Get your passports ready! You’re headed across the pond, any pond, to Outside the Continental United States!
Headed to the castles of Germany, the vineyards of Italy…. Or keeping it in country and headed to the beaches of Hawaii or the Northern Lights of Alaska? Wherever the military has told you is home, Mission: Milspouse will have you hanging with the locals in no time.
From the beginning of your journey to your trip back to the continental U.S., we have the information you need.
Whether it’s baggage allowance at the airport, living minimally while your stuff leaves before you, how to find your tribe in a different country, or just how to emotionally and practically prepare for the move, Mission: Milspouse writers are ready to speak from experience and get you where you need to be.
Your adventure of a lifetime starts here at Mission: Milspouse!
Moving. PCSing. Relocating. Whatever you want to call it, the event (no matter how routine for some of us) is really not a singular activity. The whole process comes with much more than a pile of boxes containing everything you own.
Dearest Lazy Susan—
First of all, I’m terribly sorry for the unfortunate name that has been so unfairly bestowed upon you. If I had it my way, I would have called you Hardworking Susan or Ever-Evolving Susan or Lady Susan of Spinnington. Nevertheless, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your existence and dedication to organization during this month of love and appreciation for those who hold a special place in our hearts.
Like many spouses of military servicemen and women, I get caught up in all the reasons why it is not fun to be a military spouse. From deployments, having to spend thousands on hidden costs like the new pinks and greens uniforms and PCS season where essentially everything you own is scooped up into a giant washing machine. And, like a washing machine, everything gets tumbled around, sometimes things are destroyed, and sometimes things are lost (like that one sock).
But while out for a run the other morning at our new duty station, Fort Lee in Virginia, I had time to think about the positive changes military life has brought to me.
When I began this three-piece series regarding my time in Germany, I immediately struggled with what I knew would be a conundrum in the final piece. But here’s the surprising lesson I learned stationed in Germany.
Here we are again, about to move and start a new chapter. At five and a half years, this has been the longest we have ever lived in one location.
As I near the end of my time living in Germany while my wife serves in the United States Army, this is Part II of a three-part series, examining my thoughts and feelings as I prepare to head back to America and leave Germany behind. Part I examined what I will not miss about Germany and can be found here. Part II, below, examines what I will miss about Germany. Part III examines what I’ve learned during my time in Germany.
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