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Travel days.
They are major part of the race. They are exhausting, crazy, and fun.
Depending on who you ask, you may hear different opinions on what people think of travel days. Some people may hate them and some may enjoy them. It depends on the person and honestly, it can just depend on the travel day. They all look very different.
I personally really enjoy travel days for the most part. They are time for me to have fun stories to tell. Like sleeping on an airport floor.
Here is my stuffed puppy waiting for me on my pillow with squadmates in the back passed out at the Malaysian airport.
Or telling about that 20 hour bus ride in Nepal that was so bumpy I actually got launched 3 feet in the air a couple times (literally–it hurt).
It also provides a great opportunity to hang out with squadmates you may not get to during the rest of the month. Y’all are stuck in a space together whether you like it or not, so you may as well make the best of it.
Here Allison and I are watching a movie on our way to Malaysia for our 10 hour layover.
With that said, I want to share a couple things every World Racer needs on a travel day from my past two months of travel day experiences.
For the sake of being specific, this is more focused on the travel days when you are in a country. So bus rides. Because for me, so far, I have had 5 long in-side country travel days and counting.
Specifically, I have had:
2 8 hr-9hr bus rides in India
1 16 hour and 1 20 hour bus ride to the “jungle” of Nepal and back
1 (and counting) 20 hour bus ride to our site in Vietnam
So here is what you MUST-have on these travel days:
–Money for snacks and toliet. Almost everywhere but the US you have to pay to use the bathroom. There are exceptions though, but be prepared.
–Toliet paper/baby wipes. Other countries use water, so always have it on you. Always. Especially when there is a legit possibility of getting sick on a long travel day(s).
–Medicine/bags. In case you do get sick, especially if you are prone to it. I say bags because they may or may not pullover for you if you are sick. This happened to a squadmate recently.
–A full water bottle. To stay hydrated so you won’t die, but don’t stay too dehydrated that you have to pee all the time.
–Jacket/blanket. Okay. You know yourself, but even if you are in a warmer country you should probably bring one. On our way back from the village of Nepal, it was warm but than in the evening it got VERY chilly in the evening. Where I was on the bus had a window that wouldn’t shut all the way so I had a freezing cold draft blowing in most of the night. Thankfully I had my flannel, but I still froze.
–Pillow. I have enjoyed having a small travel pillow to cuddle with or using as an actual pillow. Even if it is a hassle to carry, bring it.
–Hand sanitizer. Some of the bathrooms on the way to your destination will not have a place to wash your hands.
–Gum. I have loved this one. Sometimes you eat a weird food that puts a funny taste in your mouth and sometimes you may just want to freshen up your breath. Or sometimes maybe you feel nauseuous so the mint flavor can help.
–Headlamp. This is optional, but helpful for some of those late night bathroom stops that will happen. It isn’t a guarantee that you will have light.
–A good bus partner. You may not really have an option about picking your bus partner, but if you do try and pick someone on your team/squad you haven’t talked to much yet.
Here are some MUST-have mentalities:
-A mentality to be flexible. Things are apt to change and may be different than what you expect. Actually, there is a 98% chance they will be different than what you think. And honestly, it makes it easier on your logistic and team leaders if you learn to be flexible. Sometimes they don’t know how things will work out and you being flexible makes things a lot easier on them.
For instance, one travel day my team and another team were headed to Bangalore. It would be an 8 hour bus ride at night so we thought it’d be a normal bus. But it wasn’t. It ended up being a sleeper. Which was a blessing, but definitely not what we expected–so we just went with it.
Here my squadmate Hillary and I are not sure what to think of this whole “sleeper bus” situation.
-A mentality to do what you gotta do or BUAD. Buck up and deal. Sometimes on a 20 hour bus ride you really got to use the bathroom and you don’t have a bathroom–you go on the side of the road. You just gotta do it. (…I did….).
–Positive attitude. Again, things may not turn out how you think, but try and be positive. You never know the good fruit that can come from the change or just being positive. Finding joy and the hilarity in the sucky situations will make everything easier and more entertaining. Besides, who knows the possible opportunities for reaching out to people or having the funniest “that’s a world race moment.”
Like this. It’s pretty funny to have 20 of us in public transport taking us to our main bus. And sometimes you have to have a squadmate sit on 3 of your stacked big packs. We were all exhausted coming from our 2 hour flight just after our 10 hour layover in Malaysia, but you have to admit this is hilarious.
So here is a 101 for travel days in the country–those long bus rides. Be prepared, but have fun. Adventure lies in the little moments too.
