In my final 25 days away from home I am posting 5 blogs designed to answer questions a lot of you probably have about this 11 month journey and the soon transition home.
Blog Schedule:
25 days left: Where are the highlight videos for months 7, 8 and 9?
20 days left: Answering 20 Questions about my world race experience.
Today: 15 days left: The 15 things I’m looking forward to the most about being home
10 days left: 10 Words to describe the 10 Countries I’ve been to
5 days left: My 5 favorite things about the World Race
Alas…
15.Small Squirrels Only Being Found Outside The House
The women I have had the privilege of serving with these past 11 months are all simply amazing and will forever be sisters to me. However, due to our dietary restrictions/budget on the race our nutrition levels are not the best. This leads to shedding, which results in small squirrel sized clumps of hair found daily around the house.
14.Sour Patch Kids
Oh how I have missed these wonderful small pieces of heaven. They have been impossible to find around the world. In fact I’ve only bought them once on the race and it was when we had a layover in Chicago on our way to Central America.
13.Not Living Out Of A Backpack
Not having to pack up all my possessions in a big pack and a day pack will be so nice. For example, even though I usually only rotated through 7 or so shirts before I left, after wearing the same shirts for 11 months, I’m excited to mix it up some more (along with having more than 3 pairs of shorts and socks).
12.Having My Own Room
Living in a community like the one cultivated by the world race has been an amazing experience, but to have a space of my own again sounds almost surreal.
11.Late Nights And Late Mornings
Earlier this month on an off day I went to bed at like 10pm to wake up at 7am and thought, “What’s happened to me?!?” When I’m home I am notorious for going to bed, at the earliest, around 2 or 3am after a night of hanging out with friends playing games, followed by sleeping in until 10. I’m looking forward to going back to being my night owl self as long as I can.
10.American Food
This isn’t because other cultures foods are not good, but rather I’m just looking forward to your standard American meals like burgers, hot dogs, pasta, pizza, etc.
9.Sheetz
The epitome of cheap, late night hang out destinations. Growing up it wasn’t a party unless it had a Sheetz run to fulfill our late night unhealthy cravings.
8.Football
One of the few popular American traditions that I’ve come to recognize no other country (outside of maybe Canada) appreciates. I am so excited to be getting back 10 days before kickoff!
7.Hiking
After seeing the beauty of nature in the countries we have been too, it’s ignited a desire to go out and find that beauty in the United States in my own backyard.
6.Ultimate (frisbee)
Going from playing Ultimate for 7 straight years (practically nonstop) to not really playing very much at all, has really left me itching to jump right back into it when I get home again.
5.The Fall
Ever since leaving Romania in early December, it has been hot everywhere. Costa Rica has been the only exception with average temperatures more so around high 70’s to low 80’s, thanks to San Jose‘s higher elevation. Low to mid 60’s is something I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time.
4.Driving
Some people don’t like driving, and others like me think those people are crazy. There is an amount of freedom I find in driving that I have really missed. Now I’m still looking for a car to drive but when I do, I’m so excited to get behind the wheel and drive.
These final 3 were what made being away the hardest.
3.Weddings
While I was gone I missed 3 weddings of friends I care about and that was rough. I’m excited though that I will be getting back in time for 3 other weddings within a month and a half of my return. The first one being my cousin Joe’s wedding which is 6 days after I get home!
2.Friends & 1.Family
I put these two together because a lot of my friends are like family and a lot of my family are my best friends. I can not describe how excited I am to be reunited with everyone I care about. As much as a lot of my friends and family have expressed they are excited to hear about my past 11 months, I am just as excited to see how their year has been and what I’ve missed in their lives. Home is where the heart is and for me, my heart is where my friends and family are.
See y’all in 15 days !
