OHH, WE’RE HALF WAY THERE!
Today marks half way through the Race. Which is CRAZY! I know I have held out some on pictures of all we do each month so I thought I’d celebrate this monumental point with some of my favorite (and mostly unseen) pictures of life on the Race so far!
Enjoy!
South America
Chile
This is Mari José! We spent most of our time either hugging or swinging. She was one of the students in my special needs class at Escuela Las Rosas, and she had no problem showing affection!
Meet Seva, definitely the most rambunctious of the crew. He was a big ol flirt, as you can see here. And everything he said was hilarious… it mostly only made sense to him but he always kept us laughing!
I will never get over how beautiful Chile is. Even being so far North of Patagonia, which is the typical tourist sight of Chile, the views were breathtaking.
Martin. Another sweet kiddo who actually wasn’t in my class but for some reason on this day was all about the pictures and snuggles. He dressed as the cutest strawberry ever for Halloween.
Denise was the teacher in Calli, Shannon and I’s classroom. She was so kind and welcomed us into her home for my first real dinner party! I kept saying how weird it was that it happened to be in Chile.
This is the fam (minus a few) in Chile. Our team couldn’t have loved our stay at Casa Esperanza more. We had more sisters than we could count and even a dog! (Not to mention a tío who always had empeñadas for me. Blessed.)
Argentina
Argentina blessed us with all-squad month and lots of trees, which inevitably led to a hammock town. This is just the edge of our village, but I love this picture because I’m always amazed at how my teammate Calli could fall asleep legitimately anywhere.
No, the world’s biggest bird didn’t poop on me. My teammates just spilt our midday yogurt all over me. We had taken a break from scrubbing down the MASSIVE pool and I ended up a victim. Our leader Marlon genuinely couldn’t contain his laughter.
Back in the hammocks. This is Rach. She’s my person on the squad. Having a whole month with her was such a blessing and we didn’t want to waste any possible snuggle time. I’m grateful for her honesty and wisdom. Its so cool to gain such an intimate relationship so fast and know you have a lasting friend.
Just your average dog pile. We stayed on the YWAM (or JuCUM) base in Mendoza and honestly had some of the most amazing hosts/friends the entire month. There were countless laughs, hugs, and cups of Mate shared.
One of my favorite nights in Argentina and maybe on the Race. We spent time just praying and asking the Lord to reveal our individual identities to us. Then we opened the floor and nearly everyone got up to share and speak Truth over ourselves. Things were raw, and speaking out something you don’t fully believe about yourself is hard, but is caused a shift in each of us. And in this moment, one of our new Argentine friends joined in and shared her statement of identity with all of us.
That is a real tarantula. It was not the only one we saw that month….
Argentine treats! I don’t remember the name but they were like sugar doughnuts but better. I ate about a million. I also love this because it’s a small picture of how hospitable Argentina was. EVERYONE welcomed you into their home as a friend. I drank countless cups of Mate so hot I felt like I’d lost my tongue for real. My friend Gamma laughed at my face every sip I took but he never stopped offering it. We all felt like family from the moment we arrived.
Most of my month in Argentina consisted of manual labor led by this guy, Marlon. He’s a real tough rappin’ guy, who pretended to be rough with us. But on this day his true colors showed and he surprised the team with ice cream! Marlon is a lead by example man, and shared Christ through standards of life he set for himself.
Bolivia
Travel day vibes…. Bolivia started rough: with a 6 hour border crossing (after a 23 hour bus ride) and lots of elevation sickness already setting in. It poured down rain just minutes after this picture was taken. We were all outside. My pillow was soaked. It’s fine.
Salar de Uyuni! After a hectic boarder crossing and then the worst 6 hours (in a van-ish vehicle through the night and a lake) of my life, WE MADE IT TO THE SALT FLATS! WOO. Star Wars fans go ahead and geek out here.
Blue, a dinosaur gift from my nephew, wanted in on the adventure day too and decided to climb his own mountain.
During our adventure day, we also spent some time in what they call the Train Graveyard. This is me, post climbing something I’m not actually coordinated enough to climb.
