When I came on the Race, I didn’t fully understand what I was getting myself into. I didn’t understand how long 9 months would be. I didn’t understand the sheer amounts of growth I would go through. I didn’t understand how long it take to travel between countries when you’re working on a world race budget.
Based on social media and my own preconceived notions of what the World Race would be, I formed a number of myths in my head about what this time would be like. They were all debunked VERY quickly.
1. You’ll be roughing it the whole time.
In my mind, we would be doing physical labor and painting every day. Sweating through all our clothes. Constantly dirty. Wearing shorts and T-shirts all the time. In reality, we’re actually doing life. We’re doing ministry, but we also have off days. We like to look like real people occasionally. We like to dress up and put on some makeup and just be friends with our teammates. My mythical mentality is what led me so pack solely dirty T-shirts for my Race. Oops. Bad choice. I hit up those thrift stores in Romania real quick.
2. You will automatically be BFFs with your whole squad.
While you spend a lot of time with everyone, you won’t get the opportunity to live intimately with everyone. Being close friends with people is a choice. You won’t automatically click with everyone and it’s a choice to seek them out anyways.
3. The money is impossible to raise. You’ll have to throw your whole savings account into your fundraising account.
All the can say is that the Lord is stinkin good. When He calls you to something, He doesn’t do it just to watch you fail. He doesn’t ask you into something that He’s not planning on being in. The Lord is the ultimate provider. And on top of that, he wants this journey to be about more than just the people overseas. He wants Americans to be invested and learn from your journey, also. We had 32 racers raise $15,000 each. It is most definitely not impossible when the Lord is calling you to it.
4. You will be eating only rice and potatoes for 9 months.
This was true for 2 of our months, but I’ve also had some of the best food of my life on this Race. I’ve had heaping piles of homemade spaghetti. I’ve had bowls on bowls of Ukrainian borsch. I’ve had the best barbecue of my whole life. I’ve eaten piping hot churros filled with caramel. Besides, rice and potatoes isn’t really that bad. It makes you appreciate every vegetable and fruit and little chocolate snack that you’re given.
5. You’re going to come back skinnier, tanner, and blonder than ever.
As I said above, there have been months where I’ve eaten straight carbs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I’ve had months where the dress code has been super strict and it’s left me with some gnarly tan lines. My hair is missing a lot of protein and high key looks like it’s just been through a 9 month mission trip. It’s not a burden. It’s for the sake of the gospel. But it’s definitely a myth that I believed. It was debunked very quickly when I realized the reality of the Race.
6. You will have your whole life figured out when you get done.
While a lot of people find direction for their lives while they’re on the Race, a lot of people don’t. For a lot of people, the Race just wrecks their ideas of what they truly wanted out of life and it leaves them lost trying to figure out what to do with all the new information. It opens up way more options than there were before. It makes you genuinely think about and analyze your goals, values, and dreams. While I did find a lot of direction from the Lord, it’s looked more like just placing my future in His hands. Holding my plans with open hands and trusting that the Lord knows what He’s doing.
So there it is! A more real, factual description of my World Race. It’s not the same for everyone, but this is what mine looked like! Thanks for reading!! I’ll be back in America on June 5th so if anyone wants to go grab some coffee or lunch then shoot me a message!!
