I have ever made visiting places I thought would only exist in the mythology of The Lord of the Rings. Right now, staying in Taiwan I discovered the most authentic flavors of the gastronomy inherited from ancient China, as well as remote places surrounded by volcanoes and centenary tea plantations.
In a world so globalized and connected, this is when people seem to be busier and more engaged than ever. That is why for me travelling, discovering and learning has become a priority as it is something innate to the human being. And with Local Guides I know that wherever I go, I will know and show the best places that our wonderful planet and its wonderful people offer us.