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Student, Spouse, Employee – Take Time to Explore the Places the Military Sends You

By Jenna Moede

I know that I've mentioned this before, but when we first arrived in Cheyenne I didn't participate in the community. I also didn't know where to look to find events and activities. I felt bored after the initial excitement of a new place wore off.

However, once I found motivation, I realized that I could find ideas anywhere and everywhere. I began researching in both common and unconventional places.

I started my search on social media because I could access it easily. I know it sounds super obvious, but I had previously only used it for my dream travel, not my local area or realistic trips. I changed my perspective and started to search local areas for new ideas. The amount of information I found really overwhelmed me.

There were so many good ideas and launching places from social media. Some of the places I found required me to do extra research but for other ideas we could jump right into getting there.  Either way, social media gave me a great launching point for finding entertainment, and it helped me to build my confidence as I learned to plan fun activities.

My social media searches inspired me to broaden our list of activities and try new types of adventures. I always had an interest in hiking, but seeing all the great photos and stories helped me expand our basic hikes to include snowshoeing, skiing, visiting national parks and museums.

I highly recommend trying something you’ve never done before. New opportunities not only expand our experiences, but they also help shape our perspectives about the places the military takes us.

On a side note, make sure you don’t push yourself beyond your abilities like I did a few times. One winter I thought snowboarding without lessons sounded like a good idea. I ended up breaking my wrist, and that slowed me down for a few weeks. But, I had so much fun snowboarding! Just be smart about the activities you choose to try. 

After a little taste of adventure and what the west had to offer, I started looking at anything I could get my hands on. I followed the city on social media sites, and I checked out the city website which had a section on upcoming events. It always gave me great ideas because I could see all the attractions coming for each season. 

I also started reading the local newspaper. I always pulled up our local paper online, and they featured an article every weekend about traveling the local area and the outdoors. They gave fantastic suggestions on hidden local gems and always had places that I had never heard of, even with all of my research.   

In addition to the paper, I read flyers that came in the mail and the base paper that was delivered to my house each week. I had always ignored those things before, but I soon realized these resources helped me find great, new, day trips. 

We also started to pop into outdoor recreation office on base once at the beginning of each month to see the upcoming trips and grab a schedule of events. Early on in our marriage I definitely didn’t give credit to the military for all of the things they try to do for families. 

I realized that if I didn’t take advantage of the trips they offered, or at least borrow their ideas, then I couldn’t complain about our location.  Even if we couldn’t do the trips when outdoor rec had them scheduled, it helped us learn about new things and we could plan similar excursions on our own time. 

Likewise, I requested Wyoming’s tourist guide from the state website. It broke the state apart by regions and listed not only things to do but also parks, events and the best times to visit. It proved super valuable and now I request one every year. 

Lastly, I ordered some travel guides. I could have easily borrowed them from the library, but I love to mark books up so I bought different brands of travel guides and also hiking guides. They became incredibly helpful because they gave cost information, hours and parking in one convenient paragraph. 

I started looking at Wyoming and Colorado as a tourist that wanted to see all the best sites. I realize that I have a limited amount of time here and I don’t want to miss a thing. 

Finally, listen to other people. Listen to people in the community, other military families, people you work with and friends because most likely everyone has some interesting knowledge. Talk to the people you know about what they have done and ask questions. Not only will you build your community roots, but you could get suggestions for places you didn’t know existed.  

Now that I have embraced where we live, we have had so much fun exploring the area and playing tourist. While I think community roots have value, I also think you have to look at your city with the fresh eyes of a newcomer so that you can always find the excitement going on.

I recommend setting a goal to get out and explore locations near you especially because, with the military, you never know how long you will live there. Go for every opportunity!   

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