New Delhi: A dead man’s favourite spot? A bagel shop? Or a scamming call centre?
Give him an image or two, and 24-year-old Trevor Rainbolt will tell you exactly where these places are using his exceptional geolocation skills.
The American social media personality, known by his online alias “Georainbolt”, is quite the phenomenon to his legion of fans when it comes to sniffing out any place in this whole wild world with barely an image or a video.
So much so, that people now ask him to “find” their will to live, while one wondered if he could find Nemo.
Rainbolt’s journey into the world of geolocation began with his passion for the geography-based game “GeoGuessr”. In this game, participants are presented with Google Street View images from around the world and asked to look at surrounding details to guess the precise location. Through years of practice, Rainbolt developed an extraordinary talent for pinpointing locations in a split second.
Rainbolt does not rely merely on maps, but also visual clues, both subtle and obvious. He looks for details such as road lines, bollards, license plates, driving sides, vegetation, soil color, tropical characteristics, road quality, telephone poles, and the latest Google Street View imagery available. These help him to zero in on the correct country, state, and eventually the street.
How does he do it?
Rainbolt started playing “GeoGuessr” casually back in 2016 but in 2020 – imprisoned by Covid — he sought to expand his knowledge of the world and understand different cultures.
Rainbolt dedicated himself to studying Google Maps and learning about countries for nearly 13 months and started playing the game seriously in mid-2021.
He turned out to be a natural. Millions across the world started following him on various social media platforms, as his video captivated audiences.
Rainbolt assisted people in finding the location of a family member’s cherished memories or even sniffing out a scam.
In one instance, he located the exact place as shown in a photograph of a dead man. With the help of followers, Rainbolt searched for over 300 hours to find the place in San Diego, thereby helping the man’s son and family to pay a visit and relive his memory.
His skills extended to serious criminal matters as well. In collaboration with Indian YouTuber Scambaiter, he used his geolocation skills to expose a call centre in Punjab, India which was scamming people.
And Rainbolt always accepts a challenge.
Most recently, he spent over 80 hours scouring Google Maps and other websites to locate a bagel shop that TikTok influencer Casketpaint refused to disclose. The American wanted to ensure that no one gatekeeps food!
With the help of a few New Yorkers, he finally identified the bagel shop, which turned out to be located on the city’s William Street. Rainbolt’s dedication caught the attention of the shop owner, Jimmy Stathakis, who named the sandwich after him — The Rainbolt. As for an embarrassed Caskeppaint, he has vowed never to return to the bagel shop again.
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