Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life

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So You Got Stationed Overseas: Why you NEED to make TRAVEL a part of your short PCS abroad

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Thanks so much to LeAnna Brown for this guest post!

stationed overseas

Living in Europe for the past five years as a contractor with the US Army, I have had what most people would call a “Dream Life.”  I’ve learned to budget travel and travel hack, so we get to travel extensively and all over the world, not just Europe!  I’ve danced on the tables at Oktoberfest, I’ve climbed all 1710 step of the Eiffel Tower and I’ve cliff dived into the blue ocean in Croatia, to name a few adventures.

I started shopping at the local grocery store the first week I moved to Germany and I’ve taken advantage of just about every 4-Day Weekend we’ve had to go somewhere new.  So, I’ve learned a thing or two about living life abroad while being stationed overseas.  

However, I found that there were SO many military members, spouses and families that were sitting on Post not ever leaving…and then complaining that life was horrible here in Europe and that they couldn’t wait to move back to the States!

This not only made me sad that they were not seeing the Europe that I was, but was also infuriating me that so many people only DREAM of getting to visit Europe and yet some people that got assigned here were dismissing that opportunity completely.

But then I started to find out WHY some of these people weren’t getting out and exploring

Some were too nervous about buying the wrong items at the store.

Others didn’t like not being able to communicate with the locals.

Many didn’t think that they could afford to travel or site see.

stationed overseas

About the Book: So You Got Stationed Overseas: Why you NEED to make TRAVEL a part of your short PCS abroad

So, I took ALL the experience of the 40 countries and 90 new cities I had seen over the past five years, and combined it with stories from local spouses that I collected through research to create the ultimate How- To book for anyone facing an upcoming PCS to Europe, or those already living there! 

I help the person stepping off the plane learn to get acquainted with life abroad by slowly dipping your toes into the local culture but giving exact tips and advice on how to do so, like navigating the local grocery stores.

I encourage all the nay-sayers with excuses to drop them out of the plane as you cross the ocean.  Therefore, I PROVE how to budget for travel, how to adjust for military schedules and more in order to get out and site-see. But not only do I prove this, I include a workbook with guides that help you do the same.

I then drop resource after resource for people living in Europe looking for ways to budget travel or even those wanting to LEARN how to plan a trip!

This isn’t your typical PCS checklist book and it isn’t your Rick Steves Travel Planning guide either.  It is a resource for you, the military member facing that overwhelming OCONUS PCS! 

And, as if helping active duty service members isn’t enough, 5% of the books proceeds also is donated towards the Wounded Warrior Project!

You Can Order The Book on Amazon HERE. 

Know someone who is PCSing to Europe? Share this invaluable resource with them so that they can take advantage of their time abroad!

Are you facing an OCONUS PCS?  What fears or questions do you have? Sometimes it is just a matter of getting them answered before you can have the time of your life!

stationed overseasAbout the Author

LeAnna Brown currently helps fellow travelers learn how to travel on a tight budget and Travel Hack through her blog EconomicalExcursionists.com.  After almost 40 countries down in four years and only a few thousand dollars spent a year on travel, they have learned to penny pinch their way to a bare minimalist lifestyle to help them see and appreciate the world. 

You can get daily dosages of travel tips and motivation by “Liking” Economical Excrusionists on Facebook or follow her on twitter @EconExcursion.

Other articles written by LeAnna that may interest you:

Travel Hacking for Beginners: http://www.economicalexcursionists.com/travel-hacking-beginners-guide/

15 Ways to Pinch Pennies for Future Travel: http://www.economicalexcursionists.com/save-for-a-vacation/#.VdB0ivmqqko

If you would like to learn more about traveling for FREE through Travel Hacking (using points for free flights and hotels), check out the Free E-Course offered by the Economical Excursionist. 

Why You Should Live In Military Housing At Least Once

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Why You Should Live In Military Housing At Least Once

When we went in to talk to a recruiter back in 2005, one of the things he told us that has always stuck with me was the advice to live in Military housing at least once. Being so new to the Military I really didn’t know what to expect. Our first duty station together was in Germany and it only made sense to live on post there.

We arrived in March of 2006 (can’t believe that was almost ten years ago) and moved into Army housing. They put us on the 3rd floor of a stairwell apartment in an older building that was very European. We got lucky because our unit had been redone recently and we had our own washer and dryer in our bathroom. For the units that didn’t, they had to do their wash in the basement. Our apartment was small and was on the 3rd floor but it seemed perfect to us at the time. At least, until we had another baby.

