Well, let me tell you that training camp was incredibly exhausting, challenging, and yet rewarding. I met my AMAZING squad – seriously, such an unreal group of cool individuals – and got a taste of what the World Race could hold this coming year!
I don’t want to give too much away as to what we did there, just in case there are future World Racers reading this (surprises are so much more fun!), but let me say this much: I used my own tent only once, quickly became unafraid of germs, really didn’t sleep, smelt SO aweful (thankfully the rest of my squad did too…so it wasn’t so bad!), had solid devotional time with God and my squad each day, got sunburnt, and had one bucket shower the ENTIRE week (… it was glorious) – but above all, I made some hilarious memories with the people that I already feel are a part of my family!
I had to leave two days early because I was my sister’s maid of honour at her wedding on that Saturday – so there was absolutely NO time to rest! I wrote my speech on the plane ride home, then on the car ride from aunt’s (whose house I stayed at when I landed) to my home. Literally as I pulled in the driveway, the Uhaul truck was being loaded with decorations for the wedding reception – so thank YOU adrenaline for pumping me up the following 36 hours! The wedding was absolutely beautiful – my sister looked gorgeous and everything ran seamlessly. I couldn’t stop crying from the combination of exhaustion, sadness at the close of one chapter, yet joy at the opening of a new one – but ultimately what got me was the image of saying goodbye to everyone at the wedding that I love so dearly for a whole eleven months…
Yes, I got to sleep in the next day. But then I had just a few hours to do my laundry, hang all of my training camp stuff out to dry/air out before heading back to the city for another week of camp. Don’t worry, I was still breathing at this point, but it wasn’t till the next weekend that I FINALLY got to debrief all of it with my parents! Needless to say, ever since our LAST day of day camp this past Friday I’ve been doing a lot of sleeping and crossing more things off the World Race to-do list. I now have one week off before going back to the city to prep for a week of overnight camp from the 24th to 30th – then there’s exactly 7 days until I leave for the world. Some people call it insane. I call it….insane. But this summer has been so incredibly packed with AMAZING things that I couldn’t think of a better way to finish off my time near home before going on an adventure that I can’t wait to tell EVERYONE about.
I will try to post one more time before launch – but at least you know what’s going on in my life if I don’t! I could totally use your prayer for a restful week this week, energy in the weeks to follow, peace of mind, and an open heart J
