Put this into perspective:
When I was accepted to the race a year ago, I was on a road trip from Colorado to California with 2 of my amazing friends. The day I was accepted, we were stopping in Las Vegas for the night.
Senior year of college. Spring Break…Get the picture?
From that weekend on it was planning for the race, talking about the race, and checking off the list of all the things I needed to do before launch. I was too busy thinking about the race to focus on anything else around me.
That same date a year later, I am in Swaziland. Realizing that I am ON THE WORLD RACE. Ya, it took me until month 8 of this trip to realize I was on the World Race. Kidding…kind of 😛
To be honest, I have to remind myself every month. I have to pinch myself! With all my planning back then, I could have NEVER expected what God had in store for me in those 11 upcoming months. With all the expectations and ideas that I had made up in my head at the beginning, I was still holding onto control of what I thought my future was going to be like. What I thought God was going to do on this trip.
While sitting in a village in Swazi, I was no longer dreaming about a trip I had seen on youtube, vimeo, or google.
I was no longer doing research on what the heck kind of pack I was supposed to carry for 11 months.
I was no longer taking weekly trips to REI to return and buy items.
I was no longer wondering what Training Camp was going to be like.
I was no longer stressing about who I was going to see my last couple weeks before launch, or how I was going to spend time with them.
I was no longer looking at past racers blogs to train to expect what it could possibly look like, or what I could possibly expect…
I AM HERE
If there was any advice I could give to future racers that are in expectation, wonder, or dreaming about the race;
I would say to look at where you are NOW.
This grand journey does not start once you get to your first country.
IT STARTS NOW.
Look for what to be thankful about and what God is doing around you in your hometowns, your families, your friends, your work, etc. Your big adventure will come soon enough! Look for what to be thankful for where He has you. You might be surprised 🙂
What I’m Thankful For RIGHT NOW
Race Community
These people are incredible. Who gets to live in a community of wise, faithful, determined, God-driven, world changers? ME! I am thankful for the encouraging and affirming community I have been able to live with this year. Being able to live alongside them in the darkest times and the most joyous times. Is it easy all the time? Heck no! That is the sweet part of it all though. It is Real. Messy people are real. We make mistakes, we hurt one another, we come from different back grounds. However, this community continues to fight for one another. They choose one another. They see more of what God has created each individual to be. I have gotten to be apart of this. I feel like a pretty lucky gal 🙂
My Pack (Paco)
My pack has shed a ton of weight since starting the race. I have learn to let go of clothes, pick up as I move to different countries, and to carry around the necessities. The rest can be found in one way or another. My pack weighs half of what it did at the beginning of the race! Woo!
Fundraising
You would have never heard me saying this at the beginning of the race, or even a month ago, but I have been able to see how incredibly people support and love me back at home through fundraising. I have been blown away by the people who have supported me! Some of them I do not even know! All of this continues to go back to how much more God can do outside of me. He is doing so much I can not even wrap my mind around. Fundraising was an awesome way to see this come to fruition as He reaches so far outside of my sphere of people.
Knowing How To Travel
Travel is going to be a breeze for the rest of my life. I have traveled in a ton of different situations. Many short flights, individual long flights, LONG Layovers, running to a connecting flight, sketchy bus rides, rickety tuk-tuks, riding of the roof of jeepneys, Walking miles through cities/ villages/ mountain ranges/ rivers…you name it!
Ridiculous Life Shenanigans
Eating Balut (fertilized duck egg), Ash boarding down a volcano, surfing in Nicaragua, eating insects, riding elephants, hiking through nepal, bathing in rivers, camping in the Himalayas, watching a C-Section in Guatemala, giving blood transfusions to babies in Guatemala, teaching Volleyball to African teens, riding horses alongside zebras in swaziland etc.
Sunsets and Starry Nights
Being able to see sunsets in every country has been one of my favorite things here on the race. Each night is totally different and takes your breath away. When the stars come out, the sky seems bigger and I am reminded of how small I am in this sweet world.
Trying Different Foods
It is so apart of the cultural experience for me! Sometimes pleasant and other times…surprising haha. I’ve got to say my favorite food on the race so far is Indian. Whammy! I could eat that for days…which I did…for 30 days straight 🙂
Coach Nacho
In Africa I am coaching a group of teens to play volleyball. They know me as “Coach Nacho.” If they heard the name “Taylor” they would have no idea who that is. Every time they see me they yell, “NaChoooooooooooooooooo!” This is a Nacho Libre movie reference for those of you that think that I am just referring to a delightful cheese covered snack. I have dreamed of this since the beginning of the race and I finally have succeeded. #SmallVictories
Coffee
It speaks for itself
Making Home Made Popcorn
I come from a long line of EXTREME popcorn lovers. This is simply one of the best things in the world to make. It is the perfect snack, it is cheap, and simply awesome. I have been overjoyed any month I have a stove-type-device to make it with!
Grocery Stores
This month we get to shop for our own food! I have not gotten to do this since month 1 so this is a fun treat! We get to pick healthier food and splurge on Magnum bars while they are accessible! It is cool getting to be in the habit for shopping for myself again with the team I am with. We get to talk as a team about what we want for this month in that way as well. Accountability!
Slow Motion Moments
This is something I started to do month 3 on my race. There are just so many times during the day that I just want to slow it down and take a shot in my mind of what is going on. That is something I have started to intentionally do for myself. I might look kind of creepy just standing somewhere and probably smiling to myself, but I need those moments to just stop and take it in. Wether it has been watching a child walk for the first time, watching my friends bargain in a Thailand market, talking to a prostitute in a coffee shop, dancing in the middle of Cambodia during New Years, preaching to a crowd of hindus, mixing ice cream until 3am in Nicaragua as a ministry, or simply seeing 50 friends faces every time I get on a new plane to a new country…I have been so thankful to take it all in.
God has been with me in different places and seasons of my life here on this trip. But that is not going to change going back to America in 3.5 months. I want to live a life of thankfulness through all of it. Through the beginning of seasons, through amazing adventures, through the deep valleys, through the uncontrollable laughter, at the end of a journey, and the beginning of a new one.
