Ever since I was a kid, I have always been someone who loves to go out and explore places. As a tiny baby and a toddler, I wreaked havoc by climbing onto every skirting of every wall in my house and when I grew enough to ride a bicycle, I would roam around the neighborhood. Fast forward to teenage, and I developed a passion to explore beyond my neighborhood, especially within my own city. However, due to the law and order situation in Karachi being unstable there's always something or the other popping up which makes it difficult to get back home, which in turn made my parents not want me to go out too far away from home, especially alone.
I did understand their concern, as a rather navigationally-illiterate person, how would I find my way back home if any of the main roads were blocked? I just knew one way home and that was it. For a small portion of my late teenage, I let this fear of getting lost keep me tied up to my neighborhood.
Then came Google Maps and suddenly I realized I could not get lost. I know it might sound like an exaggeration, but that's exactly how I felt. I could take a bus to the middle of nowhere, have absolutely no idea where I am, but open Google Maps and figure out a way home faster than Courage could yell "Muriel"! I could do more, enjoy more, see more- all of which went a long way in making me who I am.
I believe this exact sentiment is what forces me to contribute to Google Maps every chance I get- help other people realize that home, as well as every other destination possible, is theirs to reach if they want to. Google Maps has taken away my excuse to not be somewhere I want to be, I want it to do the same for everyone around me.
2022
