Travel days. The struggle is oh so real.
One misconception I had about the Race was that I would actually spend a full month in each country we visited. I’m not sure if I thought we just teleported in between countries, but for whatever reason, I didn’t foresee travel days being as big of a deal as they actually are, so I’m here to set you straight. Travel days (or as I like to call them, the travel daze) can be rough. UNLESS you follow my wonderful travel day tips included for your reading pleasure.
So at training camp, one of the training scenarios is to spend a night on a school bus, simulating that you’re stuck at a border crossing and you can’t get out of the bus until morning. Now this training situation seemed a bit over-the-top at the time, like when would this ever happen. BUT LET ME TELL YOU. I am about to spend my second consecutive night sleeping on a bus, and I wish it was a stationary school bus. However, it is not. Last night we got to ride overnight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and tonight we again get an overnighter from Bangkok, Thailand to Siem Reap, Cambodia. The tranquility of a stationary school bus is long in our past. As we whip through the jungles of East Asia, you might find me trying to block out the noise of screeching breaks with music and fervently praying the Lord would protect us. (By the way, He always comes through.)
Apparently, the bus scenario has been leaked (oopz) and too many future racers know it’s coming at training camp (what would they do without the element of surprise) so the bus scenario has been replaced with an airport overnighter. I am about to start month 5 of my Race (not even halfway done!) and we have already spent the night in the airport on three separate occasions and are now spending the night at a bus station. This could look a lot differently depending on where in the world you find yourself on said travel day. For example, if you are in Managua, Nicaragua as we were on our first airport overnight experience, the airport may in fact entirely shut down from the hours of 11pm-5am. One may think this is a wonderful blessing. However, with the building shut down, the air conditioning goes with it as well. So from the hours of 11pm-5am you may find yourself sweating profusely in a sleeping bag liner on the hard cement ground outside of a closed-up touristy shop where the owner comes and kicks you awake at 4:30am when she’s ready to open up shop. If you are so fortunate as to have a layover in the blessed United States of America, your airport experience will look quite different. It may still include pitching your tent inside of a terminal to block out the fluorescent lights. But if you find yourself in Manila, Philippines on an overnight escapade, you are in luck. I mean whip out the sleeping pad, sleeping bag, and pillow because you are getting a good night’s rest on the floor of the Manila International Airport. Sleep sweet dreams of pleasant travel days in the future.
Now what kind of Travel Day Advice-Giver would I be without giving you all of my pro-tips on Travel Day necessities. Here’s the list:
- Music. I am a huge advocate of Spotify Premium. Primarily because I am not a fan of illegally downloading music (I don’t think God is a fan of it either) and for the low low price of just $10.99/month you can have unlimited music on your device that you can easily add/remove at any point throughout your Race! And what better way to stay connected to the latest song trends in the US or follow what your brother is listening to by subscribing to different playlists. It’s just plain great. So go getcha self a Premium account and load UP on some good tunes for your travel daze listening pleasure.
- TV Shows. iTunes TV show subscriptions. Again. Not about that illegal downloading life. You can subscribe to TV shows and download the new episode each week and keep up with all your favorite shows just like that! Or it’s a movie you fancy? Well look no farther than a mere rental for cheap without having to clear a bunch of memory space for a movie on your device. Clutch.
- Podcasts. Church like you’re used to just isn’t going to be readily accessible whilst on the Race. You may even find yourself delivering the Sunday sermon on many an occasion (I got 2 sermons under my belt as of right now). Therefore podcasts are your friend. They are a wonderful supplement to your spiritual life and another great way to stay connected to your church back home!
- Books. Any kind of eReader/Kindle/Fire will do. I have had a surprising amount of down time on the Race in general and have found a wonderful way to fill that time is by reading. What I’ve read thus far: Interrupted, Jen Hatmaker; Desiring God, John Piper; The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis; Bossypants, Tina Fey. Mark of the Lion Collection, Francine Rivers. Five Points, John Piper. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller. Journey of Hope, Debbie Kaufman. You get the point. Lots of books.
I’ll leave you with my last bit of advice for smooth, seamless travel days. Traveling between countries is just straight up rough on your body. Whether it’s curling up in a ball for a 24 hour bus ride from Quiche, Guatemala to Granada, Nicaragua or a taxing 16 hour layover in Los Angeles, trying to pack all things ‘Murica into your limited USA time, make sure you take care of your body as much as possible. Just because you can eat snickers and potato chips for breakfast, lunch and dinner doesn’t mean you should. Keep your temple holy cause you don’t want to come into a new month of ministry sick!
Welp, that’s all the wisdom I got for ya from my time thus far on the Race. I’m sure it will be even more refined come month 11. Stay tuned for more adventures next month in CAMBODIA!
Forever His,
Grace
