The World Race has shifted the things that I find value in, in many ways. In fact, as a squad we place great value on different things than we would at home. We are more thankful for words from others that challenge because it leads to growth. We are more thankful for unexpected ministry because we see God working in ways we never imagined. We are more thankful for wifi than we are at home because wifi that works is few and far between – hence why I have 3 blogs piled up unable to post. The crazy thing is the day to day items that become more valuable than solid gold. No joke, far more valuable than gold. Here is a list of things that we hold with great value (for future racers, you do not need to pack a years worth of this stuff, it is findable, you just need to buy it often because you share it with others ALL THE TIME) –
BABY WIPES – for real, I’ve real showered less than 10 times in 2017 and baby wipes have helped me take as few cold bucket showers as possible. Also, just know that nobody smells until the first person showers!
HAND SANI – especially if you go to India where you eat with your hands, but sanitize your hands often! I wash my hands and then apply hand sanitizer more often than not because chances are the water you are washing your hands with you can’t drink, and cross contamination will lead to hospital visits!
SECRET COFFEE SHOPS – these are easy to find at the beginning of the month, but this information spreads like wild fire! If by the end of all squad month, or even debriefs, you have a an inexpensive coffee shop with great wifi and great coffee that nobody knows about I’m pretty sure you could survive iteration on a black site – because you are both sneaky and secretive!
TOILET PAPER – your standard for a “good public bathroom” drops to weather or not it flushes, and that is it. Few and far between are there bathrooms with toilet paper, so carry it with you always, and be willing to share because one day you won’t have your roll and you’ll be happy that somebody shares with you.
BUBBLE WATER – they call it bubble water because the bottle is the shape of a bubble! But filtered water is a literal life saver. Yes AIM gives each team a water filter, but hosts often times supply filtered water. We feel spoiled when we don’t have to go pay 60 cents and carry it up four flights of stairs! But when filtered water is missing tension is high, because who wants to push water through a filter and hope you haven’t hit the 100 gallon limit for the filter already?
GROUND COFFEE (not instant) – this may not be as highly valued as gold for some people… some people don’t drink coffee at all???? However, if you are an avid coffee drinker, switching to instant coffee for a year straight up sucks. I brought a pour over, and can find filters and ground coffee. Another squad mate brought a French press, and my teammate desperately wishes she had brought one! I even brought delicious coffee from my favorite coffee shop in the history of ever (shout out to Coldsmoke Coffee House in Bozeman, MT). That bag actually lasted me all of month 1, which I was thankful for, and now I am enjoying finding delicious coffee from around the world. Nepal has a coffee shop where we found flavored coffee grounds, and the hazelnut roast is DELICIOUS! I wanted to send some home for me to drink when I come back to the states, but it expires in 6 months so it wouldn’t be good when I get home!
Any way, these are a few things that have taking up great value in my life in the last two months, to the point that I am bringing a bag and a half of coffee trekking for just over 1 week because I know camping with 4 teams people will wake up to the smell of coffee and ask for a cup.