One of my first memories of Military housing was hearing two wives talk with each other across the road. It was loud and I couldn’t believe they were doing that. There were also a lot of parties late into the night and a lot of noise. I was not new to apartment living but Military housing was so different then anything else I had experienced.

There are good things about living in Military housing and bad things about living in Military housing. There are many benefits that I missed after we lived off post. There are other things I was glad to leave behind. Overall, I think the recruiter’s advice was right on. It is a good idea to live on post at least once. Why?

Why?

To be surrounded by the Military Community

When you live in Military housing, you will be surrounded by other Military families. Your kids will go to school with our Military kids. You will be more likely to shop at the PX and Commissary on a regular basis. You will get a good feeling for the Military community. This will stay with you for the rest of your time as a Military Spouse and that is a good thing. It will allow you to feel a part of everything even if you decide to live off post in the future.

To meet other Military families on a daily basis

Because you will be on post you will always be meeting new Military families. If you see a moving truck in your neighborhood, you don’t have to wonder if they are Military or not. It is easier for you to attend events on post and there you will continue to meet other people. If you are in need of more Military friends, living on post is the way to go. You will always be meeting people associated with the Military.

To know how a Military post works

One thing you will learn after living on a Military post is how it works. You will hear Reveille and Retreat in the morning and evening and will know what to do when you hear it. Your kids will know what to do. After living off post, I realized we are not usually on post when that happens and I miss hearing it. You will get used to watching the service members run around post during PT or going for a lunch break. You will get used to all of this during your time in Military housing and it will be nice to look back on that time with good memories.

To make life a little easier during deployments

Deployments are usually easier if you live on post vs off. This isn’t always the case of course but there is something to be said about living around people whose spouse is also deployed or who have been through it before. When we were in Schweinfurt, our first duty station, almost everyone there had their husband deployed at the same time. This mean we had more people to walk through the deployment with. It was something our whole community went through together. My deployments when we have lived off post were different and I just didn’t feel as connected to others going through the same thing.

If you are not sure if you should live on post or not, think about the benefits and how doing so can help you understand the Military and Military life in general. Some people do have really good experiences off post as well. It really depends on what you are comfortable with and what you want to experience as well as where you are stationed.

In the end, I would tell you to live in Military housing if you get the chance. If you hate it, you never have to do it again but at least, you will have had that experience.

 

Have you ever lived in Military housing? Did you like it? Hate it?

 

All The Time He Has Missed During Military Life

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All The Time He Has Missed During Military Life

15 Months

11 Months

5.5 Months

6.5 Months

= 38 months or 3 years, 2 months.

This is how long my husband was gone on deployments. This does not count any of the other times he has been gone for non-deployment reasons.

WOW! Almost 3.5 years? I can’t even wrap my mind around that. I can’t. Looking back, we got through it. Sometimes just one hour at a time but we did it.

Sometimes I still break down over what he missed.

He missed so much. He kissed our 3-week old boy goodbye after meeting him just 2 weeks earlier and he did not see him again until he was almost one. He missed the whole first year of his life. That is a lot of time. If you have a baby, you know how different a 3 week old is from an 11-month-old. You know everything they go through in that time. All the stages and changes. My husband got to experience all of that through photos. That’s it. Just photos.

He said to me once that it was a weird feeling. Knowing you had a son out there that you loved but didn’t know at all. That broke my heart.

Was it worth it? I don’t know. I really don’t.

I don’t like to think about that. I don’t want to think about the politics of why he was there because it hurts too much. He joined the Army and did his job and THAT is why he was gone.

He has missed so much and for an involved father like him, I can’t even imagine what that would be like. I have been away from my boys for 10 days at the longest and I was SO ready to get back to them.

His first deployment was 15 months long. It was extended. It should have been shorter. He came home for R&R to be with me for the birth of our child but got there a few days late. That was okay. I was able to handle that but I knew I wanted him there for any future babies we were going to have. I didn’t want to have to give birth without my husband again.

To add to things, my husband didn’t join the Army until our oldest son was 13 months old. He didn’t miss anything with him. He was there for the pregnancy, the labor, the birth, the newborn months, watching him learn to roll, to sit, to stand.

What has your spouse missed during Military Life that really bothered you? What did you do to deal with it?

Knowing that he got to experience that with my now 11-year-old and not with the 9-year-old still makes me tear up.

