By Jan Childs
Want the adventure of a lifetime? Take advantage of the opportunity to do an overseas tour.
According to a December, 2013 Department of Defense report, some 66,000 U.S. military members were stationed in Germany and another 39,000 in Japan. – the two regions servicemembers are most likely to be able to bring their families along for a two- or three-year tour.
About 13,000 military personnel are stationed in Alaska, and 23,000 in Hawaii. While those are not considered overseas, both locations are known as a tour “Outside of the Continental United States,” or OCONUS, and can also be great opportunities to experience different cultures and ways of life.
My husband and I have spent almost 15 years, out of 24 in the Army, living OCONUS – first in Hawaii, then on to Okinawa and Korea. We are on our third tour in Germany, and even lived for a year in Canada.
We’re very lucky to have been offered so many opportunities to live far and wide. It’s an experience not all of us get to have. But if you do get the chance, don’t be afraid. Take the leap!
The military gives us a great advantage when living overseas. We get to see the world, but in most cases we still get to buy American groceries, have American neighbors, bring our American stuff and maintain 24/7 connectivity to friends and family back home thanks to the internet and cell phones.
What more could you ask for?
Yes, it’s daunting. When we moved to Hawaii I was 23-years-old and had never lived more than a few hours from my parents. My husband was gone a lot and I was alone a lot (does that ever end, by the way?). But the lessons I learned in Hawaii and the growing up I did there were invaluable.
I learned to be self-reliant, make friends in a very unfamiliar place, try new foods and reach out to people in the local communities. I made my first lifelong “military” friends there, friends I still keep in touch with today.
Since then, we’ve had adventures too numerous to count. There was the time I was on a train in Thailand and almost got off at the wrong stop in the middle of the night. The time I flew Space-A to Singapore with a friend, just because we could. The time I had a baby in Korea. The time I took my kids to Scotland for spring break, without my husband.
There are challenges to living overseas, no doubt. Language and cultural barriers can be intimidating. Driving is a whole other story. And food? For a picky eater like me, it’s a nightmare.
In the coming months in this blog, I’ll share those adventures and challenges with you, along with lots of advice for living overseas. Welcome to my wandering life!
