The World Race has its moments. Good, bad, and a bit of everything in between.
If I’m being honest, there are days when we’re not all so glad to be here. There are days when the shower was cold again, and I missed another birthday back home, and it’d be nice, for once, to make it to the market and back without stepping in donkey poop.
Those days aren’t so bad, and the feeling doesn’t last too long, but, still, the perfect donkey related Instagram caption eludes me. I’ve yet to find the right balance between self-deprecating humor and self-aware acknowledgement that I know I can’t be anything other than grateful, smelly sandals and all.
To decrease any potential for misunderstanding, those aren’t the things I usually put on Instagram.
I’ll also admit, I haven’t found it especially fruitful to post a series of Arabic roadway signs to Facebook and entertain you all with a rousing commentary on what it’s like to find the correct bus stop in the minute-by-minute comparison of one unintelligible swirl of foreign characters to the next. It’d be a real nail biter, believe me, but you’ll probably never see it on your newsfeed.
There are things that I don’t say online about what it’s like to travel the world with a backpack, an increasing paranoia towards the existence of bed bugs, and a prayer.
More than that, and here’s where I hope I can be clear, there are things I can’t say online.
There are countries on our route where sharing the details of what exactly we’re doing every day could mean putting someone else in danger. That’s not a risk I’m ever willing to take.
I feel a responsibility towards the people who have supported me in this journey to be accountable and transparent in the application of that support, day-by-day, throughout this eleven months. If the next couple blogs you read from me this month, or at any point in the future, don’t give specific information about the work we’re doing, it’s not because I don’t want to share that information. It’s because I don’t believe the benefit of posting those details online is worth the potential risk.
Thank you for your support. Thank you for trusting me.
As for some good news, posting blogs and keeping everyone at home up-to-date in whatever way I can is still a priority.
If nothing else, you all might end up with my previously unexamined musings on consuming vegetables and sheep intestine. I’d also be happy to write up a quick how-to on entangling your friends in sticky situations with persistent foreign turban salesmen, and I’ve got an admittedly misguided exposé on petting foreign animals in the works.
Stay tuned folks, the best is yet to come!
In all seriousness, thank you to everyone who has supported me in any way. You will always have my gratitude. I still have around $3,000 left to fundraise. If you’d like to donate, there’s a link on the left hand side of your screen, but please know, you can and will forever be able to peruse any forthcoming snake charming exposés for free. Consider it my gift to you.