I think about the wives of soldiers during WW2. My Grandpa was gone for three years. They didn’t have kids at the time but other soldiers did. Can you imagine leaving you 2-year-old and seeing them again when they were 5? With only letters to get by? I can’t. That makes what we went through seem a lot easier.

I know we can’t beat ourselves up for all that he missed. We just can’t. It comes with Military life. It is normal for them to miss things. Other Military spouses get it. They have been through it as well. They understand how hard it can be too.

There are things you can do to make the distance a little easier. You can talk on video chat, send a lot of photos, talk on the phone, send care packages, etc. But at the end of the day, it is not the same as having them live in the same house with you and your children day after day.

As a Military spouse, you have to come to a place of accepting that your spouse will miss part of your kid’s childhood. You can’t always plan when they will be home. You can’t make sure that they will be there when you have a baby, when your child walks for the first time, when they start Kindergarten or when they graduate from high school. You might have to be there without them, take a few videos and some photos and share them with your spouse that way. You accept all of this as a part of Military life.

You can hope and pray that they won’t miss too many important things. They will be home sometimes. They will not be gone for all of their Military careers. Remember that when you feel frustrated about how much they have missed.

Think about the times you have had together, the experiences you have had because you are a Military family and the good that can come from standing by your spouse as they go through their Military career.

What has your spouse missed during Military Life that really bothered you? What did you do to deal with it?

How To Grow Your Twitter Account To 10K Followers

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How To Grow Your Twitter Account To 10K Followers

Last week I hit a big goal of mine, 10,000 Twitter followers! This took me about six years. It took a lot of work and time and patience to get there, but I made it.

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When I first started my blog in 2009, I started a Twitter account mainly for my photography. I didn’t use it for my blog at first. Then, I realized that there were other Military Spouse bloggers that hung out there. That is how I first found the Military spouse community and I am so glad that I did.

Twitter is a lot of things but one of them is a place to find others that you can connect with. Not the people you know in real life but others from around the US and the world that you have something in common with. Without connecting with others on Twitter, you won’t get as much out of it as you otherwise would and if you want to grow your Twitter account, that part is a must. The best part is, that type of connecting with others is a lot of fun and most people enjoy doing it.

There are many reasons to grow your Twitter account. You want to grow your blog and your business, you want to make money with social shares or you want to get your name or brand out there. But how do you grow from 100-200 to over 10K? Do you need that many to make money on Twitter? What is the best thing to do?

Here are a few tips to help you grow your Twitter account to 10K followers:

Fill Out Your Profile 100%

When you set up your Twitter profile you will want to make sure you fill it out 100%. That means adding a good profile photo, a good cover photo and your bio. You also want to include a link to your website or blog in your Twitter profile. You want anyone clicking on your profile to learn a little bit about you and where you live on the Internet.

Follow people every day

When you first get started with Twitter you will be limited in the number of people you can follow. That is based on how many people have followed you back. Start off following about 100 people every day. Every time you follow someone you have a good chance that they will follow you back too. That is how you grow. Find people who you think would like your blog and what you are sharing. Find someone who is big in your niche and see the profiles of people who follow them. Then follow those people. Doing so will increase your chances of having them follow you back.

Weed out nonfollowers

When you are first starting out on Twitter, you don’t want a lot of people that you are following not following you back. You want engagement and growing your Twitter account is easier if you can get engagement from more people. You can use websites like ManageFlitter and CrowdFire to find out who isn’t following you and who has recently unfollowed you. This will clean up your Twitter feed and allow for more room to follow people who want to follow you back too.

Tweet every day

You need to be on Twitter every day if you want to grow. This is easy to do by putting the app on your phone. It only takes a few minutes to open the app and say something. In addition to this, you will want to schedule some of your Tweets to share your blog posts or other posts that you want your followers to see. Even better, go on Twitter 2-3 times a day to connect with your followers.

Interact

To grow on Twitter, you need to interact with other people. The easiest way to do this is to create lists. I have about five lists with people I want to connect with on a regular basis. I can either go to Tweetdeck to view them all at the same time or pull them up on my Twitter app. I can go on there during the day and see what people are talking about. I will comment or Retweet when I see something I want to share or talk about.

Give it time

You won’t grow your Twitter account to 10K followers overnight. It will take time. It took me about six years. Had I been working on growing my Twitter account from day one, I am sure I could have done it sooner but it still would have taken a while. Start working on growing your account but give it time. If you are wanting to get to 10K to make money with social shares, know that you don’t need that many followers to find paid campaigns. I was able to find them on places like Izea and Tapinfluence before I hit 10K.

