If you didn’t know, I hold the position of logistics for iSquad, along with my co-leader, McCrea Grace Nirider. She’s been logistics the entire Race, while I’ve only been doing it since month 7. Our job is to get all 41 people to new countries, new locations, find housing for all debriefs and squad gatherings, and much much more. I have a lot to learn from this strong woman of grace.
Our final travel day (yay!) into Vietnam from Cambodia was going to be a breeze. I had preordered our visas, our bus tickets were bought and paid for by someone else, and we had found a place big enough for all 41 of us to stay on the other side of the border. Everything was in order.
But like most things on the Race- not one thing went according to plan. McCrea (co-leader), Savannah (squad leader) and I made this list of everything that went hopelessly wrong. Yes- it’s okay to laugh. We sure did.
5:45am- my team shows up to bus station for bus that leaves at 6. No one there.
6 am- No one believes we have tickets.
6:15 am- NO TICKETS NO BUS
6:30 am- NO TICKETS NO BUS
6:45 am- After a solid hour of arguing with people who don’t speak English, someone remembered exactly who we were, and showed us to our exact seats
1pm- All of iSquad meets, and we all start the travel to Vietnam together! Everything is good!
5pm- We arrive at border, told we have the wrong visas. This isn’t possible.
– Call visa company, beg them to talk to border. They say no.
-700 phone calls later, the border says yes if the company will say yes.
-Company says no.
– Sav and Mcrea sprint to get more proof of visas, met with me at the door of crushing defeat. Need to find a new plan
-Reality sets in that our Cambodian visas expire tomorrow. Yikes.
8pm- Need to find lodging for 38 stranded Americans in small border town. No problem, right?
– Told the squad the situation. Drastically brought down morale.
– 1st guest house, no room.
– Called 3 more guest houses: no room, or English or existence.
– Check out casino #1. Kind lady, listened, but quickly said no when she heard 38 people. Doesn’t believe we will sleep on the floor.
– Casino #2. Very very rude dudes. Hard no, suggest Titan Casino.
9:15pm- Continue looking for lodging. Getting very sad and very discouraged.
– I split and try to go to another casino. It doesn’t exist. Panic as I’m alone now and need to find the other 2.
– All decide to walk to another guesthouse far away.
– Find Titan Casino along the way and decide to “just ask”
– Front desk ladies are extremely sympathetic, managers not so much.
– Somewhere between 10-80 minutes later, we’re shown 2 suites. Not quite big enough for all of us.
– Wait.
– Shown conference room. It’s perfect. Carpet is as plush as can be. No power though.
9:40pm- Hope is restored
-Go downstairs and discuss price.
-Wait.
-Maybe $10 per person. No, that’s too much.
-Okay maybe $20 per person.
10:15pm- Hope is destroyed.
– Millions of dropped phone calls with leadership. SOS.
– Sav argues one last time. Price dropped from 800 to 600.
– 2 hours in, Matt Blair (leadership) takes charge.
11pm- We learn what humility really is.
– Walk of shame back to the bus
– Travel to original guesthouse
– It’s almost perfect, but we will squeeze
-Matt got the price down to 400. Thanks Matt.
– Encouraging pep talk from Matt Blair. Thanks Coach.
11:30pm- moving on! Motor bike with strangers to taxis
-Savannah, McCrea and I, along with our travel guide Sophoan, travel to Phenom Penh to get new visas.
-I sleep (or try to) in trunk of SUV.
3am- Arrive at hostel and FINALLY SLEEP.
7am- Running on 7.5 hours of sleep over 2 nights. Sav has coffee for everyone. Bless her.
-Got new visas!! Wait 1.5 hours for processing.
-Need to find new bus tickets for the rest of the squad. Very very unsuccessful.
-About 45 calls later, still no tickets.
9:30am- Less hope, but more coffee
-Declined cards and no responses, we pass the responsibility. Go get visas.
11:45am- Got the visas! Start 4 hour journey back to border.
-I bite into perfectly normal looking apple, only for it to be infested with maggots. Yuck.
-Flat tire. But we’re bought mangoes with chicken seasoning.
We ended up making it to the border before it closed, and crossed without a hitch! I learned a lot about patience and humility this travel day, and laughed more than I have in a long time. So- next time you Racers see your logistics, give them a big hug. I’m sure they do a lot more than they let on.
And to the rest of us- when you’re hit with the worst of the worst and everything seems impossible, take a friend with you, grab some coffee, and laugh the whole ride through. Just don’t eat any maggot apples. No one wins in that one.
