I came across a blog recently that was titled “Don’t sign up for the World Race.” I was incredibly intrigued by the title and also slightly confused as to why the link was sent to me by the admissions department for the World Race! I thought to myself, why in the world are they sending me something that says not to sign up for the World Race??
As I continue to talk with people about the Race, there occasionally seems to be this notion or idea from some that what I am about to embark on is something similar a 5-star vacation. Including fancy/nice hotels, touristy adventures all the time, comfortable travel, etc. I wanted to write this blog to give people a glimpse into to what my life will be like for these 11 months. And let me tell you, it won’t be anything close to the Ritz-Carlton :). I want to show you exactly how I’m going to be living and share with you a few of the “reasons” talked about in the blog titled “Don’t sign up for the World Race”. While I will have my share of exciting adventures and amazing experiences this is also going to be a difficult and challenging journey. Here are some of the reasons why!
1) Don’t sign up for The World Race if you like being clean and smelling nice. You may go an entire month with only one quick bath in a muddy creek.
To be honest, I’ve started preparing myself for this by trying to go one or two days without washing my hair! It’s much easier on days when I don’t have to be anywhere or look nice haha. I’m sure I will get to a point where I don’t care how I look or how I smell but right now, I can’t imagine that! I won’t always have access to a nice hot shower or even a shower at all for that matter. I may go days, weeks or months without any sort of shower!
2) Don’t sign up for The World Race if you need a bed to sleep. This year I have slept on the floors of gas stations, with homeless people in Poland, numerous airports, and in every form of transportation possible.
I am definitely going to miss my bed when I am gone! While I have managed to find a pretty comfortable sleeping pad to bring along, it definitely isn’t the same as my bed. This tent and sleeping pad will be my home for the entire 11 months. We could be sleeping in homes, schools, airports, outside, barns, etc. And yes, I did just say barns! I read a blog once where a team had to sleep in a barn for the entire month. They set up their tents in the barn and slept amongst the animals!
3) Don’t sign up for The World Race if you hate snakes, spiders, mosquitos, and other strange bugs. They will soon be your housemates and chances are your bug net won’t keep them off you at night.
This pretty much terrifies me and it’s one thing I’m really, really not looking forward to haha. Snakes, spiders, mice, strange bugs, etc are not my cup of tea! I flinch at the sight of anything flying towards my face or crawling on my arms. I can only begin to imagine what I will encounter….
4) Don’t sign up for The World Race if it is your dream to be a fashion icon. Numerous times I have seen a cute guy checking me out, before realizing that he was actually staring at my socks with sandals or my coat over a sweater over a dress, with jeans and snow boots combination.
Packing has definitely become a major stressor for me lately as I want to make sure I have everything I need for 11 months. I have always been an over-packer and find the need to pack for every situation possible. If I do this for the Race, I will easily be over the 50lb weight limit for my pack which cannot happen! Our packing lists say to only bring about 6 shirts, 2 shorts, 3 skirts, 2 pants, 1 jacket/sweatshirt, etc. For someone who loves having tons of options, this is going to be a struggle haha. These two backpacks are what I will be bringing on the Race and will contain everything I need for the 11 months. My big back is a 60L Gregory Deva and my day pack is a 26L Patagonia Refugio. As launch gets closer I’ll be doing a blog post all about what I’ve decided to pack and how I manage to fit everything into these two packs!
5) Don’t sign up for The World Race if you hate living in community and love your independence. For the past 8 months, I haven’t even gone to the bathroom in a restaurant by myself. You will be with your team 24/7 and an iPod/eye-mask combination only gives a temporary sense of being alone.
I am definitely a person who enjoys my alone time, so this may be a struggle for me at times. Being with people 24/7 is not something I’m used to since I do live alone. I enjoy coming home from work and just having some time to myself to relax. While I am really looking forward to making new friendships and becoming family with my squad-mates, this is definitely something new that I’m going to have to adjust to.
6) Don’t sign up for The World Race If you are comfortable with who you are, because I can promise that this experience will change you. The journey is not easy, but if you are willing… God will take you on an adventure of love, service, abandonment, and surrender. YOU will never be the same.
I am extremely excited to see what God does in my life throughout these 11 months. I look forward to the lessons he’s going to teach me, the trials I will have to overcome and the joyful moments with the people I will encounter and live with. I pray that I will have an open mind going into this trip and have no expectations. I pray that I will allow God to use me however He wants and that I will truly surrender to Him. I look forward to seeing the person I will become during the World Race and hope you’ll consider joining me on this adventure!
As always, please keep me in your prayers as I prepare for this journey and while I’m gone. Please subscribe to my blog so you’ll never miss out on an update from me! All you have to do is click the “subscribe for updates” button and enter your email. It’s that easy! Then every time I make a new post, it’ll be sent directly to your email. Thank you for your support and I hope you’ll follow along!
