5 Things I Have Learned From Not Living at "Home"

Eliminate Your Expectations

Before I moved to Uganda I spent so much time on the internet reading blog posts about people who had moved to other countries and what their experiences were like thinking it would give me some idea of what I was getting myself into. I had no idea what to expect, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t know what I wanted to expect. My limited knowledge of what it is to live in another country opened wide the door for the unexpected; and boy has it been a wild ride. There are days that are completely mundane and I just hang around in sweatpants longer than socially appropriate for an adult my age, drink some coffee, and read a book; while there are other days when I can’t imagine my life being any more bizarre. All expectations are out the window, mainly because they are pointless, but secondly because they can ruin the joy of spontaneity. 

Food is for the Stomach…and the Heart

I have never been what some would consider a “foodie”. Foodies can tell the difference between fresh lemon juice and juice from a bottle and unfortunately that’s not my gifting. But, since living in this new country where the food can be so different and admittedly bland…I have had some desperate moments when I thought I would scalp someone for some Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Covered Almonds from Trader Joe’s. Nonetheless, I have learned that there are just some things that do a body good – emotionally speaking. When my parents came to visit in March I couldn’t have been happier to open their luggage and see the multiplicity of Kraft Mac-n-Cheese packed next to the Fun Size Milky Way. My heart was happy. 

Time is Really Just a Number

Punctuality has never been my strong suit. I am a recovering procrastinator with a take-it-easy personality. One things I have come to embrace and cherish about this culture is that time is just a suggestion. It’s ok to stop on the way and take care of the multiple things that might need to be taken care of, and the person waiting is ok to wait. They will find some way to fill their time. Patience is a virtue you know…what’s the point in getting all bent out of shape over something so menial? Maybe this concept is just nursing my shortcomings, but I truly believe time was not created to control our lives, it was created to be a more hands-off assistant. 

You Won’t Be In or Out

Being the new kid in town has its perks and its downsides. When you get to town everyone wants to welcome you and make you feel at home and comfortable, but there is something even more comfortable about being a local. It’s been almost a year since I relocated to Uganda and the way that I feel now as opposed to the moment I stepped off the plane is really incomparable. But, I am still the Mzungu walking around the village and trying to navigate her way around the city. I have roots here now. I have friends and I have my usual places that I go to hang out, but that doesn’t make me a Ugandan. And it’s ok. In the beginning I was really troubled by this and it hindered me from ever calling this place home, but now I have come to embrace it and enjoy the fact that I will always have the opportunity to experience something entirely new. 

You are Always Missing Something

Whatever your reasons for relocating to a new country, you can never truly leave your hometown behind. So much of who I am is wrapped up in my life back in America. I’m not ashamed of that. Many people that I have talked to out here want to put down their country of origin almost in a way to convince themselves that this new place is the better choice and they don’t miss their old life. While I love making new memories in Uganda, there are things about my “old life” that are missed. It was a wonderful life that deserves to be remembered. But, I know that things are always changing and we are always moving forward, so I am thankful that I have something that is worth missing and remembering; something that has made me who I am, and now I have something new that is continuing to make me who I will be. 

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Granny's Love-Filled Wanderlust

Sometimes I get on Pinterest and see those inspirational travel quotes. I think you know what I’m talking about. They have the cool typography, Instgram quality picture of a road with mountains or a well-weathered map, and belong to the Wanderlust board that we all have on our profile. Travel excites. The thought of seeing a different part of the world and experiencing something life changing moves people to leave what they know and endure certain discomforts or unknowns so that they might discover something extraordinary.

Three years ago my Granny was very sick and coming to the end of her marvelous life. All of my mom’s family returned to the homestead in Murray County, Georgia and spend a week together sharing time with each other and my Granny knowing that these were our last moments of our family as we had known it for so many decades. During this week my cousins and I spent some time going through some old pictures together. My grandparents have this huge trunk in their den that is overflowing with pictures from years and years of family memories. There are enough embarrassing images in that trunk to run off all the unwanted boyfriends that have tried to steal away my cousins and I. I already have photos set aside to show the first girl that my brother brings to Christmas; it’s only then that we will truly know if she loves him or not.

 

Ok, he might be too cute to keep the girls away...

While going through these gems three years ago I found a picture of my Granny when she was just a teenager standing in front of a bus headed to Miami. Once she arrived in Miami she paid $78 for an airline ticket to Cuba. I fell in love with that picture. I remember being a little girl and my Granny showing me the airline ticket and telling me about how grown up she felt going all the way to Cuba on her own and how other girls her age were too scared to do it, but not her. She wanted to see the world. It was then that I decided that my 5 foot, biscuit-making, pastor’s wife Granny was the ideal woman. She was a real pioneer; a revolutionary. I wanted to be this woman. It was that moment in her guest bedroom as a 7 or 8 year old girl that I decided I was going to travel and see the world and love it just like she did.

