So I found something unexpected in my bag a few days ago. This little blue wooden dinosaur. I was digging though my bag, saw it, and sat down looking at it. Okay let’s be honest here, I was balling like a baby for a good 5min before going to show it around. Everyone had the same reaction to it, man that’s cute. 

Let me explain a bit more. I have a really big family. Like a “hold on are they all together?” “Is your mom okay?” “You have how many siblings!?” sized family. Including me, my siblings, in laws, parents, nieces, and nephews we currently have 22 people. With a family that big it’s super easy to blend in and join a community like the World Race. Where the problems come from is when you forget that this community doesn’t quite know you super well. 

I laid on the floor one day just needing some physical touch in the form of a dog pile or someone laying on top of me. And for a second I forgot no one here knew what that meant. At home, if I lay on the floor or even on the couch I can expect one of two sisters to just lay on me. It’s a unspoken and understood thing between us and I’ll do the same for them. So, after a moment of thinking (and a few tears) I explained to my teammates what me just laying on the floor randomly meant. 

Even Super Bowl Sunday we all spent in our hosts home watching and a few of us cooked. It was simultaneously like being home, and exactly like watching the game in Guatemala. I spent half the time in the kitchen like at home and we had a great time talking and laughing. 

So when two days ago, I pulled out this little blue wooden dinosaur I had a moment of missing home. Because this little dinosaur is a gift from my youngest nephew, he’s only two but he insisted I needed this. He knew before I did that I’d need a little piece of home and remembering to bring with me. So now I’ve got a mission, this little guy and I are taking a picture wherever we go. He’ll be by my side from now on, and when my nephew is all grown up, I’ll have so many stories to tell him. 

I’ll tell any future World Race parents, pack something small and maybe silly in their pack. It will light up their day when they find it and they’ll treasure it. Trust me, this little Dino and I will be spending 11mo traveling the world. And I couldn’t be happier to carry something so silly with me.