Disclaimer 1: I apologize in advance for the obnoxious overuse of the title phrase throughout this post, but I invite you to step into my shoes and feel my emotion, which goes beyond frustration or confusion and can thus only be titled, “no, but seriously…”
Disclaimer 2: This post may seem, for a time, to be about water bottles. Please keep reading.
Disclaimer 3: I need to ask your forgiveness for certain blogging faux pas which I’ve already committed… As I understand it, I should have used my first post to introduce myself and tell you things like…
Q: What will your blog be about?
A: Mm… The World Race, I think… 
No, but seriously: This will certainly not be a lifestyle or fashion blog, but my writing may wander along with my thoughts/imagination. As I will write about sickness on planes/buses/trains, people I meet, or a prayer I desperately need answered, there is a solid 50% chance that I may or may not also write about a grain of sand or a really good tomato.
Bottom line: If you’re along for the ride, you’re along for the whole ride!
Q: How often will you post?
A: Mm… I’m not sure. I’ve never done this before. 
No, but seriously: I will AIM (big caveat) to post 1-2x per month prior to my January departure, and 1x per week while on the Race.
Bottom line: I’ll post as much as time permits before my departure, and I’ll post as much as Internet and electricity permit while in the field!
Note to the General Public: Please post any additional Q’s you would like A’s to!
No, but seriously, on to the topic of this post…
I am not ready for training camp (TC).
Photo titled: “No, but seriously (this bag)…”
That is not entirely true… I have some gear, and thanks entirely to my supporters for helping me reach my first financial deadline, I am able to go to TC. I would like to say a lot now on the topic of support, but I have so much to say that I must save it for its own post (I’ve already used up my tangent quota, even for the above-average attention span). For now, I will just say that my gratitude for the support that you have poured out cannot be expressed in sufficient words, therefore I am forced to say only thank you.
No, but seriously… What am I not ready for, then? Well, the tricky part is I’m not quite sure… I keep coming back to this uneasiness of not knowing. I mean not knowing anything – not even the most basic things I need to prepare for! As an extreme, yet unfortunately not exaggerated example, I have a list of things to pack for the Race, starting with TC. The list reads, “Bring a water bottle.” So, there I stand in REI (first time I’ve ever set foot in that store, by the way), staring dumbfoundedly into a wall of water bottles. “What’s Nalgene?” I ask. “Do I want wide mouth or narrow mouth?” “Do I need a filter?” “Do I need an entire water filtration system?” “Do I need a snake bite kit?” “Oh yea, what size bottle is best?” I mutter half-heartedly, “I’m not sure which color to get,” before I pick one up and then put it back before deciding on my ultimate-water-bottle-fate. After all, I will be stuck with this color all year. More importantly, I don’t want to buy the same color everyone else does or we’ll get them confused, drink after one another, and all get ebola! OK, I exaggerated that last part a little. 
No, but seriously… I think we can all agree that buying a water bottle is a pretty simple task, mundane even. So, what I am trying to communicate then is that I am overwhelmed with the unknown. As someone who has not been camping since the ripe age of 10, I don’t know a JanSport from a NorthFace backpack (hint for people like me: one is used to carry supplies to elementary school, the other is used to carry life-saving gear through the North Pole). As such, buying supplies and packing continue to be, for me, two of the larger stress points about the World Race.
No, but seriously… If I could only pack 8 outfits for a year in Miami, it would be a tough decision, but I would know exactly which items are crucial to bring! But to pack 8 outfits (no, but seriously, 8 outfits) for 11 countries I’ve never been to, to cities/villages with climates that I won’t know until I arrive, for a type work I don’t know I’ll be doing, for situations I have yet to encounter in my life, with gear/stuff I’ve never heard of…??? I hope this small series of questions helps illustrate just why I hesitate when trying to select the perfect water bottle.
No, but really… I give thanks to my God, most gracious Father, that this I do know: Though I may be overwhelmed with the unknown, knowing I am supposed to go is enough for me. I don’t have to have all of the answers right now. A wise man recently brought to light a new perspective on an old verse from Psalm 119 (my favorite) verse 105: “Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to unto my path.” The man pointed out that a lamp doesn’t shine very far; it doesn’t illuminate all of the briars and mangled roots that could crop up. No, God’s Word is like the lamp, showing us just what we need to know in order to safely put one foot in front of the other. No more, no less. So, seriously, I will follow Him on this crazy journey, even if I don’t take the perfect water bottle with me.
