Lessons Learned by an Amazing Race Junkie

with Jess of The Amazing Race Asia 4

1. There are express buses that can get you faster as opposed to buses that stop at all the possible places.

(Lesson: There are lots of ways of reaching a goal, you thought you got on the right bus but it turns out there’s the faster express bus. The trip may take so long that it already took the joy of the journey but you got there anyway, jaded and all. But whether you took the fast or slow bus, what is important is that you are aware of all your options of going there and you know which option you took)

2. Read the instruction manual several times. You'll never know what key word you might have missed.

(Lesson: We should know when to read between the lines. Keep in mind that sometimes there is NOTHING between the lines. There are things we should take at face value.)

3. Even the best of friends and sweetest of couples get at each other nerves while traveling

(Lesson: Under intense pressure, you test the strength of relationships. And most wither under extreme stress.)

4. Map reading skills are essential.

(Lesson: In going anywhere, you have to have an idea where you are. Now, if you like where you are, then stay put. But if you want and need to be somewhere else, move)

5. You'll only know if you got a good or bad taxi driver if you are already on the road. Oftentimes, it'll be too late to switch cabs when you realized you got a bad one.

(Lesson: There are no “test trials” in life. And if life throws you a curveball, you can’t hit the pause button and say “Hey can this be just a trial run?”. We have to live with the wrong choices we made, whether these options we handpicked or we were left with no other choice.