As I briefly mentioned in my last post, I have chosen July Route 1 and have been moved over to my new squad. Here’s a quick update on what’s changed, what hasn’t, and why I chose my new route.
What’s the same?
- All of the basic elements of the World Race will be the same: (11 countries, 11 months, traveling with a large squad divided into smaller teams, etc.)
- Fundraising: All of my funds have stayed in my account – I didn’t lose anything in postponing the race. I’m not actively doing any fundraisers at the moment, but stay tuned because there will be more!
- Three of my countries: Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia. The Asia segment of my route is the only one that’s almost exactly the same as my old route.
What’s different:
- Four different regions of the world instead of three. Added to this route is Eastern Europe, and I will be in South America at the end of the race instead of Central America in the beginning (hopefully I don’t forget all of the Spanish I learn this September).
- Launch and Training Camp: my launch will be somewhere around July 1st, 2015, and Training Camp will be in May
- Eight new countries: My complete route is Albania (July), Romania (August), Malawi (September), Zambia (October), Thailand (November), Cambodia (December), Malaysia (January), Ecuador (February), Peru (March), Bolivia (April), and Chile (May).
Why did I choose this route?
Good question, because for a little while, I didn’t think it would be my first choice. When the July 2015 routes were released a few weeks ago, I looked at all five options, hoping one would jump out at me the way my September route had. To my delight, one of the routes – July Route 4 – included Guatemala and India, two places I had been to before and would have loved to visit again. I was almost certain this would be the one I would pick. It had seven of the countries from my original route and even began in South Africa, where my race was supposed to end. How perfect was that?
But there was this other route that caught my eye. Route 1, which had Eastern Europe and South America, meaning I could go somewhere brand new, and still get 4 months where I could speak Spanish. I couldn’t pull myself away from it, and it didn’t take me long to narrow my choices down to routes 1 and 4. I went back and forth between the two for a few days, unable to make a confident decision; they both had different things that appealed to me.
Then I realized something. As much as I would have liked to go to India, Guatemala, and a few of the countries from my original route, I was only making excuses. I was trying way too hard to pull myself towards route 4 instead of route 1. And yet as soon as I looked away from route 4, I would immediately snap back to route 1. I never had to convince myself that route 1 was the one for me – it was just there.
So I went with my gut instinct and decided on Route 1. I don’t feel too bad about not going to India or Guatemala, even when I had the chance, for a few reasons. As far as Guatemala is concerned, although it is my favorite place in the world so far, I’ll be spending a month there anyway this fall, and it won’t be difficult to go again in the future. India was never a deal breaker to start with – I enjoyed my time there two years ago, but it isn’t the end of the world to me if I don’t go again. There’s also another factor to not returning to either of these countries on the race: if I went back, I don’t think I could stop myself from comparing my different experiences. It would keep me from being “in the moment” on the race, and I certainly don’t want that.
So here I am on Route 1! Right now there’s only a few of us here since routes only opened a few weeks ago, but the squad will come together soon enough, and we’ll be headed for Albania and July. It’s a new adventure with new people, but one I’m looking forward to nonetheless.
