The World Race has changed us. In some ways for the better, and in other ways, maybe not so great. My team has joked around that it may make us much more dateable. Here are a few reasons why:
1. If you spend more than $5 on our dinner, we will be very impressed. We typically live on a food budget of $4 per day in each country, for context.
a free Malaysian feast
2. If you speak English, you’re already 5 steps ahead. Pronouncing our name correctly makes us swoon. In India, they called me McKenje. The rest of Asia, it sort of trailed off into a mumble.
3. Our idea of dates has decreased significantly — stopping by 7-11 for tea or feeding catfish in a river are both satisfactory for us.
4. No need to spend much money on jewellery. We’re now impressed by a bracelet made out of rubber bands and string.
5. We’re the most adaptable people you’ll ever meet; change doesn’t bother us. Oh, it’s actually a 15 hour bus ride instead of 8? Living in a new country every month? Sounds great!
Fitting 7 people + 6 backpacks + 6 daypacks + groceries into one car
6. We can sleep anywhere — airports, churches, offices, 6×6 foot rooms, bus floors. Give us a real bed and we’ll think we’re a queen!
7. We’re not high maintenance. We spent a year rotating between 5 shirts and 3 pairs of pants, and some of us haven’t put on makeup or done our hair in 5 months.
8. The bar for entertainment has been set very low: some of us in India spent an hour tossing our water bottles to see which ones would land upright.
9. We don’t get offended easily; we roast each other on a daily basis. In Asia, some of our favorite questions were: Why are you so fat? Why aren’t you married? Why don’t you get rid of those pimples?
10. Our idea of dressing up is wearing clean jeans and a shirt that’s not a t-shirt.
Exhibit A
11. You’ll save money on the water bill because we can save water by taking bucket showers and our record for the number of days without a shower is up to eight.
12. We’re famous celebrities in other countries.
13. We’re up for anything — strangers giving us rides, eating food that we can’t identify, meeting foreign officials…
14. We’re prepared for any situation — bandaids, toilet paper, baby wipes, we got ‘em.
15. No miscommunication here. We’ve learned ISG (international sign gesturing) and there’s no way to misunderstand what we mean.
16. We have great ingenuity. Problem solving on the daily makes it hard to stump us. We just got to a new country at 11pm, but our host forgot to tell us to get a hostel for the night? Sure, I think we can figure that out.
A great summary of our year abroad
17. Do you need your accounting done? We know how to convert at least 6 foreign currencies into the U.S. dollar rather quickly.
18. Our modest clothing won’t make you stumble.
19. You don’t have to worry about us being passive aggressive, we’ll tell it like it is. #feedback
20. We’ve learned to live with other people 24/7 without wanting to kill them.
21. We have learned how to thrive living the simple life. One backpack, 5 friends, a few dollars, and one good God.
Why you should date our team:
Klancy: She’ll think you’re a comedic genius.
Danielle: She can make a mean meal out of practically nothing.
McKenzie: That side eye.
Caitlin: You’ll always win trivia night with her.
Allie: She can keep up with you at the gym.
Sara: Ya can’t. 😉 #taken