My affection for llamas increased dramatically upon entering South America, and I knew this would be the closest I’d get to actually sitting on one. I saw more wild llamas/guanacos/vicuñas than I could’ve dreamed.
Honestly just couldn’t get over the vastness of the salt flats.
We headed to La Paz for just a day to see our host before heading off on the great adventure! We loved getting to go to church with them, and obviously did whatever it took to get there. The World Race is FULL of crazy transportation, so this is nothing. It actually gave us a beautiful view of the city!
More. Travel. Days. I rode more busses in Bolivia than I did getting to middle school. Luckily I usually have cute bus buddies like Bry.
Our first morning in Apolo, as you can see there were many different emotions. We arrived on a bus at 4 a.m., were allowed to sleep on said bus until 6, and then pointed through a town where no one speaks English to a church where we aren’t sure they knew we were coming. We were confused and tired.
Day two we found the world’s largest cockroaches right inside our home…neat. This is how Bry decided to make sure they didn’t get her face while we slept. My other teammate Megan took them out with a hammer. Conventional We also started lying to each other to help us sleep; “Roaches travel in packs of three, and we killed three so it’s over… oh we killed five? Yeah packs of five.”
This is quite the raw moment. We were riding in the back of a truck to our first village in Bolivia when in began to pour down rain. We were covered with a tarp which got real hot and real claustrophobic real fast. Also on mud roads it felt like we were watching the path just flow off the mountain so notice the fear in my eyes, but then also the joy because I got a sucker.
Reychel! This sweet and wild girl couldn’t get enough of our chocolate hand game we picked up in Chile. We taught all our friends in Huratoumo on day one and then never stopped playing the whole time we were there.
Village number one, Huaratoumo, was such a joy. We mostly got to hang out with kiddos, play games, walk to their homes, and sing with them. It was such a beautiful rest for all of us and allowed us to get back in the game after what felt like weeks of getting to Bolivia!
This is me thinking I’ve conquered something actually scary. This bridge was sketch, and looked way smaller when our truck drove across. You could see the water through big gaps in the boards and I was definitely not a fan. But I had no clue what was coming.
This is me actually conquering something scary… the scariest thing of my life to be exact. That is a landslide flattened out just wide enough for one foot, many many feet above a rushing river. And it’s just one of the things we had to do on our 3 day trek to the village of Mojos.
This is my team and I post day one of the hike cooling off in the River Mojos. Calli actually got baptized right in this spot and it was beautiful. But look at my shoes… the bees. We thought it was weird there were so many on my chacos, but when we got back to camp there were THOUSANDS. We were legitimately swarmed. I had never been stung but I got 5 good ones… including one while I was trying to go to the bathroom. Yeah.
A pineapple on Pineapple Ridge! We made it to this beautiful spot for lunch on day 2 of the hike. We weren’t even half way but this spot had been a goal from the beginning and was just enough rest, wind, and sweetness to help us push on.
ALMOST THERE. When we came around this curve (to the left) we finally got a glimpse of Mojos, only a few peaks away. She was a sight for sore eyes, but our guide Odell finally displayed some exhaustion (probably from pretty much having to drag all 7 of us up the mountain).
Three days later and we finally made it to Mojos. We were greeted with sugarcane juice, jungle showers, and tons of smiles. Surprisingly we had just enough energy to climb another small peak and get this view of the little town Jesus wanted to love so badly. This was also the moment I realized the hike tried to kill me and none of my clothes fit anymore!
Two hours. I went without bug spray for two hours and nearly died (not really). I have never experienced itch like that. I ended up having a bad fever that night and I think my body was just freaking out from inflammation. My ankles swelled up so bad I cried a little. But good thing ya girl is pro essential oils because they are the ONLY thing that helped. We were all taking two Benadryl to sleep through the night.
CHRISTMAS IN MOJOS! It was definitely not the norm. We were literally inside a cloud and had to be really creative with our gifts, but our team loved each other well and were reminded of why we celebrate to begin with.
