stationed overseas

Why You Simply Must Go Overseas When Your Spouse Gets OCONUS Orders

Why You Simply Must Go Overseas When Your Spouse Gets OCONUS Orders

Why You Simply Must Go Overseas When Your Spouse Gets OCONUS Orders “Well, I don’t have to redo Basic, and I leave for Germany in two weeks” was what my husband said to me when I picked him up from MEPS in November of 2005. I was pretty speechless. I knew that Europe was a possibility but to hear him say this was happening was a bit of shock. I was pretty excited about this though. For one thing, my best friend was living in Austria and my mom had been able to live in Germany as a DOD teacher …

Read moreWhy You Simply Must Go Overseas When Your Spouse Gets OCONUS Orders

Having a Baby Overseas

Having a Baby Overseas

Having a Baby Overseas If on my wedding day you would have told me I would have a child in a different country, I would not have believed you. However, my 2nd little boy was born in Bavaria, in a German hospital with a German midwife and OB. Thankfully my mom came to stay with us since my husband was deployed. He ended up missing the birth by three days. They sent him home on R&R, but the little guy just couldn’t wait. I enjoyed giving birth in Germany, but the time after I gave birth was tough and lonely. …

Read moreHaving a Baby Overseas

Living in Rota, Spain

rota, spain

Happy to have this guest post by Lizann on Rota, Spain. Please visit my Duty station guest post page for posts on other locations or more information about how you can write a guest post about where you have been stationed. Naval Station Rota, Spain If you get orders to Rota, Spain, consider yourself a Golden Unicorn: it is one of the hidden jewels of the Navy. This small base located in the Southwest corner of Spain is home to several ships, and sailors stationed there will get accompanied orders for their families to move with them. There is also …

Read moreLiving in Rota, Spain

Bloom Where You Are Stationed

Bloom Where You Are Stationed

“I hate it here.” “We just got orders there and I am scared. I have only heard bad things.” “I really don’t want to leave here and have to move there. It is the worst place we could go.” “I really just want the next three years to pass quickly so we can move somewhere else.” “This place is so boring. There is nothing to do here. I hate it.” Have you heard people say things like that before? Maybe it was you? I am not going to lie. I was so ready to leave Germany after we had been …

Read moreBloom Where You Are Stationed

When Moving Back To The United States From Overseas Is Hard

When moving back to the US from overseas is hard

We have been back from Germany a little over six years now. It was quite the change to go from a small village in Germany to Clarksville, Tennessee and the USA. I was so ready to be back in the states after four years. I think I kissed the ground when I got off the plane. I was home. Being stationed overseas is a dream for a lot of people. A chance to see another part of the world, to explore and to open up to other ways of living. The military can send a family that has never been …

Read moreWhen Moving Back To The United States From Overseas Is Hard

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

Thanks so much to LeAnna Brown for this guest post! 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 …

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

When Being Stationed Overseas is Hard

When Being Stationed Overseas is Hard

When Being Stationed Overseas is Hard It’s been 5.5 years since we have returned to the US from Germany. We were over there for four years. In some ways, it seems like a lifetime ago. I look at all the photos from that time and they warm my heart. I think about how simple life was then. How beautiful everything was. How much I got to see. It is easy to forget that our time there wasn’t always easy, especially since my husband was deployed twice for a total of 2 years and 3 months. I tell people that if they …

Read moreWhen Being Stationed Overseas is Hard

Why You Have To Say Yes To A PCS To Germany

Why You Have To Say Yes To A PCS To Germany

Why You Have To Say Yes To A PCS To Germany Even though the Military is shutting down some Military installations in Germany, people are still PCSing to Germany. Sometimes they have a choice, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes the spouse thinks about staying in the US. As someone who spent four years in Germany, I have to recommend that if you have the opportunity to go overseas, do it. I say this as someone who didn’t always enjoy being there, that missed the US a lot more than I should have, and who hated being so far away from everything. It’s …

Read moreWhy You Have To Say Yes To A PCS To Germany

Bye To Schweinfurt, Germany

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 …

Read moreBye To Schweinfurt, Germany

One Little German Village, Erbendorf

I wanted to post about where we use to live.  Now that we don’t live there anymore I feel more comfortable talking about it.We use to live in Erbendorf which is about 25 minutes from the Grafenwoehr Army post in Bavaria. We use to live in Erbendorf which is about 25 minutes from the Grafenwoehr Army post in Bavaria. The village is cute.  It’s small.  Really small.  The people are friendly.  Lots of cute places to walk. We lived living off post in Germany outside of Graf. We lived in Gov’t leased housing.  Which in Germany means living off post …

Read moreOne Little German Village, Erbendorf