Less than a month ago I wrote a new blog post announcing that I had switched routes. I said that there was “one more twist ahead” on my road to the World Race.
“One more.” Famous last words. Yesterday evening I got an email from my World Race mobilizer.
Two qualities we asked you to assess yourself on were readiness to change and readiness to have a positive attitude. The World Race is filled with the unexpected. Every day.
Hmm… What’s this about?
Today is one of those days. World Race leadership is constantly evaluating routes prior to training camp and making decisions that provide the best experience for racers, hosts, leaders, and staff.
Okay, this has to be something important. Why are they getting so serious on us?
We will not be launching all five July routes. Because Route 5 has the fewest participants, we are asking that those currently on this route select from the remaining four routes.
Oh. That’s why. Shoot… I was disappointed (although not as much as some of my squadmates, who had longer to get attached to the route) because I had really been looking forward this route to traveling with a smaller squad. There was nothing I could do about it now though except pick a new route. And I didn’t want to get stuck on one of the routes I didn’t care for. I briefly considered going back to the route I had been on before switching, but I hesitated. My only option left was Route 4, another one I had considered early on. I could still go to Guatemala, Thailand, and South Africa, and as an added bonus, I could go back to India. I would also be starting my face in the same country my old September squad was finishing theirs. (Hey I Squad – see you in South Africa?)
I’m actually okay with this. It’s an unexpected change, but that’s part of what I signed up for. My new list of countries is as follows:
South Africa (July)
Swaziland (August)
Mozambique (September)
India (October)
Nepal (November)
Vietnam (December)
Cambodia (January)
Thailand (February)
Guatemala (March)
Honduras (April)
Nicaragua (May)
