God bless America: things I miss from everyday life back home

The list below is of things I took for granted before the Race and am really starting to miss now at Month 7 of not having them consistently or at all. Disclaimer: I LOVE the World Race and wouldn’t trade a single day for being at home in America. But these things start to get to ya after awhile and Month 7 is my hardest so far with being uncomfortable living conditions wise. So, it may seem like I’m complaining and in some ways, maybe I am, but I just want to list these so that when I do have access to these again, hopefully I won’t take them for granted like before. The Lord is teaching me so much by having me give up these comforts and I don’t need them but they are nice to have. So, I challenge you to just enjoy these comforts a little bit more for my sake. Every flushing toilet, every warm shower, blast of A/C in the car, and cushy couch is a blessing from our Lord and a chance to praise Him for His goodness.

Love y’all! Enjoy!

1. Western toilets

2. Running water and sinks

3. Paved roads

4. Limits to how many people can be packed in a form of transportation (bus, car, rickshaw, etc)

5. Bubbles where people don’t touch you or invade your space

6. FREEDOM to do what you want when you want

7. Privacy

8. Grocery stores easily accessible

9. Real Showers regularly

10. You can wear whatever you want and not have to dress according to the culture and wear extra clothing/ scarves when it’s hot

11. Air conditioning

12. Traffic laws in place that are followed

13. Moments to yourself for personal grooming

14. Being alone and not having to be properly clothed ALL the time (open windows and you never know who will peek or walk in: kids, grown men, male squad leader, etc)

15. Real beds with supportive mattresses

16. Seating with a cushion (vs plastic chairs or the ground)

17. Driving my car

18. Not being herded around like cattle

19. Being able to communicate with people easily because you speak the same language

20. Being passed by on the street and not being treated like a celebrity or zoo animal

21. Silverware and napkins and cups (vs drinking water the “waterfall” way)

22. Having WiFi/signal all the time

23. Easily planning how to get somewhere and knowing how to use public transportation

24. Being able to just talk on the phone with your family/ friends whenever and be in the same time zone

25. Plethora of food choices at your fingertips

26. Being in charge of your own schedule

27. Wanting something (an item or food, etc) and being able to just go get it or order it

28. Public restrooms that are relatively clean everywhere

29. Clean drinking water easily accessible

30. Ice and cold beverages

31. Access to a mirror and private time to get ready and actually caring what I look like (actually I don’t miss this lol)

32. Laundry machines and dryers

33. Not worrying about contracting malaria or some other foreign illness/ GI bug

34. Power going out 1-2 times/ year vs 3-5 times a day

35. Ready access to outlets for charging devices

36. Having your own room in a house/ apartment with screened windows

37. Not having 5-10 people staring at you and watching your reaction as you eat

38. Tables to sit at and eat at

39. Not having to pay to use a public restroom

40. Being able to properly clean my camelback so it doesn’t taste like water with a hint of dirt

41. Not having to live out of and lug around a year’s worth of items

42. Refrigerators, freezers, and microwaves

43. Access to coffee daily

44. Can wash my hands as frequently as I want with an actual sink

45. Living in one place for more than 3 weeks at a time and actually nesting

46. Real towels that soak up water and don’t smell after a few uses

47. Not being surrounded by pesky flies every time I go outside or sit inside a room with windows 

48. Being able to change clothing easily at my leisure and not having to hastily change in plain sight (there’s literally nowhere private to go but your see-through tent) before a local or male teammate sees/ passes by

49. Being able to choose who I hang out with daily (I love community living though: shout-out to Team Valor and F Squad!)