 

This new wanderlust was consuming my thoughts at all times. I would make lists of countries that I wanted to see, plan out how to see all 50 states before I was 35, save maps of places that I had never been before…I was a goner. But thankfully my Granny didn’t just inspire me to travel; she inspired me to love. Travel is a beautiful and wonderful thing. It can reveal a lot about yourself and I believe God did create this world to be admired and enjoyed. His presence is declared and revealed in creation. As I have lived here in Uganda I have seen so many beautiful things and discovered so much about myself in the process, but the real joys have come from the relationships that have been built and the people that I have come in contact with. Those are the most beautiful and complex of God’s creation. Travel the world, expand your horizons, go beyond what you know, and love people along the way. What a waste it would be to see the world and miss God’s most prized possession throughout the journey.

Gearing up for my trip to the Dominican Republic back in 2006....Granny was right there to see me off.

I sure do miss her, but I'm so thankful for everything she left behind.

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One Heart. Two Homes.

            

The flight has been booked. It has been booked for some time now, but I think that it is finally sinking into my mind that in 117 days I will be headed west to see my home country again. I will have been in Uganda for one full year and I am not sure that I can begin to communicate how this year has changed me. I’m not saying that I am a different person; fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, I am still the same Jordan. I still jump a little when a bird flies too closely to my head. I still can’t stand the smell of celery or the taste of cilantro. I will still choose to watch Rocky over any chick-flick produced to date. And as soon as I touch down on American soil I am ordering a Venti Iced Dirty Chai and there is no stopping me. 

            But spending a year in another country, especially one that I have felt so at home in does change a person to some degree. There are going to be foods that I crave that the American grocery store won’t have. Hot days will rarely be cooled off by a monster rain storm. My mornings won’t be filled with the sounds of monkeys playing in my back yard or kids making their way to school. I won’t have the opportunity to walk to my friends’ houses and sit with them over a charcoal stove while we prepare dinner together. I can’t even take time to go see those friends who might as well be considered family. 

            It’s a difficult thing when your heart has two places to call home. There are people back in the States that I miss on a daily basis and things about America that I wish I could bring to Uganda (Target, dark chocolate, almonds, Kraft macaroni and cheese….just to name a few). I am beyond excited to come home and see everyone and catch up and enjoy the comforts of America. To not have to wonder if I will have hot water when I step into the shower, or if I will have any water at all. To have unlimited wireless internet practically everywhere I go. To be a citizen again and not have to constantly go to the immigration office to update my visa. To understand what people are saying around me without having to use excessive hand motions to fill in the gaps.

 It will be so sweet to be home. 

            But then there’s the dilemma of what I will miss. I will miss the cold showers after a long, hot walk home. I will miss mangoes, matoke, avocadoes as big as my face, ground nuts and chicken. I will miss the simplicity of pre-paid phones that take away the shock of an outrageous phone bill at the end of the month (I've gotten in trouble for that one too many times). I will miss the challenge of navigating the city when I have to go in for my visa or any other errand. And although it is so hard to communicate when you can’t really speak the language, I will miss trying something new and learning and laughing so hard after you say something completely wrong, but they still know what you mean.

            It will be so heartbreaking to leave home.          

 There are some legitimate fears that come along with leaving Uganda. What is next? Will I ever be back? How many things have changed back in the States? Will I be an outsider when I return? All of these thoughts go through my head on a weekly basis at this point. I have fallen in love with this country and the people that live here. Despite all the frustrations that come with living in a developing country, I am still drawn to this place. My prayer in this next stage of life is that God would make things clear for the future and what it is that I will be doing next. Please pray for clarity in my heart and mind and a willingness to go and do whatever it is that God has for me to do. 

 

“How lucky I am that I have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” --Winnie the Pooh 

 "You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place." 

--Anonymous

How to Efficiently Pack for a Year of Travel (and still keep your nail polish)

The weeks and months leading up to my trip I spent many nights searching and Pinteresting different packing lists and ideas on how to pack for a year in a Third-World Country. Not to discredit those who have put out different lists and ideas, but I didn't quite find what I needed. There were some great ideas and some lists that covered different things that I hadn't thought of yet, but all in all I was still left a little confused and left wondering what I was really going to need.

