Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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I am pleased to inform you that I have recently survived all 10 days of training camp in Gainesville, Georgia. As my squad mate, Jason Gebhardt, put it, “Training camp is the most fun that you never want to have again.” It was challenging in every aspect. I was thrown into the wilderness with 49 strangers who I will be living and serving with for the next 9 months. Thankfully, my squad quickly became a family who joined together through every difficult situation. After training for 10 days, here is some wisdom that I would like to share with you.

PINTEREST CAMPING IS NOT REAL CAMPING!!

I am all about Pinterest. In fact, I have purchased my daypack because of a Pinterest photo. That being said, I have succeeded and failed with many Pinterest recreations. But my greatest Pinterest fail would have to go to none other than camping.

Camping is not glamorous. Pitching a tent on red mud will stain anything and everything. Every outfit will be stained red and your hair will never be styled. Sadly, bucket showers will never take off all of the mud and sticks will remain in your hair. As a result, you will never be able to recreate that perfect Pinterest photo.

Therefore, I have created a survival guide to help even the most “girliest” girls survive training camp. If you aren’t going on the World Race hopefully these tips will help you with your next outdoor activity or at least give you a good laugh.  

Ten Outdoor Specific Tips

  1. Don’t forget to close your tent or you’ll have new insect friends to sleep with at night.
  2. Always stake your tent. The better it is staked, the less likely it will flood during a storm or fly into a muddy ditch.
  3. Make your bucket shower efficient by rinsing your shampoo and soap at the same time. If not, you will run out of water and be forced to beg others to help you fill the bucket while shampoo gets in your eyes.
  4. When you are no longer able to scoop the water out of your bucket and you decide to pour the whole bucket over your head, make sure your clean clothes are not directly behind you. Otherwise, your “clean” clothes will be wet clothes.
  5. Head scarfs are a fashion statement, necessity, and way of life. When your hair isn’t completely clean from the bucket shower or greasy from procrastinating the bucket shower, use one to cover half of your head.
  6. Concrete is surprisingly more comfortable than you think. In the shade, it is the coolest surface you can find to escape the heat.
  7. Your nails will not be perfectly manicured the whole time. Accept it early and it’ll save you a lot of frustration.
  8. Your clothes will always match due to it being stained red. But, if you would like to remove the stains purchase a cleaner called Biz. It works wonders.
  9. Baby wipes are gold! Keep an eye out for a blog that explains a hundred uses of baby wipes.
  10. Headlamps are cute and functional. Take your judgement elsewhere.

Ten Training Camp Specific Tips

  1. You will get used to the bugs. They won’t go away no matter how much you drench yourself in bug spray. By day three, they will become your friends. If you can’t beat them, join them.
  2. Porta-potties really do exist. There is no way to escape their smell no matter how much perfume you spray. If you’re lucky, you may lose your sense of smell.
  3. You can sleep like a princess. Check out the 6 inch Nemo Nomad Sleeping Pad. It’ll be your best investment of all time.
  4. It is possible to be in dress code. Unhem your shorts; purchase shorts in the boy’s section; cut your pants to the appropriate length; or wear a long shirt, sliders, and shorts to sag like you’ve never sagged before.
  5. Leave the technology at home. Spend these 10 days disconnecting from Wi-Fi and connecting with your squad mates. In the downtime you may learn how to rap and beat box, play an instrument, dominate in big booty, create secret handshakes, and compete in killer dance offs.  
  6. It is fun to have a dance party before worship but remember that there are 350 people in one space and it will turn into a sauna really quickly.
  7. Spend a lot of time on your squad wars dance because squads will bring their a-game.
  8. Never turn down a staff member on the first night when they offer you their chips. Although you will be fed, snacks are a blessing from heaven.
  9. Your food palate will expand and you will actually like it.
  10. Gluttony will become a real problem. Don’t spend so much time focusing on America’s food and embrace all of the cuisine you have yet to try. You will dream of American food but just wait till Eastern European day.

While these tips may be a tad humorous, they are very relevant. I have learned a lot about how much I can physically, emotionally, and spiritually endure. But more importantly, I have learned how much I really do need to lean on God. I would not have been able to survive the first day without God’s strength. I have been called to abandon the comforts here in America to spread the Good News. Being a missionary won’t be easy but whoever said that it would? Instead of fearing the difficult times, I have learned to embrace and conquer them. Lookout world, I’ve got God on my side. I survived training camp and I’ll survive the World Race.