**This is just a funny list of things that I honestly never would have thought I would miss living without! Before the race, it wouldn’t have crossed my mind that I would live wihit them. But I’m so grateful for being pushed out of my comfort zone and all the Lord has taught me through it!
- Hot water- the majority of the showers I’ve taken on the world race have been with cold water.
- Showers- some months we don’t have actual showers. For example, this month we fill a bucket up with water from the well and use a cup to pour it over us.
- Toilets- I never thought I would miss having a toilet! Haha. I’ve gotten used to using squatting potties. And this month we are using a long drop to go #2! It’s basically a whole in the ground outside in a little room.
- Throwing toilet paper in toilet- in every country we’ve been to, except for Serbia, we’ve had to throw our toilet paper in a trash can instead of flushing it in the toilet.
- Air conditioning- some of the really hot countries we’ve been to were definitely a struggle without having air conditioning.
- Access to a variety of food to eat at all times- I’m so grateful for all the different foods I’ve gotten to try from around the world, but there’s nothing like the variety there is in America!
- Cold water/cold drinks/ice cubes- a lot of the water I’ve drank on the race has been lukewarm, which I’ve really gotten used to. I feel like ice cubes aren’t a thing anywhere but in America. I can’t remember the last time I had ice lol. Lots of drinks (like sodas) are also served lukewarm.
- Full size, comfortable pillows- Until month 8, I used a small blow up pillow that I had brought. I caved during month 8 and bought a small regular pillow. It’s always such a blessing when a host provides us with full size pillows!
- Beds- I’ve slept on my sleeping pad, plane seats, and bus seats a lot.
- Washing machine and dryer- sometimes we have a washing machine and sometimes we have to hand wash our clothes. I think I had a dryer during month 3.
- Making my own schedule- since we are always with our team and/or our squad working with our hosts, we’re always on a schedule.
- American ketchup- a lot of the ketchup around the world is a lot different. It’s a lot sweeter and runnier.
- Napkins- in almost every country I’ve been to, it’s common not to have any type of napkin to use while eating.
- Paper towels or hand dryers in bathrooms to dry hands after washing- I’ve gotten used to wiping my washed hands on my clothes haha.
- Running water to shower in, wash hands in, and to do dishes in- some months we don’t have running water so we have to do these things in buckets.
