While the race might seem glamorous and like an adventure of a lifetime, think again. In reality, it’s not so glamorous at all. It’s real life. Every. Single. Day. For 323 days. So I want to let you in on some of our real life scenarios that we’ve encountered that might keep you from doing the race. Some are not so frequent while others are daily occurrences. So here are 11 reasons why not to sign up for the race. Let’s start.
1. Don’t go on the race if you can only sleep in a bed. While most of the race I have, other teams haven’t been so lucky. You will sleep on your sleeping pad, in your tent, on the floor…basically everywhere. And when you do have a bed your mattress will most likely not be what you’re used to at home. In other words, you’re lucky if a spring doesn’t pop through.
2. Don’t go on the race if you absolutely can’t have creepy crawlies on you. I had a teammate who was terrified of spiders so of course we came to her rescue with a shoe or machete or whatever else we could find, but you will have bugs on you…a lot. As a matter of fact, a lizard crawled on me in the middle of the night last week. I was sleeping inside on a top bunk. Oh, and did I mention my teammate found a scorpion in her bed? #TheyWillFindYou
3. Don’t go on the race if you need a toilet. There are long drops and squatter potties available for your use. You will pee in buckets in strangers homes. You will pee AND poop outside. You may even have to use a dirty rag you found outside on the ground to wipe or a dollar bill you happen to find in your wallet. #BringYourToiletPaperLadies
4. Don’t go on the race if you expect to have personal space. You will have NONE. You will live with people for 11 months straight. Every morning you wake up beside them. Every evening you fall asleep beside them. End of story. You cannot go anywhere alone (for the most part). Sometimes you’re not allowed to leave your ministry property all month. And if there is one bathroom and 15 people, four of you will be using it at the same time (e.g., one showering, one pooping, one brushing teeth, and one shaving).
5. Don’t go on the race if you don’t want to share things from your past. I came to the race thinking I’d share some of my past but no one needed to know all of it. There were some crazy things I’d done I wouldn’t want anyone to know. Yeah… that ended quickly. Month 1 debrief, I literally had no more secrets. These people will know more about you than your closest friends and family. #IThinkThere’sARoot
6. Don’t go on the race if you like to have a clean outfit every day. It will not happen. I’ve worn the same clothes for 11 months straight. I’ve picked up a shirt here and there, but after a couple weeks they’ll smell like everything else—the lovely side effects of hand washing clothes. (We can’t do it like the locals do it). The good news is your sense of smell begins to adjust and you won’t be able to smell your stank after a while.
7. Don’t go on the race if you don’t want your body to change. It will. I gained 15 pounds the first two months. Some people lost weight. You will get a rice ring around your nice abs. Your skin will age from being out in the sun for 11 months. So if you’re looking for a way to look older faster this is the way to go.
8. Don’t go on the race if you don’t think accidents will happen. Rest assured, they do. My lovely friends have sharted on themselves, diarrhead on themselves in public places, and peed on themselves…everywhere. Your body just isn’t used to all the food changes and apparently it’s hard to control.
9. Don’t go on the race if you don’t want to eat weird things. I’ve never ate as weird of things as I have the last 11 months. Sometimes by choice. Sometimes it was set before me. Eating fried tarantulas is a given if you go to Asia. Just do it. I’ve eaten 100 day old fermented fish, tried a snip bit of a balut (a fertilized chicken or duck egg with an almost developed embryo), and Chicken Foot Soup. Yes, it literally had whole chicken feet in the soup…and chicken necks. My team has also hunted for mud crab in our backyard and ate it that night for dinner. You are what you eat, right? There is hope, though. My team got really good at sneaking and exchanging food to one another around the dinner table.
10. Don’t go on the race if you don’t want to speak in public. Again, you will. You will preach and teach. Sometimes with a ten minute notice and sometimes with none. I taught at a school in Vietnam. I’d never taught before. EVER. My teacher left me alone in the classroom the very first day with 20 high schoolers. She never came back the entire month. The school director came into my class one day to inform me three of my students were in the bathroom playing cards. Don’t worry, you get used to looking like a fool.
11. Don’t sign up for the race if you expect to go back to being the same person you were before. After 11 months immersed in different cultures, different living dynamics, living in tight Christian community, and experiencing Jesus in ways you never have before, it’s hard for you not to change. You’re worldview has expanded tremendously and so will your love for people. Your perspective will change and who you thought you were will no longer be. You will realize we are all one people under the same sun just trying to live life in our own way to be accepted and loved. But most of all you WILL want those you go home to, to experience the way you’ve experienced the love of Jesus these past 11 months.
All of these things are real life scenarios that have happened, but don’t worry if there are fears. That’s normal. I was definitely fearful of speaking in public. I still am. I hate bugs. Embarrassing things have happened. It’s just a matter of having the courage to face your fears and doing what you’re scared of. Don’t worry either if you don’t think you have the courage. I know a friend who does. His name is Jesus.
