With their many moves, most military families develop a course of action, one that likely engenders more scrutiny for improvement than any other element of military family life. We have our own, and though our movers think we’re strange, my little military family sees the bright side of a PCS.

We have our own: clean sheets, toiletry kits, a pillow each, and two towels remain with us throughout the move. When movers inquire innocently as to what hotel we’re staying in on the night of a move, we crawl over boxes and simply respond “here.” This usually earns us a horrified look from the individuals who then gaze over our crammed home full of closed boxes and furniture, but we know that we have everything we need readily available—items for washing up after a long day and a clean place to sleep.

We’ve become excellent vacation packers as a result of quick prioritization identification.

The positives of a PCS are not always immediately evident, and if you are currently in the throes of packing, school researching, home shopping, home selling, and everything else that comes with a PCS, the possibility of the bright side of a PCS may seem a little dim right now. If you look hard enough, though, there is always a silver lining to any cloud.

To help keep your positive spirits up while you search through endless amounts of homes and schools, let’s note some of the best parts of a PCS:

1. You’ll become an expert packer.

Didn’t your mother ever tell you that practice makes perfect? Well, the military provides you with plenty of opportunity to hone your packing skills, so by the time you’ve completed your fourth or fifth move, you not only know the order in which your items must be packed into each box, but also the order in which items must be packed into the truck so that your priority items come out first!

2. You’ll develop a better understanding of  life’s priorities.

When you’ve spent weeks in lodging waiting for your items to arrive on the previously mentioned truck, you realize that what you really need to survive in life are the items you managed to cram into your car alongside your spouse, the kids, and at least a dog (if not a cat and fish, too).

3. You’ll have an appreciation for work.

After spending weeks of quality family time in transit, moving from a home, to lodging, to hotels, to your final destination lodging, and finally, into your new home, you realize that you actually long for the stability and consistency of work. For this moment right now, you truly appreciate the routine of waking up in your own bed, showering in your bathroom, going to work in your office, and coming home to dinner in your comfortable home.

While most of the above silver linings are somewhat facetious, the truth is that, outside of the actual hassle of moving, a PCS provides military families with opportunities that not many other families can experience.

We move within a community of people who, despite their many differences, share a core value of a love for their country and an appreciation for the hard work that the gift of freedom requires.

We have the opportunity to travel and live among new cultures—for some that means moving from the north to the Deep South, and for others that means literally moving overseas to a foreign culture—and yet we rarely have to leave behind the safety net of a home community of fellow military families.

Increasingly closer networks help us share our experiences, making us more connected than any other community within the U.S.; we can tell other families about neighborhoods, schools, and town life through Military Town Advisor or  share our homes through Military By Owner.

Though better packing skills are a bonus, the shared experiences and opportunities gleaned from yet another PCS yield greater benefits than anything else, and that is truly the bright side.