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Planning Vacations as a Military Family

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I have received compensation for this post from TravelCenters of America. All opinions and work are my own.

Planning Vacations as a Military Family

 

Planning Vacations as a Military Family

“They took away my weekend pass.” He said.

“What? How is that possible? We are leaving tomorrow!”

I couldn’t believe what he was saying. We had been in Germany just about two months and we had planned our first trip. We were going to take the train to Salzburg and meet up with a friend of mine that live in Austria. We would spend two nights in Salzburg exploring the city. Salzburg was the first city on my Germany bucket list. And now my husband tells me he can’t go.

Little did I know that this can happen. In our case, I was able to put my son in hourly for the next day. My husband picked him up after work and stayed with him while I went on ahead and met my friend in Austria. My friend and I had a great time but we lost money on the train tickets and I always wonder what that trip could have been like.

Months later I was sitting at the base travel agent getting ready to buy tickets to California. I had probably asked my husband about ten times if it was okay to buy them. He was coming home from deployment and then we were going to fly to California for a month. If I bought the tickets and the dates changed, we would be out money. I was so worried that his homecoming date would change yet again. He assured me that they had assured them that this is when their leave would be and we were okay to buy tickets. So I did, I worried the whole time but I did and we were able to go to California as planned.

One of the truths about military life is that plans are never set in stone until they happen.

There are many reasons why there could be delays. Leave can be canceled or changed. So what can a military family to in order to plan a vacation? How can you make plans for anything without running the risk of losing money? What are you to do?

So what can a military family do in order to plan a vacation? How can you make plans for anything without running the risk of losing money? What are you to do?

Over the years I have learned the hard way about what you can do and what you should do when you are a military family who wants to plan a vacation. I hope these tips can help you to military proof your vacation plans…

1. Know that things can change. One thing you have to do is know that things can change. Know that you might have to change your dates around or deal with canceled leave. Knowing this is a possibility ahead of time will help you deal with the disappointment a little better when a cancellation or delay happens. I had no idea they could take away your leave after you booked your trip, but that is what happened. After that, I knew that things could change, even at the last-minute.

2. Find good companies. I have learned that if you can go with companies that allow you to change your dates for free or for a low price, do so. This isn’t always possible but before you book anything to find out what you would have to do to change your dates. That way you will know what you will be dealing with if plans change. Some companies might even accept deployment orders as a reason for why you are having to change the date.

3. Be flexible on your dates if you can. If possible, keep your dates open-ended. This is possible if you are visiting family and don’t have to book anything. Let your family know that the dates are tentative and you are not 100% sure those will be the actual dates you are there. This will help with any expectations your family has about when they will see you.

4. Have a backup plan. Always have a backup plan. What would you do if your spouse’s leave was cancelled? Would you go on the trip without your spouse? Would you postpone for another time? Cut the trip short? By having a plan you will know what your next step is if things change.

5. Don’t tell the kids. For the love, don’t tell your kids. I know that is hard for some people, I want to tell my kids the minute we have plans to go anywhere. But a lot of kids won’t understand that changing things last-minute is how the military works. You don’t want to have to deal with a child that thought they were going to their favorite amusement park and then they were not.

Supporting the military

Speaking of traveling…as it is summertime right now, a lot of you will be out on the roads taking vacations. I wanted to let you know about how TravelCenters of America are honoring Active Military and Veterans. For six weeks this summer travel season, customers are encouraged to visit TravelCenters of America LLC (TravelCenters TA® and Petro Stopping Centers®) to support military heroes. 

TravelCenters is honoring the sacrifice of active military personnel and veterans by encouraging restaurant guests to order a meal in support of the National Military Family Association (NMFA), a nonprofit that works to strengthen and protect military families. From June 28 to August 5, participating Country Pride and Iron Skillet locations will donate $1.00 to the NMFA for each entrée ordered from a select group of menu items.

How great is that? 

