One thing the World Race is really good at is messing with our views on life. The longer we are on the Race, the more our perceptions of real life changes. Here are just a few things out of the hundreds of examples I could give: money, space, time, travel, distances, smells, places to pee and sleep, beauty, bathrooms, internet, weight loss, and what clean is.
Money:
· On the field, “oh man that shirt costs $5? That is too much! But you have to raise $4,300 still, that isn’t much at all…”
· In America, “Hey this super cute pair of pants is on sale for $40! No way I must have them. Oh man I have to raise $2,000 still to go on the Race… That is so much money…”
Space:
· On the field, “Sweet I have a bed all to myself! That is the most space I have had in months!” “You mean there is a place for me to sort of unpack my bag? Wow we must have a pretty big room! (as you have 5 people 4 beds and all of your bags in a room the size of a small bedroom)”
· In America: “Man my room is so crowded… All of my things are taking over my room. Where can I put this stuff?”
Time:
· On the field, “Man we have been gone for 5 months already. That is not long at all. We ONLY have 6 months left. Time is flying by so fast. Where did the months go?”
· In America, “Oh man this semester of school is taking forever. Why does it have to be so long? Can I just be done now??”
Travel:
· On the field, “After a 52 hour travel day this 7 hour bus ride that is extremely bumpy and we cannot rest is nothing.”
· In America, “I have to drive 3 hours of smooth roads to go visit friends in the state next to me… This is taking forever.”
Distances:
· On the field, “We have to walk for how long? Oh it’s just a 45 minute walk that’s no big deal.”
· In America, “I have to walk 10 minutes to the house down the road? Can’t I just drive there?”
Smells:
· On the field, “What is that smell? It’s just the person’s body odor sitting next to you on the bus. Oh well doesn’t smell that bad.”
· In America, “What is that smell? It’s the person’s body odor sitting next to you in class. Man that is the worst smell ever!”
Places to pee:
· On the field, “Oh look there is an open field with not many people around who can see and no toilet paper, perfect.”
· In America, “I need to find a bathroom with a door that locks and it better have toilet paper!”
Places to sleep:
· On the field, “Look at all of the bags piled up here in the bus station. Looks super comfy. Let me just take a little nap.”
· In America, “Give me my bed, 3 pillows, and a warm blanket.”
Beauty:
· On the field, “These pants and this shirt don’t really match (but all of my clothes are dirty), I haven’t wore makeup in a few months, and my hair is always in a ponytail, but its ok no one will care.”
· In America, “I must have my clothes matching, makeup every day, and hair done.”
Bathrooms:
· On the field, “Public bathrooms consist of a squatty potty and no soap to wash our hands. It could be worse.”
· In America, “Public bathrooms have a western toilet that flushes and soap to wash our hands.”
Internet:
· On the field, “Sweet our place has wifi! It isn’t very fast but at least we have it.”
· In America, “Why won’t this dang wifi go any faster?”
Weight loss:
· On the field, “I have to get my bag down to 45lbs for the airport, I must ditch some clothes!”
· In America, “I gained 5lbs I need to loss it fast!”
Cleanliness:
· On the field, “Oh this shirt only has a few spots of dirt on it and it doesn’t smell to bad, yup it’s still clean enough to wear.”
· In America, “I wore this shirt yesterday for a few hours, I must wash it before I wear it again.”
There are many more examples of views that have been changed since being on the race. The cool thing is though; it isn’t a bad thing to have these views changed. It isn’t bad the views we have back home, but we do laugh a lot about how we look at our lives now. I don’t think I will ever look at things the same. I am so glad for the way we get to live our lives this year. It has been a crazy fun ride so far and it will just keep getting better. Life on the Race is pretty fantastic.
