I’ve used this blog in different ways each time I’ve been out with The World Race. This time around, I’d really like to give you all more of an inside scoop about what life on the Race is like.
Practical. Tangible. Up close and personal. So real you can practically taste it.
Starting with…drum roll please…an introduction to travel days! Almost always an adventure in themselves, travel days are what we lovingly call the days spent in transport from one country to the next. Planes. Trains. Boats. Buses. Even taxis. We’ve done them all. Sure, I experience all of these modes of transportation at home, but please believe me when I say that there is nothing quite like a World Race Travel Day (capitalized because they should be considered a proper event).
On this route, known as the January 2018 Expedition Route, or G-Squad if you prefer, we are starting in Australia. So here’s a little tale about how we got here.
We all gathered in Atlanta on the 12th of August to start what is known as Launch weekend – several days consisting of training, meeting our new teams, saying bye to parents, packing and repacking, enjoying what is most likely our last hot shower for a while, eating meals together, and praising God for what he’s bringing us into.
After 3 full days of training, we all gathered in a hotel conference room at 1:30am on January 16th to take a shuttle to the airport. We then took a 6:00am flight from Atlanta to Denver. After a quick hour in Denver, we hopped on another plane to Los Angeles. Thankfully, both of these domestic flights were on Southwest Airlines. This was a pleasant surprise, as we’re not usually spoiled with extra leg room and unlimited snacks on our budget.
Anyway, back to the travel itinerary. We spent 11 hours in Los Angeles. Thankfully, less than a mile from LAX, there is a heavenly oasis known as In N Out Burger. After walking from one end of LAX to the other to find our new terminal, situating our squad luggage (40 Racers’ 60 liter packs and carry-on luggage) in a corner of the departure terminal, and setting up a “bag watch” rotation, I found some friends and headed out to eat my standard grilled cheese and (special occasion only) animal style fries. After a little shopping out and about, we walked back to the airport, found a really comfy floor seat, and waited a few hours until we could check in.
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Immediately upon check in, we were told we needed to have an e-visa to enter Australia. And we needed to buy it before leaving the country in three hours. So upon arrival at our gate, we hooked up to the WiFi and started the application process. (Side note…one of our friends still hasn’t been approved…please pray that the embassy will accept his application when they open up again on Monday!)
We finally got to board the most beautiful United Airlines Dreamliner and settle in for our flight to Singapore. Yes. Singapore, not Australia yet. In fact, only a small number of our squad was on this plane. The others were boarding a flight to Shanghai where they had a few hours before meeting us in Singapore. I was lucky enough to get an aisle seat, so when I was awake I could attempt to walk off the inevitable swollen ankles. 18 hours, one movie, two podcasts, and an entire book later, we landed in Singapore on the 18th of January, where we had a 15 hour layover. Also, with the time difference, we’d all of a sudden seemed to skip an entire day. Weirdest feeling ever.
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We took the day to explore Singapore (super awesome) then hopped on a 10pm flight from Singapore to the Gold Coast, finally arriving in Australia at 8:00 in the morning, January 19th. We met our host at the airport, loaded up a van with our bags and half the squad, then waited two hours for him to come back for the rest of us. Finally, we made the hour drive down to a church in Byron Bay by 1:30 in the afternoon where we unloaded and made our new home for the next three weeks!
Thanks for joining me on this Travel Day journey! I hope you feel a bit more connected to what life is like out here on the other side of the world. More to come soon!
I am still raising financial support for this round of the Race. If you’d like to donate, please click the link at the top. I also am in need of financial support for the “extras” this time – laundry, snacks, personal hygiene products, and fun cultural experiences. If you’d like to help with those, you can donate here: https://www.youcaring.com/shannonmonaghan-1059767
Thank you!! And for those already supporting me, you are so valued and appreciated!