 

Amsterdam & The Netherlands

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Amsterdam

While we were overseas we were able to do a little bit of traveling. I am glad we were able to do this.  In May of 2008 I took a USO tour with some friends to visit Amsterdam & The Netherlands. It was a two-day tour but you were supposed to sleep on the bus. I think I was one of the only ones that couldn’t do that but it was still worth it, even though I never got to sleep.

Amsterdam

We were able to go to a cheese farm, a place they made wooden shoes, the Keukenhof where we got to see all of the tulips and beautiful flowers, we took a canal right around Amsterdam and visited a diamond shop. We also had exactly one hour of free time where a friend of mind was able to see the Anne Frank house. The rest of us didn’t think we had enough time to do the tour, although we did get to see the outside. I wish I had been a little more adventurous and done it even if it meant getting on the bus five minutes before we were supposed to be there.

Amsterdam

The USO is a great way to travel if you don’t want to plan the trip yourself. It is good for traveling alone, with your spouse or your friend. You sign up on post, pay the fee and then go where you need to go the day the trip starts. They have day trips, overnight trips and even week-long ones. You can also meet new people on these trips which is a lot of fun. If I didn’t have children when I was in Germany I would have gone on as many trips as I could afford to do but that just wasn’t possible.

Amsterdam

 

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I thought Amsterdam was amazing. I want to go back with my husband and spend a week there. In some ways it reminded me of what New York City would be like, although I have never been there myself. In other ways it reminded me a bit of San Fransisco. It was just big and amazing. Very different from Bavaria and maybe that was why it stood out to me so much. I was used to the German countryside and not a big city.

Amsterdam

I loved looking at the tulips at the Keukenhof.  They were simply amazing and thinking back to that reminds me to look for tulip festivals in the states. I know they probably won’t compare but they would be great to see too.

Amsterdam

When we were in the canal on the boat, I thought it was amazing to think of living on one of those house boats. What a different life that would be from my own. To be that close to water and to have to depend on it. To have a bike and no car. It feels like a different world and I find it fascinating.

That is what I like the most about traveling. Seeing first hand out other people live in different parts of the world. Understanding that my normal is not everyone’s normal and that is a good thing.

Amsterdam

The only part of the trip I would have skipped was the diamond factory. It really wasn’t interesting and they kept us there longer then they normally would have. A diamond went missing and they had to figure out what happened before we could leave.  I wish we could have spent that time in the city, walking around, visiting the Anne Frank house or doing something else more interesting.

Amsterdam

 

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Have you ever been to Amsterdam? What did you think? Have you been on a USO tour?

 

 

 

 

My trip to Denver and Boulder Colorado

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Colorado

 

A couple of weeks ago I joined my parents, brother and sister-in-law in Colorado for my cousin’s wedding. I ended up flying in about 15 mins after my parents did so I just met them at the baggage claim.

My mom has been dx with Guillain Barre. Because of this she is receiving treatments once a week. If she does not get these treatments, she starts to feel very weak and eventually would not be able to get up on her own, walk and it would not be good. Luckily, she was able to work it out to get a treatment a few days before she left and ended up having an overall good trip.

After I met up with my parents we got the rental car and headed to our hotel. The next morning we picked up my brother and sister-in-law at the airport and headed to downtown Denver.

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We had a great time at the rehearsal dinner which was in a restaurant downtime. Italian food and lots of it. I think we all rolled out of the place.

The next day was the wedding day! My Sister-in-law who does hair and makeup professionally did my mom and I and also my cousin’s makeup. It was lovely.

The wedding and reception was very nice. It was great to see my cousin marry the man of her dreams. It was a great wedding and I had a lot of fun with my brother and sister-in-law. I only wish Ben could have been there too.

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The next morning we headed to Boulder to spend time at my aunt and uncle’s house. It was lovely there. Fall had already begun and the colors were amazing.

