Sleeping arrangements on the World Race can look different every month. We could be sleeping on our sleeping mats, bunk beds, in airports, busses, in tents, or on couches. I’ve slept in/on all of these the past three months. I knew before the race that I would be sleeping in various different places so I got rid of my bed three months before I left the country and slept on my blow up sleeping mat on the floor. I am SO glad I did because I was already used to not having a comfy bed to sleep in by the time I left the country. If you ever go on the World Race I would highly recommend getting used to your mat before you leave!!! Here’s where I’ve slept for the past three months in Central America:
Living out of a backpack is challenging at times. Especially when you want that one thing that’s at the very bottom and you have to unpack your entire backpack to get to it.. or when the circulation in your arms get cut off from wearing your big pack on your back and your day pack on your front down dirt roads in the middle of the night while it’s raining to get on a bus.
Those are a few cons of having to live out of a backpack, but there are pros too.
I get to live simply. I live with what I NEED. Everything I own on the World Race are necessities. My clothes, shoes, sleeping mat, sleeping bag, toiletries, a tent, headlamp, water bottle, medication, contacts/glasses, first aid kit, and snacks of course!
A couple years ago I saw a video on YouTube about minimalism. Minimalism is about living simply and only owning things that you actually use and need every day. I was fascinated by this concept of simplistic living that I, over the time period of two years, got rid of over 30 full trash bags of STUFF. This is what is sitting at my parents house back home.
This + a desk and dresser is all I currently own.
Being on The World Race has taught me that I don’t even NEED all of this! I don’t NEED everything the world tells me I need. I don’t have to listen to all the advertisements that tell me what and how I should think and want. I don’t have to have all the newest and nicest things to make myself feel validated. My desire and motivation for becoming a minimalist is to gain a better understanding of what is truly important in life. Because the most important things in life aren’t things.
If you are someone who is reading this and you are debating on whether or not you want to go on the World Race, sign up and GO. It’s so worth it! Don’t let the idea of living out of a backpack scare you!
