Today marks two weeks until I return home and complete the World Race. I’ll be in Georgia with my family telling stories of the past year, giving them a glimpse into my travels, and likewise listening to their stories of the past year of how things have been changing there, like I’m sure it has.
Knowing there are people leaving for the World Race three times a year—4 squads of an estimated 50 people around January, July and September, adding up to around 600 people per year—I figured I could help by shedding some light on the grand mystery that you’re about to get yourself into. And hopefully some of this advice can be translated into everyday life even in the states. So here’s 11 tips for your 11 months in 11 different countries, from an 11-monther.
11. Listen to me when I say this. PACK AS LIGHT AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE. You’ll quickly realize how much STUFF has an effect on America. We loooove our stuff. But we don’t need it. I brought way too much stuff for myself. My pack began the race around 48 lbs., and now it’s around 33 lbs. because I’ve dropped stuff I don’t need. Sure, bring books and swap them around the squad, or even leave them at a hostel as you pick up more. Don’t worry about how you’re going to clean your ears out for the next 350 days…it’ll happen. You know what India and Africa were doing when the U.S. introduced deodorant and feminine products? THE SAME THING. You will find all your needs at the local market/grocery store/whatever. You don’t need 4 different internet devices (I don’t even have one, since my computer screen busted month 2), and you don’t need a 5 lb. bathroom kit. You won’t miss what you don’t have. Now’s your chance to become the minimalist you’ve always wanted to be. Girls, bring a skirt. Bring shorts, jeans and sweatpants. Bring 4 shirts (if you need more, I assure you, you’ll have ample opportunity), a hoodie, your passport, your Bible, and a pair of shoes that won’t let you down. That’s it. Don’t complicate things.
10. Take pictures. Take in the sites. Somehow, APPRECIATE WHAT YOU’RE SEEING. I’ve seen some incredible things this whole race. The Himalayas, gypsies, beaches, the Australian Outback are only a few. I love taking pictures, but it quickly became a distraction from truly investing in what I was actually seeing: my appreciation of seeing things was lost in my impulse to see things for the sake of taking pictures. Find some way to remember what you’ve seen—whether it’s impressed on your mind and heart, or if you take a picture and end up framing it. Walk kilometers away (you might as well forget the term “mile” and what it means) for an amusement park, a zoo, or a panoramic view. Take a moment to capture the reality that God Himself had His very hands on the lands, His hands on the faces of the people, as He created it all. Don’t take for granted that you’re standing in the very place that many of your family, high school & college friends, and strangers have been longing to stand, and that you may never stand there again. See it all, my friend. See it all.
(Himalayas, our view from our stay.)
9. JOURNAL. I’m an obsessive journaler. Or, I used to be. I’ve always loved to read old entries to see how my life has changed through it all. It’s funny, depressing, insightful, and reveals all the ways you didn’t realize God was working at the time. You’re not going to want to forget the emotions, the conversations, the feedback, the adventures, the relationship ups and downs, the life/God revelations, the laughs, or even the boredom. Record, record, record. Then, at the end of the race, or the next year, read it all again and feel it all again, remembering God’s grace, and rejoicing in your change.
8. LOSE YOUR HEART. In Nepal (a life-changing month for me), through conversations with Danny, reading Radical by David Platt, and realizing the freedom in Galatians, I began to learn to give all I have. This has been an up-and-down battle since this concept entered my mind, but I want to be able to say, at the end of every day, that I gave it all I could, and, exhausted, find rest wherever I lay my head that night. I want to give every encouragement, talk or be silent, pray all the prayers I can, laugh and cry as much as it takes, all for the sake of love. People need to know love, and we’re the means. It’s not easy to give all of yourself, but you’ll find it necessary.
(Me chasing after a bus of Nepalese. They needed tracts!!!)