My friend that had moved from Ft. Campbell to Fr. Carson came up to see me. We went to lunch and walked around Pearl Street. It reminded us of California in some ways. We even found a used bookstore.

The next day I flew up and my trip was over. I had such a good time. Colorado is a lovely state and nothing beats time with family. I haven’t spent that much time with my aunt and uncle the last 10 years so it was good to do that too. And it is always nice to spend time with my family.

Denver, CO

Have you ever been to CO? Anyone live there now?

Oktoberfest In Clarksville, Tennessee

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oktoberfest in clarksville

A few weeks ago we decided to go to Oktoberfest in Clarksville, TN. We had gone back in 2010 and it just hadn’t worked out for us to go again until now. It was a little more than I wanted to spend but we had fun.

They had some animals out front so we stopped to check them out. Then we went into the tent to get some food. We could have bought a big German meal but we were just planning on snacks. Ben got his beer and the boys and I got some cupcakes and brownies. Then Ben and I and the boys shared a big pretzel. They had it all set up just like it would look at a German fest. We had been to a few of them during our time in Germany.

oktoberfest in clarksville

 

oktoberfest in clarksville

 

After snacks we decided to go check out the music and dancing. We got to watch a group dance a few different ways and it was nice to sit and listen to the music.

 

After that we decided to use up our remaining tickets on some more cupcakes. We went over to the children’s area where they had bounce houses and decided against it because it would have been $15 for our three to go in there. That just wasn’t in our budget.

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We went back into the music tent to listen for a bit, walked by the animals again and went back home.

I think next year it might be nice to get a babysitter and have Ben and I go at night to enjoy everything.

 

Have you ever been to Oktoberfest either in the US or in Germany?

Bye To Schweinfurt, Germany

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Bye To Schweinfurt, Germany

In March of 2006, my oldest son Daniel and I flew to Germany to join my husband at his first duty station. Daniel was just 18 months old and we had been waiting to join him for the past 4.5 months. It would have been longer but we decided to buy our own tickets and head over once the Command Sponsorship was done. They sent us our No fee passports about 6 weeks later.

I remember when we flew in. I didn’t know what to expect. I had never been to Europe before, I hadn’t even been out of the US unless you could mission trips to Mexico. We were tired and so ready to be back with Ben.download (17)

 

Ben met me at the airport and we took the train to Schweinfurt, our first duty station. I remember sitting there watching all the business people on their cell phones thinking, this is a lot like America. In some ways Germany is like America, in other ways it is completely different as I would soon learn.

We got back to our apartment which was a third floor stairwell apartment. We lived on Askren Manor which was the main housing area there. People also lived off post in government leased housing or in private housing. There was also a small section of housing on another part of the post.

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The next day Ben had to work all day. I was suffering from jet lag and rather confused. I wanted to go exploring but I was a little scared to. I didn’t even know I could have walked to the Commissary. I felt silly about that.

Time passed. We got our household goods. We got our driver’s licences and Ben got orders for his first deployment. I also found out I was pregnant with Drew. I got pregnant the day we got there. This was right around the time that I started making some friends. Our FRG had a dinner a few weeks or maybe it was months before the deployment. I went and got to meet some of the other wives which was a very good thing. During the deployment we met for coffee on Mondays and did a lot of fun things together.

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The deployment was long, 15 months. During that time I never left Schweinfurt other than going on a retreat to Garmich. I had Drew during the deployment and my family was able to come visit. My mom came for two months which was amazing. I got to experience two different hospitals. The first is where I gave birth to Drew and the second was where we spent almost a week when he came down with RSV at two months old.

Ben eventually came home and we spent a month in California with our families. I will always remember that trip and how nice that time was. We headed back to Germany the first week of January and I really didn’t want to go. I was kinda in a slump. I was annoyed that there was already talks of them deploying again. I didn’t like my apartment and I felt like if he did deploy then I would just go home.

