So, now you know a little more about the World Race in general, but I know many questions remain. As such, I wanted to provide you with some more specifics on my particular trip and needs.
Route
I am on September’s route 3, which will include the following 11 countries on 3 different continents:
Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. You can learn more about these individual countries and some of the needs we will be helping with at Route 3.
We will be living among the communities and people that we are serving, so living conditions will often be sparse, and can vary greatly depending on the region. Most places will likely involve rugged camping conditions. Think cold showers to outdoor river bathing, lots of mud and dirt, many nights spent in a tent, etc.
Teams
World Race breaks everyone into squads and teams, based on a number of factors. I will be part of a larger squad of 40-60, who will all be leaving in September, for route 3. Once we arrive at each country, we will then be broken down into teams of 6-8 where we branch off to go to our own communities for ministry.
These small teams of 6-8 will live, sleep, serve, cry, learn and grow together. I can only imagine the experiences we will share and the bonds that will form from such communal living….ah, the bucket showers, bug stories and tight quarters we will share.
At the end of each month, when all teams are preparing to go to their next country for ministry, we will join up together as a squad again. This gives us time to reconnect and reflect on everything before moving forward.
Needs
So, in addition to the field costs and insurance covered by the required $16,267, there are several other things I will need for this trip, many of which I will need to take care of soon. Please let me know if you would like to either donate towards the cost of any of these items or purchase any of them for me. Some of the gear such as my backpack, tent and sleeping bag will need to have very specific features or even be fitted, so please check with me first if you would like to purchase one of those. I will update the blog with specific models and names as soon as I go try it all out in the store (planning on going to REI this week).
- Backpack – Though likely my most expensive item, this is one of the most important pieces of my gear. Due to the nature of this trip and the amount of traveling I will do, I will have to stuff everything I want/need for a year into this pack, then carry it around for miles and miles. So, comfort and fit are important.
- Tent – as stated earlier, there will be many nights spent in a tent, sometimes outdoors and sometimes indoors (to protect against mosquitos and such). The most important features here will be an extremely lightweight and easy to assemble tent that protects from the elements, which drives up the cost.
- Sleeping Bag – another essential item as it will literally be my bed for 11 months. It sounds like most every night will be spent sleeping on the floor and/or in then tent, so comfort and warmth will be key.
- Immunizations – I will need quite a few of these, as well as some anti-malarial meds.
Wants
There are several other items which would be great to have for this trip, but by no means mandatory. A few of these include:
- Packing Cubes (varying sizes and prices from $10-40) – these will allow me to fit more items into my backpack, which I could desperately use, as anyone that has seen me pack would know.
- Headlamp ($25-50) – I am told this a much needed an used item, especially useful for navigating around in the evenings.
- Kindle ($30-80) – I don’t need the nicest one, or even a new one (perfectly fine with a used one), but there will be many hours spent traveling on buses and I don’t have enough room to bring along books.
As always, please feel free to contact me should you have any further questions about anything. Also, subscribe and share these posts with anyone and everyone that you know who might be interested. Thank you!