River crossings happened way more than once. On the way there we would take our shoes off and try and preserve our socks, but at this point we knew we were less than an hour away so notice my teammate waist deep without a care. “GET ME OUT” was pretty much our only mentality. We also had to swim across it. Twice. Once with some pretty gnarly rapids. #safety
On our last day back in the town of Apolo, our sweet pastor and his wife cooked for us. And I mean COOKED. Like whole chickens and steak. I don’t know where it came from but it was amazing. Even with a language barrier, this man was so loving and took great care of us our whole stay. He has a passion for the village people and I’m grateful we got to witness it for even just a day.
Bolivia was hard, but it led us to this little family. Our only English speakers/voulen-told translators and guides. They blessed us every second we spent with them and made it really hard to say goodbye.
Peru
We were only here for a couple days before starting our journey to Asia, but it allowed me to explore Lake Titicaca’s floating islands with these two pals.
Asia
Cambodia
Beef and noodles with a side of some BOMB dumplings. I had been waiting months, really years, to have Khmer food again. So when we got to our hostel, it didn’t matter that it was 3am. We got some good food.
This is not the result of 3am food. This is the result of a bacterial infection. I have two guesses of where it came from. 1) We lost our water cleaning bleach in the jungle and had to drink stream water. 2) I ate an undercooked steak in Peru. One, or most likely both, of those things, mixed with extreme physical exhaustion from the hike and travel left me extremely dehydrated and feeling like actual death. 3 IV’s later and a bunch of medication over 10 days I was feeling much better.
The view from Overflow Guesthouse. I had missed those Cambodian sunsets so bad and let me tell you they never ever disappoint.
My blessing of the month was Meg. A sweet friend I already loved, but grew to love even more when our teams were placed together for the month. We both know the struggle of dating on the Race and so she has been a safe place and treasure for me.
Just your average youth group truck. It may not look like much, but this truck picked up kids from villages around Siem Reap and brought them to ICF. It’s a HUGE internationally run church and was honestly one of the biggest and coolest youth groups I have ever been to.
I got to spend one Sunday out in a village and met this sweet face! I’m pretty sure she had never seen a white person. I was determined to make her love me, gently and patiently of course. She was still unsure but eventually let me sit with her during a craft and hold her during a game!
One of the coolest things I got to do in Cambodia was visit family (kinda)! Some friends from childhood and my first trip to Cambodia welcomed me into their home again and I FINALLY got some MILO. I loved this sweet comfort.
Same same, but different. An all too common phrase in most of Asia. How can you not get it on a t-shirt? This was the planning crew for Awankening, a conference of 5 World Race squads in Asia. We loved getting to help the Adventures team in Cambodia host an amazing weekend of rest and growth for the squads.
I have always loved Kentucky, but being away from home and being the only one on a squad of 50 from there, makes me love it all the more. So when you find a fellow Kentuckian in Cambodia you pretty much have to make a K in front of Angkor Wat.
Me and my pals just casually being mermaids. For Meg’s birthday we visited this national park waterfall in Cambodia and it did not disappoint for a second. Even the monks joined for a swim! It is probably one of the most beautiful and surreal moments of the Race for me.
Three of my favorite people in the world. This night we had done a squad worship set in the middle of Pub Street in Siem Reap. Getting to do work for the Lord with these kinds of friends is indescribable.
Mop. The best tuk tuk driver in all of Asia. He doesn’t care about pot holes, but he’ll get you there quick! Not to mention he is an amazing man of God. His friendship was a joy to our squad.
Cambodia marked the end of an era. Team changes came and therefore I had to say goodbye to many of my beautiful 7Tens sisters. I didn’t know the Race without them, but they no doubt set me up for success. I am so grateful for the season with them, and our last dinner to celebrate!
Thailand
New month, new team. Introducing Relentless. We are a team that relentlessly seeks purpose in every moment by starting our days in prayer, loving each other well, making their vision our vision, and honoring our covenant of intimacy with Christ.