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But then one morning I woke up to the news that some of the brigade was moving to Grafenwoehr, two hours away. I told Ben I really want to go. We were able to. In May of 2008 we moved to a small village about 30 minutes from post called Erbendorf.

Anyway, Schweinfurt is now closed. The closing ceremony was last week. When I was there I remember hearing it would eventually happen but not for years and years. And now that time has come. It makes sense for the Army to close some of the posts in Germany. We don’t need them like we did in the past. So I get it. But it is weird to think that it will be closed and will be given back to the Germans. It is weird to think that little city will not have an US Army presence anymore. It is strange to think that if we ever go back and visit, it will be very different.

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Although we moved to Graf and I was so happy about that, I will always have a place in my heart for Schweinfurt. It is where I learned to be an Army wife. It is where I figured out the Commissary, had our first experience with Military schools, found PWOC, made friends, figured out how to get through a deployment. It is where I learned about German culture, Euro and how my US life is just one way to live in this great big world of ours. It opened my eyes to things I never would have thought about before. It is also where I learned to be a Mom. Daniel was only 18 months old when we got there. In the two years that we were there he changed a lot. I think back to those years and Schweinfurt is a huge part of it.

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Have you ever been to Schweinfurt? When were you there? Have yu ever visited Germany?

Our Honeymoon 12 Years Later

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I thought it would be fun to tell you about my honeymoon, 12 years after the fact. I might not remember everything about that week but I do remember enough.

photo 2We got married on August 3rd, 2002 in Santa Rosa, CA. The reception ended about 4 or 5 in the afternoon and after that we drove to San Francisco where we were going to spend the first night. We paid a lot for that hotel room but this was a once in a life thing. The room was tiny. I was kind of shocked but it worked well. We were starving, especially me. I didn’t eat anything at the reception. I should have as the food was really good. We decided to eat at Bubba Gumps. That was where we had our first meal as Husband and Wife.

The next day we drove down to San Luis Obispo for our 2nd night at the Madonna Inn. What a fun hotel! Our room was blue with a circle bed. I had heard a lot of stories of the place but it was the first time I had been there. I don’t remember too much about the area other than finding a buffet to eat at.

The next morning we drove to Long Beach to park the car. We got on a ship and headed for Catalina Island where we would spend the rest of our honeymoon. We thought a lot about where to go. We thought about Hawaii but being on a budget it just wouldn’t have worked. Catalina is an Island off the cost of Southern California and is the next best thing.

We checked into our bed and breakfast and thought it was too cute. Our room even had a book with all the other people who had stayed there. We had to add our names of course.

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We spent four nights on the island and it was so much fun. My bridesmaids had gotten together to buy us a few fun packages. I can’t quite remember all of them but one was a kayak trip which was so much fun we went back and did it again. We went out on it and found a small little beach. We had bought these amazing sandwiches, put them in a waterproof case and had a picnic on this little beach. It was the best. We also saw a movie at the old casino turned movie theator, I think it was the movie Signs. We also spent time at the beach and ate ate ate. I recently found an Instagram account for a Catalina Food Tour. I told Ben we should look into that next time and he told me that we already did our own tour and that was true. When you are there for that many meals, you get to try a lot of different places.

What I love about Catalina is just the laid back vacation like atmosphere. It was nice. It was such a great week to bond as husband and wife. We did not live together before we got married so staying together like that was new. I started to see Ben as my husband, not my boyfriend anymore. It was the time we needed to bond as a couple.

 

photo 3After those four nights we headed back to our car then drove back to Santa Rosa to really start our lives together. We returned home to a living room full of presents, a fridge full of cake and flowers and a bed filled with jelly beans courtesy of the wedding party.

Looking back that trip seems like such a long time ago. Getting married was such a long time ago. I was only 23! Now I am looking towards 36. Big difference.

We were able to go back to Catalina for our 7th anniversary that hit over R&R. That was an amazing trip as well but so very different from our honeymoon. It was also a little strange since Ben had been gone for 8 months before R&R. We knew each other but also needed to get back to being “us” again. It was also a time to regroup and bond but for a different reason.

