How To Survive in the Tropics
Every three months we make our way to the airport for a new group of DTS students to arrive. With new DTS students coming in and out every quarter, we’re pretty much pros at helping internationals make it through tropical summers. There’s a small price to pay to live somewhere as incredible as Australia!
We like to call that price, humidity.
If you’re coming for DTS, here’s a few helpful hints to your epic adventure and survival in the tropics.
What you’ll need:
#1 – Water: You’ll need a lot of water
You’re going to need a lot of water. It’s hot here, and pretty humid too. You’ll learn early on that sweating is just a simple part of everyday life. Don’t forget your water bottle, and don’t forget to fill it up! Contrary to popular belief, you CAN drink the tap water here in Townsville and we encourage that you do! Stay hydrated, and stay happy.
#2 – Mozzie Spray: You’ll thank us later
Your instinct is to bring this from overseas, but we can assure you that you’ll need to wait till you get here to buy this. Australian mozzie spray is the only stuff that works on these little guys, and having a can of spray handy is the key to your happiness at dusk each day!
#3 – Sense of Humour: This one is just generally helpful everywhere
Life’s more fun when you’re laughing. We reckon in order to survive in the tropics, you’re going to need a sense of humour. You’ll probably end up with some awkward sweat marks, greasy, sweaty hair, and a sunburn at some point. Having a sense of humour makes it a good story, not an embarrassing one! You add this, on top of outreaches in places like The Outback, Papua New Guinea, or Southeast Asia and you never know the stories you’ll get. Keep an open mind, a great sense of humour, and have some fun with it.
#4 – Good Mates: You’ll meet them when you get here
During a Discipleship Training School you will meet life long friends and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without them! To survive in the tropics, it’s pretty crucial that you have good mates. You’ll want to adventure and experience life to the fullest, and what better way to do that than doing it with incredible people?!
#5 – Deodorant: Please for our sake, don’t forget this one
Deodorant is an essential part of life here in the tropics. Hopefully, we don’t need to explain much more but we do encourage that you bring it with you! 😉
#6 – Thongs – That’s right.
That’s right – whether you call them thongs, flip flops, jandals, sandals, or something else we are confident you’ll need a pair (or two!).
While you can go shoeless in most places in Australia, you can see in the points above that it’s hot here. You’ll need your shoes to protect your feet, and get to all those crazy places you’ll be traveling to!
#7 – Camera – Capture, everything.
We like to have fun around here (see points above). We encourage you to bring a camera along and capture moments that you’ll remember for the rest of your life. You’ll want to take life slower, soak up each moment, and live it! While you might not want to be hiding behind a lens the whole time you’re here, we’re confident that you’ll want to have some keepsakes from your own perspective for the future. Bring a camera, capture the moment, and let this experience irrevocably change your life.
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