2022
We sense - feel, see, smell, hear, taste - our world, what is around us. We react - cringe, cry, jump, sweat, sing - to that world. Whether our world today is where we grew up near our families, where we work and make a living, where we are visiting for a vacation, or where we are traveling to as a tourist, our world is around us. Being able to share those experiences of temporary citizenship of an area opens us up to richer experiences, but allows the people we share with a glimpse into - the world.
Being involved in Local Guides -putting photos on the map, fixing errors, or writing up a place - each enrich my experience in reliving the details. They also give me a bit of a thrill knowing that someone else out there somewhere will stumble across my stories and, even if for a moment, have it in their hands, their hearts - they will know a little bit about me and about where *I* was. The world becomes a little smaller and a little friendlier with each encounter.
The points always surprise me (oh! I got a "gold star")- but make me smile. A KUDO makes me feel helpful - and makes me grin. But, knowing that I may have saved someone time by fixing the hours on a business, or putting a picture of a store front that is hard to find, or offered a hint about what to order...THAT make me HAPPY!
My experience with Local Guides has been both individual in my writing and posting ...a lone, but expansive and almost unimaginable in the POTENTIAL of the reach of each post. Although I have been fortunate to live in many places around the world (England, China, Turkey, Bhutan) and visit even more, my current home town is Astoria in Queens, New York, known to be the most international place on Earth - I see my words reaching all the local home towns that my neighbors and the people on the streets and in the subways are from. Wow! What an amazing sight.
I am very happy to be a Local Guide and be among so many other local world travelers. . . and I am glad to meet you all.