The main thing to remember with Twitter is that it moves fast and it is one 0f the easiest places to gain new followers. You just need to put a little time into it each day. You don’t want to ignore Twitter if you have your own blog or website. You can get traffic from Twitter and interact with your followers who can turn into readers. It’s one of my favorite social media platforms and I love what it has done for me and my blogging goals.

Are you on Twitter too? Let’s connect 🙂

How To Survive The Election When You And Your Friends Don’t Agree

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How To Survive The Election When You And Your Friends Don't Agree

Whether you like it or not, election season is here. Soon, it will be time to vote and with that comes more campaign ads, debates and an increase of political Facebook posts. If you are into politics, this is an exciting time. If you are not, well, sorry, you just have to put up with it.

But what happens when you and your friends really don’t agree politically? How do you survive the next year? What can you do about it?

In person

Offline you can avoid political talk when you get together. This isn’t always easy and sometimes it comes up anyway. If you simply don’t want to go there with that person, try to change the subject. Sometimes it is nice to get together and discuss politics with those you don’t agree with but only if both sides can be respectful. If someone starts off with badmouthing your political party it can be hard to want to continue talking politics with them.

On Facebook

Facebook can be a hard place to be during political season when you know a lot of people with different political beliefs. Luckily, there are some things you can do to protect your friendship and keep the peace. You don’t have to unfriend, which isn’t always the best solution.

Unfollow Pages

Did you know you could do this? You can make it so you don’t see shares from certain pages. This is great for being able to follow your friends without seeing their political posts. You can do this by clicking on the top right part of the post and you should see an option for “Unfollow Page Name.” You can also do this as well as refollow pages when you click on “News Feed Preferences.”

Post Positive

When it comes to sharing political stuff yourself, stick to positive posts about the people you like or the things you stand for. Tearing down the other side just creates a lot of tension and can also hurt feelings. Sticking to positives can help others who believe differently than you to try to understand why you believe the way you do. If I am on my Facebook feed and I see a positive political post I will be more likely to read it vs when I see a negative one.

Unfollow People Temporary

If you know one of your friends or family members is going to post a lot of political stuff you can’t stand to see, you might have to unfollow them for a time. There are a few issues I feel strongly about and if I see someone keeps posting negative things about them, I have to unfollow them, at least for a time. I don’t want to unfriend this person because overall they are special to me but I just can’t personally handle seeing certain things in my feed.

Find a Safe Space

I have a few places I can go to talk politics that are safe. I can discuss things with others without worrying about hurting someone on the other side. I can talk with those who get it and it allows me to not feel so alone in my beliefs. So while I do sometimes share political things on Facebook, I usually post in those groups instead.

Unfollow Pages On Your Side

Another thing I did recently was unfollow some pages that support my point of view. Why did I do this? Because I can only take so much of that type of thing. I love how Facebook allows you to make your feed the way you want by telling them who you want to see first and who you don’t want to see at all. If going on Facebook gets me upset when I don’t want to be, I will make changes to see more of what makes me happy, makes me think about things or makes me feel connected to the people I love.

Politics can get nasty and the things that are said can hurt feelings. I want to try my best to avoid being stuck in that during this upcoming political season.

What do you do to survive elections when you and your friends don’t agree politically?

 

The Truth About Working From Home

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The Truth About Working From Home

 

Working from home can be a great way to make a living but it is not without its challenges. There are a lot of factors to think about when deciding if you want to work for yourself or not. There are a lot of aspects to working from home that need to be thought about. Working from home isn’t as simple as just sitting in front of a computer with your pjs on.

You Have To Balance Everything

When you work outside the home, you still have to balance everything but when your work is in your home, it can get even more complicated. When do you do the dishes? When should you work on decluttering? When should you have some free time? It is hard to figure it all out when you are working from the same place you call home. It takes a lot of balance and good scheduling to figure it out. I have been doing this balancing act for years and still find that part complicated.

You Make Your Own Deadlines

If you are working for someone else, you will have a deadline. If you are not or you are working on your own business, you might not. You have to make your own deadlines and you won’t have anyone enforcing them. It is best to make up deadlines for items that don’t have one. That way, you have a date you have to get things done by. I know I can get more done when I do this.

You Have To Work Around Your Family

One of the benefits of having someone work from home is that you don’t always have to pay for daycare. Depending on the job and your situation, you can work around your kids being home whether it is during vacation or even when they have a snow day which happens year almost every single year. Although it is nice to not have to worry about daycare, it is hard to work around you kids. It is best to have a good plan for when they are home. Some people work only when their children are asleep, others find things for their kids to do while they can put in a few work hours before going out and starting the day.

