In just over a week I leave Swaziland and head to Cambodia for the last leg of the Race in Southeast Asia. In just over a week, I will only have four months left of this eleven month journey. I have more Race behind me than I have ahead of me, which I don’t think my mind fully understands. Seven months into this thing, but it feels like so much longer. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that this life I am living isn’t “normal.” That living out of a backpack in 11 different countries for 11 months straight isn’t a “normal” thing to do. At first you have the excitement and newness of the Race, the “honeymoon phase,” if you will. But after the first couple months, the Race lifestyle becomes your norm. It’s how you are living life, and it becomes hard to picture it any different.
Since not everyone will be lucky enough to experience this on their own, I wanted to share 35 “new normals” that I’ve come to know while being on the Race. Things that don’t seem odd until I compare them to life back in the States.
Things like:
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Wearing the same outfit 3 days in a row to limit the amount of laundry you have to do. (Also so you get the same tan lines because the sun in africa is REAL y’all.)
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Piling more people than you should into cars (15+ in a truck and 8+ in a standard 5 passenger car) and not even thinking to wear your seatbelt.
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Not being able to understand conversations going on around you because they are speaking in another language.
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Taking baby wipe “showers”.
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Washing your hair once every 5 days
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Waking up in the morning covered in sweat.
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Sleeping under a bug net.
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Carrying bills with denominations of 1,000 or 10,000
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Reading english words wrong because you assume they are in a different language.
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Packing all your belongings into a backpack and moving every 3-4 weeks.
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Knowing every article of clothing your teammates posess and being confused when they wear something different.
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Being referred to as a foreigner (gringa) or white person (muzungu) anywhere you go.
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Going to bed at 9:30 and waking up with the sun at 5:30
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Calling people in the states when I wake up, and they are about to go to sleep.
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Cheering when the water turns on.
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Getting excited when you get to your new home and theres an actual toilet and bed (but mostly the toilet!!)
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Flies/mosquitoes/ants swarming you at all times.
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Being used to constatly being covered in a layer of sweat.
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No longer reacting when you see cockroaches or lizards running across the floor of your room or crawling on your belongings.
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Instead of waiting for new shows and movies to come out, you wait for new podcasts to be released.
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Driving on the wrong side of the road. (I mean the left side…)
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The routine is no routine.
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Weather is a determining factor for ministry, because if it rains, nobody will show up.
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Throwing away toilet paper instead of flushing it.
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Living off $5/day for food.
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Having adventure days once a week. (Having a day set aside once a week to go on an adventure.)
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These “exciting adventure days” look like finding a cafe with decent wifi.
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Travel day conversations consist of comparing pack weights, bragging about who got the least amount of sleep, trying to find pens, and “do you really want to drink that much water”.
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Paying to use public restrooms and having to bring your own TP.
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Your clothes always smell just a little bit off.
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Being bombarded by locals begging you to buy their products, especially vendors in local markets.
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Spending an hour checking your teammates head for lice and then taking another hour while she checks yours.
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Making up names for the kids at ministry sites because as hard as you may try, you cant pronounce their names (ex: Squints, Gary Coleman, Punky Bear, Pooty, Willy)
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Checking your bed for spiders, scorpions and ants before you lay down.
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You never truly get any alone time.
And then, every month, the normal you are used to changes. Sometimes it’s just little things, but then you switch continents, and that’s a whole new story.
Along with this list new normals have come some surprising other ones. I don’t miss being home. I no longer wish to be back in South Carolina with all my friends, hanging out on the weekends or having chill movie nights. I wasn’t even sad watching my family celebrate Christmas, knowing I was half a world away from them and the only way to be there was through a screen. I don’t long for all the normalities of life at home.
Don’t get me wrong, I still miss my people like crazy. My family, my friends, I can’t wait to see them in just over 4 months, but for now, I’m okay with missing out on life back home. It took me a while to get to this point, and I’m glad I’m here, but even this point I’m at presents a challenge.
Am I becoming complacent on the Race? Has life become so normal that I’m just going through the motions each day? Is ministry just something I have to get through each day until I make it to the weekend and we get to do some crazy adventure or find WiFi?
Or am I waking up every morning excited about the day to come and the ministry we get to do and the people we get to serve? Am I asking the Lord everyday to use me in whatever way he wants, and having a willing spirit to say “yes” to whatever that is? Would I still be happy and content on the Race if we didn’t have adventure days?
I go back and forth between these different mindsets. Sometimes getting through ministry is a serious struggle and the only reason I make it is because I know I’m going hiking or bungee jumping or to get WiFi over the weekend. I don’t put my heart into ministry and I’m just counting down the minutes until it’s over. And then other days, the ministry hours seem to go by way too quickly. I can’t get enough of the kids or the painting and I find myself wanting to skip adventure days to keep serving since we have such limited time in each country.
It’s a constant battle between the desires of my flesh and the desires of the Spirit in me. It’s a battle I have to fight hard every day. Every day I have to ask the Lord for strength to do what His will is for me instead of giving in to the temptations that the enemy places before me.
So what battles are you fighting? Which ones have become so “normal” that you no longer take up your sword to fight against them daily? What are you taking for granted as a “normal” part of your life instead of seeing opportunities that the Lord is continually putting before you?
-jb
