As my time with the World Race has come to a close, I wanted to take one of my final blogs to write an homage to some of the things that have stuck with me throughout the journey.
These are the tangible items that went with me on all 16 months of my World Race travels; to 19 different countries, through more flights than I can remember, and more bus rides than I want to remember.
If this blog serves no other purpose, I hope it continues to teach future Racers what they need to bring, and what can truly last.
First are some of the articles of clothing:
This pair of jeans was very special to me; it stuck by me (well, under me at least) during every single church service on the Race. And in India, when we were conducting church services 6 nights a week, these jeans never let me down, and stayed relatively odor-free for most of the month.
I’m a man who puts great stock into the t-shirts that I choose, and I wanted to bring some of the main shirts that were important to me. These first two represent my original squad’s group t-shirt, while the other is a dedication to one of my favorite college mascots out of UC-Santa Cruz: the Banana Slugs… Fiat Slug!
These two are from my very own alma mater, the University of Northern Iowa. As an alumnus of the Cheerleading squad, I had no choice but to bring along one of our team shirts, and as the No. 1 fan of the UNI Softball team, I wanted to spread the good news of Panther Softball all across the world.
These were two of my running shirts that came with me. Fun fact, if you wear a shirt from a Tough Mudder, you can start a conversation with almost any American.
I also wanted to bring along some clothing to represent my family. My younger brother gave me this Freedom shirt from Rapha House, and my sister gave me this shirt from Arrested Development for my final birthday at home… and no one in the world seemed to understand what this shirt meant.
These shorts have been around for a very long time; long enough for me to have worn them on too many dates, because I thought they were still in style… still, they’re great for travel days, when you want to smuggle things that would make your pack overweight.
This is one of my prized possessions; a Dikembe Mutombo jersey I got off of ebay for my church-league basketball team. This jersey has been with me through a lot, and one day I have aspirations of happening upon Dikembe, so I can give the jersey back to its rightful owner.
I probably could have gotten by without my sleeping bag and hammock… but who would want to?! I wish I could have found more occasions to use the hammock, but when I did, it always made my day a little brighter.
This is a bag of medical supplies that my sister (who is a nurse) gave me as a Christmas present. Fortunately I never had a chance to use a lot of it, besides the Tums, but I was always happy to know there was a bottle of Codeine in my bag, just in case…
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Bring a laptop on the World Race! I know you may hear differing reports from the big-wigs at AIM, but I’ve found that almost 90% of people who don’t bring a computer, or who bring a lousy Aser or Chromebook always regret it. Get yourself a macbook and you’ll thank me later. The ipad wasn’t totally necessary, but always handy in a pinch.
Here’s a look at the camera gear that I managed to carry with me every step of the way. Almost every picture you find of me from my Race days will show me with a black strap over my chest, as you will almost never see me without my camera by my side; along with my microphone, tripod, lenses, and external mic.
These are a couple of extras, some of which came in handy, some of which didn’t. My camera charger was used almost daily, and my travel pouch was around my neck on every travel day, carrying passport photos, airline tickets, pictures of my nieces, extra cash, yellow-fever vaccine card, etc… And my compass, well I don’t think I had a single occasion to use it, but I knew it was always there if I needed it.
I can’t tell you my level of surprise at the endurance of this backpack. I hadn’t even planned on buying a new daypack, but I saw this one at Wal-mart for $15, so thought I would give it a shot, and it has made it through these adventures, virtually unscathed. If you need a good daypack, save your money and don’t bother with REI or Dick’s Sporting Goods: Wal-mart is all you need.
As you can see from the picture, my Bible has had its share of wear and tear over the years, but it has been with me, since it was given to me by my Sunday School teacher in 5th grade. I never could have dreamed it would last this long, but it has been through church camps, high school, college dorms, many moves in my post-college life, and now it has been to roughly 20 countries on 3 different continents.
Chacos are a staple for any World Racer, and I couldn’t be more proud of this pair that I’ve put through the ringer. There has been a number of occasions where super-glue has been necessary, but they still get the job done, and I’m going to wear these things for as long as humanly possible. I’m getting my money’s worth out of these things, whether they like it or not.
And this may be my prized possession from my World Race adventure. These work gloves have seen use in nearly every country I’ve visited, and I have left a piece of them almost everywhere I’ve gone. From getting torn up, while ripping up roofs in Albania to transporting rocks for filling a ditch in Lesotho. I consider these my badge of honor, and a reminder that I gave all that I had to every single day of the Race.