[caption id="attachment_419" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Do I really use all of this in a year?![/caption]

Granted, every country is different and everyone has different things that they "can't live without" for a year. I am just going to confess and let you know that I spent about 7 pounds on nail polish and polish remover. I know that 7 pounds may not seem like a lot, but when you are only dealing with 190 pounds, every pound is a hot commodity. Regardless, my fingers and toes are going to look fabulous! (Which can really make a difference when the rest of you is pretty run down by the elements.)

So, here are some tips that may help you out when you are about to relocate for a year and don't have a lot of space to deal with and need to make the most of with what you do have.

The first thing that I would suggest doing is write out everything that you think that you will need. I made an Excel document and wrote the item and then the quantity out next to it. For me, it was easiest to categorize everything so that it would be easy to find when looking over again. Also, it helped me to think through different items while thinking through it in categories.

This process took about a month to finish. I made sure that I started it out far enough in advance that I would have time to edit the list and think about more things, and also when shopping for the items it gave me time to wait for different things to go on sale or find coupons to save me some money.

This is what I came up with:  Long Term Packing List

Let me explain some of the things on the list.

Storage bins: These are just the cloth ones that can lay flat when you fold them down. I found them at the Dollar Tree and they are going to give me a way to organize my clothes and other toiletries when I get to the place that I am going to be living. It is a cheap and lightweight way to ensure some organization in your new home.

Scented candles: This is a total preference thing. But where I am going (Uganda) they do not have true seasons. Personally, I look forward to Fall more so than Christmas or my birthday. So, since I am not going to be able to experience the changing leaves or the apple cider this year, I am going to have to substitute it with some wonderfully scented candles that will make me feel like I am carving pumpkins and about to take a hay ride.

Soap: Normally I choose to use body wash instead of bar soap, but bar soap weighs way less than body wash and is much less expensive as well. So if you think that you can part with your silk-in-a-bottle you will really benefit in the long run.

One thing that I used that is not on the list is compressible ZipLock bags. While don't save you on weight at all, they do save you some space. I chose to go with the ones that can be rolled to let the air out so that I am not dependent on a vacuum cleaner, but depending on where you are moving you may be able to get the ones that can have the air suctioned out of them. Because let me tell you, rolling those things flat is no small feat. It took me and my dad to get them all down and we had to go get a massage afterwards to work out the kinks that had make themselves at home in the very middle of our backs. But the good thing is that I can go wherever the wind blows and not be tied down to a vacuum. That's liberating.

When packing your clothes into the compressible bags, roll them first. Roll them tight and roll them neatly. They are going to get a little wrinkled being in the airtight bags for about a day of travel, so don't add to the mess with a poor roll job....if you know what I mean.

[caption id="attachment_420" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Roll them. Roll them good.[/caption]

You want to make sure when you are packing things that you take them out of their packaging and throw that stuff away. That is just wasted space and weight. ZipLock bags will quickly become your best friend and can be reused when you get to your destination. I would also recommend putting anything that can leak into a bag of some sort because if that thing gets all over your stuff that is just one thing that you are going to have to deal with when you get off your plane and are tired from traveling.

When you start packing into your bags, separate your things evenly into your bags. Don't put all of your pants in one back and all of your underwear in another. Because what will happen is the bag with your underwear will get lost and you will have to go commando for a few days until you can find it. Or worse, the bag with your pants will be MIA and then you will just be embarrassed...or extremely immodest. So, save yourself a lot of trouble (and funny looks) and split it all up so that you can be sure that you will have a little bit of everything.

[caption id="attachment_421" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Split 'er up boys.[/caption]

Usually, you are allowed a carry on and then a "personal bag". Most often these things are never weighed, they are just concerned with them fitting into the overhead compartment. What a good friend of mine told me was that I should pack a smaller rolling suitcase as my carry on and then take a backpack as my personal item. In order to pull this off you will just need to have confidence and a smile, but it will buy you anywhere from 20-40 more free pounds in your luggage which is gold when you are traveling for a year. Just assure the person checking your bags that your backpack is your purse or your personal item. Don't be rude, that never helped anyone, but don't be a push over either. This could really work in your favor if they take one of your carry on bags and put it under the plane for your flight or even better, they check it through to your final destination and then you don't have to worry about it for the rest of your trip. Just be sure that bag doesn't have anything important in it that you will need for your trip.

I fly out to Uganda in the morning. I am so thankful that I am getting this opportunity and that I am packed and don't have to worry about it anymore! I hope that this post has been helpful for you, please comment if you have any questions.

What are some travel and packing tips that you have picked up on over the years?

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