I am hoping we can go back for another anniversary in the future. Maybe next year?

 

My Trip To St. Louis And The Scentsy Family Reunion

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St. Louis Arch

I just got back from St. Louis and had an amazing time! I was there for the 10th anniversary Scentsy Family Reunion!

I had SO much fun!

I got to spend time with Scentsy sisters, see a new city, learn about new products and get inspired. I was also able to go to lunch with a high school friend I had not seen in years!

Scentsy Sisters

I arrived on Tuesday and met up with one of my roommates. We hadn’t met before but had connected on Facebook. Since our other two roommates were getting in later, her friend picked us up and took us to the hotel. We stayed at the Hampton Inn and it was great. I was impressed by the free breakfast that they had each morning. We dropped our stuff off and headed back to the airport to pick up the other two. One of them was my Scentsy “niece” I had met last year and the other was a friend of our other roommate.

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Later that night I got to go to a Sarah Bareilles concert. Now I knew some her of songs but I didn’t know a thing about her. I loved the concert. She was a lot of fun. Found out she is exactly my age and from California too. I am claiming her song Brave as my theme song for the rest of the year 🙂

On Wednesday morning we had a 5K put on by Scentsy. My group walked and made it in about an hour. We all had to wear silly socks which was fun. After the walk I didn’t take the bus back with everyone else. I waited for my friend Heather to come pick me up. I met Heather in high school. We were both on the swim team but she moved to Rhode Island when we were 16. We have kept in touch and my mom and I got to visit her when we were 19. We also got to go to her wedding in 2005 and that was the last time we had seen each other. I am so glad it worked out to visit with her. She is now a mom of three kids too and I love that. It is a great feeling being friends with someone for so long.

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We went to eat at Fitz’s which was great. You can watch them bottle the drinks while you are eating. We then walked around a little and went to the Arch. We didn’t go inside but it was nice to see it up close.

Fitz's Rootbear

She dropped me off at my hotel and I met up with my Scentsy friends again. We had a dinner together and then went to the Scentsy pep rally and Train concert. We got to see a lot of the new warmers and scents coming out in the fall. In Oprah like fashion, they gave everyone in the audience a set of mini testers for the fall. That was super fun and exciting! Train was amazing too.

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Thursday we started all the sessions. This year in addition to the general sessions we had “breakout” ones too. We got to pick which classes we wanted to go to based on what we wanted to learn about. It was great! Thursday was free night but I had gotten some free tickets to the Cardinal’s game so me and three others went together. After the game we decided to hit the Scentsy store again and then a friend and I went to have a very late dinner at the pub under our hotel. We sat there looking through the new catalog which was nice.

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Friday was a bunch of inspirational speakers including John O’Leary. If you have not heard of him, go like his page. He has been through a lot but he is so encouraging and has a great sense of humor too. We got to listen to a few consultant speakers as well. I love that. I love hearing from people who have had so much success with the company. It really inspires me.

After the last session it was time for me to head home. I had to go early because Ben had drill the next day. It was hard to leave but in the end it worked out okay. They still hadn’t announced where the new Reunion was going to be and what our incentive trip was. I was waiting to hear from friends and got the news right before I boarded the plane. It was pretty much all I thought about on the flight.

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Next year the Scentsy Family Reunion will be in Las Vegas! I am SO excited about this!

Our incentive will be a cruise in Puerto Rico which is super exciting! I love cruises so I will be trying my hardest to win this one.

I would really encourage anyone in direct sales to try to attend their annual conference. It is investing in your business, allowing you the opportunity to meet and bond with others and inspiring you for the next year. And learning about the new products ahead of time is also a big plus.

I also loved that I got to visit St. Louis. My Mom lived there for a few years and it was great to see party of a city that my Grandparents called home for a time.