“Long after I’m gone, or even when I’m still around, my family will have a visual record of my entire travel experience. They can tap into my thoughts regarding each place, and travel along the same path I have. Google Maps is more than a place to post a simple review. It’s a place to create your own personal map of the world that others can benefit from.” I concluded.
Once I understood this concept, I was all in. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I didn’t even get a chance to introduce myself! My name is Lindo Korchi and I’m from the USA. This is my story of how I got involved as a Local Guide, along with what I love sharing most on Google Maps: My Travelogue.
During my trip to Japan in 2018, I took a ton of photos, along with video footage. I remember looking up places to visit in Tokyo and constantly seeing the “Write a review” button. I saw it before, but didn’t think much of it.
“I don’t have much to say or contribute.” I thought.
A few days had passed by, and I thought about Google Maps and becoming a Local Guide. It sounded pretty darn cool.
“I’ve visited a ton of places throughout the world, and have a lot of photos. I can essentially create a map that records all the places I’ve been to. People can benefit from my reviews and make an informed decision too. Though, I doubt many people will see my photos or reviews considering that there’s a lot of people who contribute to Google Maps.” I thought.
I felt a bit small, and discouraged, as if my reviews and photos wouldn’t matter anyway. That they would just get lost in the sea of other reviews and photos. I put it off.
Not too long after, I started looking at the contributions that Local Guides have contributed on Google Maps. I was amazed, pumped, and inspired. Not only did I see dedicated Local Guides with Level 10 status with over 286,570 points, or LG’s who provided 471+ reviews and over 9,000 photos (hey, Vegeta), but I also saw their map. And that’s what really hooked me. Each local guide had their own dedicated map of all the places they visited, how they saw the world, along with what they enjoyed. It was their own recorded experience of the world, captured with texts, photos, and sometimes video.
“With Google Maps, I can create a dedicated map of the world which showcases my travel experience. My younger brothers, future children, along with grandkids will be able to pull up a visual record of all the places I visited. They’ll be able to see what cities/countries intrigued me the most, which places I’d praise, and also have the opportunity to travel in my footsteps.”
When my father was growing up, he was quiet the traveler. He traveled throughout much of Europe, along with many other cities. I wish there was a visual record of all the places he traveled to, so that I, too, could visit those same places he ventured out to many years ago.
Since then, I’ve focused on creating my map of the world and have become a Local Guide Level 8 with 21,099 points, typed 375 reviews, uploaded 2,982 photos, generated 6,781,349 views, and the opportunity to potentially join Connect Live 2019. And I’m proud to say that, because each post contributes to my legacy. It’s like investing: with each contribution I add today, tomorrow it will grow and provide value to many.
As a final note, this is my first post on Local Guides Connect. I’d love to hear your story as to how you got started as a Local Guide, along with what drives you to continue contributing! Thank you for reading!