You Need A Good Space To Work

Part of working from home is having a good place to do it in. For some this means an office with a door they can close, for others this just means a place with a laptop and a notebook. Think about what you would need to be successful and create a space that works for you and your business goals.

Your Spouse Needs To Support You

I am not sure it would be possible to work from home without the support of my husband. If he wasn’t for me doing that, I  could never make this work. I need to depend on him for help with our boys or understand when I need time to work. If you have a spouse that doesn’t get working from home, try to sit down with them to explain. Show them your plans for making money and hopefully, that will help them see that you are serious about wanting to do this.

You Will Want To Give Up

Somedays I think it would be easier to just find a regular 9-5 job and call this whole working from home thing quits. Then I think about everything I have worked towards the last few years, all the reasons I started working from home in the first place and all the stories I have heard of people who have really achieved their goals and dreams at home, I know I can do it too.

You Will Get Lonely

One reason working from home won’t work for everyone is because when you work in an office of one, you can get lonely. I love the idea of co-working although that doesn’t seem to be a thing where I live. I think if I was in a bigger city I would try to take advantage of that. Co-working is where you rent a space for a day to work with others who are also working for themselves. It is like going to an office but you still get to work for you. I think that could help with getting too lonely. Overall I enjoy being by myself during the day but I also get to where I need to talk to others. Where I miss being in an office and where I have to figure out ways to get out and see other people during the work day.

The truth about working from home is that it is hard and it isn’t for everyone. You have to be okay with doing life a little differently and you have to be creative with how it all plays out.

Do you work from home? What do you do???

Looking for work at home job ideas?

 

What You Should Do To Speed Up A Deployment

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What You Should Do To Speed Up A Deployment

What You Should Do To Speed Up A Deployment

When a deployment first starts and you have the long stretch of days ahead of you, it might seem like you are never going to get to the end. You are sad and trying to get used to your new normal. All you want to do is stay in bed and cry away the day. But you can’t do that the whole time they are away. You have to live and you have to make plans. This is even more important if you have children. You can’t stay in your “cave” for the whole deployment.

So…you start to figure out how to do this deployment thing. You make plans and look ahead at the months he will be gone and know you will have to fill them. You will need time to pass. You need the deployment to speed up. But how?

Stay Busy

They tell you that the #1 thing you can do to get through a deployment is to stay busy and this is true. If your deployment is dragging, fill up your calendar and it will start to pick up. Even if it is something little and silly, put it on your calendar. You can include book releases, tv shows or just a trip to the park. Fill up your days so you won’t feel so alone and so that time passes and you can have some fun even if you still miss your spouse while you are having it. If you can, plan a trip. Go see a part of the country you have never been before, visit your parents, take a trip to the beach.

Work on projects

Projects are really going to help you speed up your deployment. Think about house projects, did you want to paint your bedroom? Make plans to do it. Want to catch up on your scrapbooks? Go ahead. Want to write a book? Maybe now is the time to do it. Think about all the things on your to-do list and get started on them. We always seem to have extra time during deployments and it is best to fill it with things that you want to do. Projects can allow you to get focused on something else and it is always a good feeling to finish something that you have always wanted to start.

Get together with friends

If you can plan to get together with friends during your deployment, time is going to go by a lot faster. Plan playdates, nights out, dinners together and even holidays. Plan for walks, start a book club and get your kids together. Find others that are missing their spouses and celebrate getting through the stages of deployment. Have a 100 days party and then get together to make homecoming signs when you know they are coming home. Stick together and know you have each other. The military members have battle buddies and the spouses need them to. They are the best way to get through a deployment, especially a long one.

If you feel stuck, feel like time is just not moving, take some time to make some plans. There is a lot you can to do to speed up the deployment. If you focus on other things, time will speed up, I promise. You will be glad you spent the deployment actually doing something instead of staying home and being sad the whole time.

Some people worry about having too much fun when their spouse has to be in a war zone. That can be hard to let go of but the truth is, it’s okay to have fun when they are gone. They should understand. They should know that you have to get through the deployment in whatever way that you can. If they don’t understand this and expect you to stay home the whole time, you need to have a talk. It isn’t fair to you and it wouldn’t be a good way to get through a deployment.

What have you done to speed up a long deployment that didn’t seem like it was going to end???

Want a Guide for the First 30 Days of a Deployment???