My family is magic. Due to some pretty divine connections in Thailand, they were able to send me a package full of letters, birthday cards, gum (my favorite candy), new pens and a super sweet Kentucky shirt! I have been crazy homesick and wept pretty much immediately.
This is me. With elephants. WHAT! This picture pretty much perfectly captures my mixed emotions of excitement but also fear because elephants are huge and could easily stomp me to death.
Post feeding the elephants we got to cool them off in a nice mud bath. our guides thought it was hilarious to cover us in the mud and teach the elephants to spray us with water from their trunks.
The more time I spent with the elephants the more comfortable I got with them. We walked to the river and cleaned ourselves and them of the mud. I still can’t believe this is my life.
Adventure with the elephants was actually in celebration of my teammate Taylor’s birthday! I’m not sure how she was covered in mud and still managed to look this cute.
Blue just had to get in on the elephant action, too. He thoroughly enjoyed his first mud bath.
I may or may not have wiped out moments before this picture… We had such a fun day as a team, and after cleaning off here were treated to some pad thai, spring rolls, and oreos so I had no complaints.
Alli gettin her paint on. Much of our ministry for the month was helping to repaint an entire hostel. It’s definitely not what people probably picture when they think of the World Race, but we were an aid to Adventures in Missions project of “business as missions”.
I love yoga. I contemplated bringing my mat on the race but packed WAY too many clothes and couldn’t afford the weight. After downsizing a lot, I finally found a cheap one in Thailand! The hostel had the perfect space, and I even got to share some daily yoga time with my squad-mates. This day I was particularly proud of myself because no one could join me, but I still chose to take care of my body for my own benefit! Which is one small discipline I’m growing in.
Three teams stayed in the same hostel this month. Towards the end, another squad joined us as well. Each week we came together to start a day with worship and praises. It’s one of the only things that will wake me up in the morning!
That, is a burrito and a burrito truck. Good Mexican food is a blessing whenever you can find it. And during a day of babysitting and running errands, one of the long-term team members took us to this amazing little spot.
This is Audrey! She went to college with my older siblings, went on the World Race and now lives in Thailand helping with business as missions. She helped to orchestrate my package and also blessed me with some hidden valley ranch, and therefore an actual saint.
The whole crew! This was our last day in Chaing Mai; all three teams and our hosts. They celebrated us with Christmas in February and invited us into their home. We are so grateful for their guidance and friendship. Please continue to pray for each of them in their ministry.
Welcome to a Leadership Development Weekend (LDW). Its a period of debriefing the previous month, as well as allowing our fellow squadmates to share what the Lord has been teaching them, or insight He has given them on a previous topic. This particular session was taught by three girls who grew up in Jewish, Amish, and Catholic homes. I loved getting to here their heart for the culture groups and being let in to know them more personally.
All the Squad Leaders. Let me tell you, A Squad has been blessed with some amazing SQLs. We started with two magnificent women, our WR alumni squad leaders. They commit to 5 months of walking with us on the race and then raise us new leaders from within the squad. We sent them home after Thailand and miss them already. I am so grateful for their friendship, guidance, and the wisdom the Lord poured in. But I am so excited and in love with the four that are stepping into a new season. I am so confident in their relationships with the Lord and trust their leadership for the coming months.
Europe
Serbia
Welcome to Serbia! Ah. Wow I love it so much, and to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from Europe in general. Serbia has met us with a warm welcome, good food, and so many friendly people. We love it here. Our work with the church this month is about inviting the community in, so we are given lots of time to explore and really integrate ourselves in.
This is the city center of Novi Sad, the city in Serbia my team and I are in for the month. Its architecture is beautiful. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that these grand buildings are in casual daily use!
Old Novi Sad from the view of the fortress. Beautiful. I’m obsessed.
One of my favorite things about this month is family dinners! Our church host is so wonderful and has given us access to a kitchen and a big dinner table. Our first night here I got to make a big pot of vegetable soup and crusty bread. Exactly what I have been craving and was waiting for in the cold weather! Makes me miss my momma’s dinner table though.