6. BE COMPLETELY VULNERABLE AND DEPENDENT ON YOUR TEAM. Dishonestly and independence have no place in community, and the more you hold back, the more you’ll regret. I feel like I can finish there, but if it takes more urging and convincing, I’ll go on. From a selfish standpoint, I’ve gotten more return in relationships on the team, usually with the whole team, the more I confess things I don’t actually want to confess. The more I listen to people pour their heart out, the more I invest in them, and vice versa. Dependence will teach you community. Remember in Acts when it talks about selling all their possessions and heaping all of their material needs together for them to use as they have need? Picture that: materially, financially, emotionally, spiritually, etc. If you give everything you have, are as vulnerable as possible, you’ll soon learn community will fulfill what you lack. Let Him surprise you with how much He loves you through your team.
(Team F.L.O.G., Kenya, month 8)
5. REST, RELAX, AND TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF OF YOURSELF. This goes two ways, and it’s all an important lesson. On one hand, you’ll sleep when you’re dead, so get up early and see as much as you can see of a new city, but on the other hand, don’t indulge so much that you’ll end up passing out while bargaining with a Vietnamese vender over a purse you don’t really need. Sleep when you need to. The main point I want to make with this one, though, is that you’ll realize, later rather than sooner unfortunately, that most of the expectations they expect you to drop are expectations of yourself. You’re driven more by performance than you realize—we all are. So give up trying to please people: your team, your contacts, your squad leaders/AIM, yourself. Surrender yourself to the Holy Spirit, and TRUST IT. Don’t set yourself up as people’s God by thinking they expect more of you than you can actually give. God the FATHER will take care of you and others, and use you when you move yourself out of the way. Chill out, take your time. Take a load off. God said He’ll do it, and He will.
(I may or may not have fallen asleep while reading in the Kiev airport.)
4. MAKE MISTAKES. In light of #5, go ahead and come to terms with the fact that you’re going to make mistakes. You’re going to offend people, whether you mean to or not, and probably some of the people you love the most. You’re going to break things (including but not limited to computers and bones), forget your money at the most crucial times, say the wrong thing, get a bad haircut, forget to lock the hostel room door, and stumble down the steps or over a bridge. (The one mistake I advise you NOT to make, however, is not drinking a lot of water. I did that in India and I still don’t think I’m fully recovered, 6 months later. DRINK WATER.) Do not be embarrassed to talk to your team about it. They probably have more insight than you, knowing you as well as they will/do. You may find what you hear is what you’ve been waiting to hear for years. The last thing you want to do when this happens is let it speak the lie that you’re dumb. Let it remind you of your humanness and how desperate you are for the Lord, and run to Him with it.
(Let's be clear. This outfit was a mistake.)
3. LAUGH AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. Find things funny when they are. Don’t replace laughter for joy, but let it daily be a sign of the joy you have. Some of my best relationships started because we laugh at the same thing. I’ve been known for my quick laugh, but am learning to purify that in so many ways. I still recognize it as important, BUT…
(The men on my team cheering me up by modeling my wardrobe.)
(Literally piled into a Cambodian Tuk-Tuk. Photo courtesy of Lauren Lognion.)
2. TAKE THINGS SERIOUSLY. Let your heart feel what’s real, for yourself and others, even—in fact, especially— if it hurts. Ask the Lord to search your heart in all things, and when He shows you, give it to Him to heal it, and bring alongside your family (team) to go through it with you. Follow through with that prayer. Speak up with what’s on your heart: your fears, your victories. Confront the things you need to confront so they’re no longer a hindrance to what God has in store.
1. EMBRACE ALL THINGS. Love the journey. Raft the Nile. Eat tarantula. Sneak into temples. Read as many books as possible. Talk to strangers—ESPECIALLY when they speak English. Drink cheap beer. Ride elephants and camels. Run on the beach. Hike to a faraway hill because the tree you see intrigues you. Bathe in a waterfall. Go to Poland and dance with the drunks in the square at 4 a.m. Sing at the top of your lungs in a field. Crash weddings. Get your eyebrow pierced. Bungee jump. Stay up all night. Watch movies. Hold snakes. Climb trees. Explore caves. Stay off the internet. Get out of your room. Use your legs and GO.
(Rafting the Nile. Can't believe I survived. Worth it.)
(Swinging from the trees, month 1.)
There is so much for you out in the world, and it would be a darn shame for you to miss it.