SNOW! It was seriously freezing when we landed in Serbia so we had to buy mostly new wardrobes. This jacket is actually my teammates but I felt extremely European and honestly wanted a picture before the snow melted! It has warmed up some, but definitely nothing in comparison to Asia.
This is a synagogue in Novi Sad. It used to be one of the biggest in Europe. But Serbia was one of the only countries to be considered completely eradicated of the Jews and the doors haven’t been open in years. There are now less than 500 Jews in all of Serbia.
The Lord physically opened the doors for us and allowed us to pray and cry over this building. A floor, covered in scuff marks of dancing to the Lord was now empty. The silence haunted all of us.
Just a dog. A cute dog waiting for a friend during one of our walks through town. He looked so regal to me I thought he deserved to be shown off.
Hungary
For my birthday, my team and a few others took a day trip to Budapest! This city is so full of history and I was in love before we even got there. Not to mention every picture is so beautiful it looks fake!
Boujee birthday breakfast with Blue. Look up the New York Cafe, Budapest. It’s called the most beautiful cafe in the world and definitely lived up to that.
The Budapest Eye; One of the first stops on our walking tour of Budapest.
Fisherman’s Bastion; Did you know Budapest used to be two cities? Buda and Pest were separated by the Danube and were joined as one in 1873. This small fortress is on the Buda side but gives a picturesque view of Pest.
Every alleyway in Budapest was so quaint. I loved this town, and the fact that every turn we made gave us sights like this one.
Our sweet tour guide for the day! She ended our tour in overlooking the “mountains” of Buda and singing us a beautiful Hungarian song.
Shoes on the Danube; Sweet treats left for a child who never had the chance to live.
During Nazi rule, their were secret night killings of an estimated 200,000 Jews. They were told to place their valuables in their shoes and then shot execution style, in order that the bodies would fall into the river and be swept away. The knowledge of these killings only came from a few miraculous survivors. These shoes now line the riverbank as a memorial to the lost.
Meet Kayla; a new squad leader and pal. Here we are standing on the chain bridge, the first permanent connection between Buda and Pest. It was built by a son who, due to a frozen river, was stuck in Buda and unable to attend his father’s funeral in Pest. I’m so grateful that we share a joy of learning, history, and walking tours! She made my birthday feel all the more special.
We ended my birthday in the world-famous Ruin Pubs. They were an eclectically decorated and exciting experience to say the least. We came to the conclusion they aren’t actual ruins, but more so ruined by all the stuff just thrown into the decoration.
I rode my first train (other that the one in Big South Fork, KY)! I booked the tickets and everything. Blue loved the train ride, and we would both pick them over a bus every time.
The Hungarian countryside felt a little like home. It reminded me so much of Kentucky in this season. So many fields and farmhouses, just a little less bluegrass.
Home
Dating on the race: recommended but also really not recommended. This is what it looks like for the most part. It’s hard. It’s stretching. It’s not desired. But it has allowed me to grow so much in my identity in the Lord, while still receiving love and support from this hunk. I’m so grateful for Luke, and I know this will be an unforgettable season of our relationship.
One thing I haven’t shared much about is the health of my Grandaddy. My very first week on the Race he was flown from Florida to Kentucky due to a bad infection and hasn’t been home since. If you know me at all, I LOVE my Memaw and Grandaddy. Outside of camping, my favorite memories of childhood are from their farm and other various times with them. Being so out of control and out of the loop is hard, but I trust the Lord with him and I know He loves my family. I take every call, every picture, update, or video of him singing as a treasure.
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If you made it this far, thank you! Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement the first half of the Race. I’ll leave you with a few prayer requests:
-The health of my Grandaddy and peace for my family
-Continued focus, purpose and drive for the rest of the Race
-My parents will be coming to see me in Romania! Pray for their safety, for God to move powerfully during the Parent Vision Trip, and for deeper intimacy and understanding between us and the Father
-Health and safety always
-Unity of my team and squad as a whole
Heres to five and a half more months of a crazy walk with Jesus!
