The following is a guest post from one of my readers stationed in Guam. She is also one of the military families that receives your expired coupons via the Coupons for Troops program.
The Military Over-Seas Life: An Adventure
We are currently on our second over-seas tour. Our first was in the 1990’s to Yokota Air Base outside of Tokyo, Japan in which we enjoyed enormously and wished it lasted longer than two years. When the possibility of us moving to Guam came up, I was at first hesitant. I didn’t know what to pray for. While my husband was ready for a new job and location, the kids and I were very settled and content with our life in Waldorf, MD. By the time the official word came down that we were indeed moving, God had prepared our hearts and we were ready to live a new adventure.
An adventure was indeed what was in store for us here in Guam. The first part of the adventure was just getting to Guam. It took over 24 hours to get from Washington, DC to Guam – including one 13 hour flight from New York to Tokyo. As you can imagine, keeping three children entertained for that long was an adventure in itself. When we arrived in Guam, it was dark and so we were unable to see the beautiful views, but we rectified that the next day. On our first full day in Guam we were totally blown away with the beauty that is all around. It’s very green here due to Guam’s average of 90 inches of rain a year – double what DC gets. There are probably tens of thousands palm trees. They are literally everywhere.
And then the ocean itself. The views are just breath-taking. We try to make it a point to look and enjoy these views every few days if not every day. We know we are only here for a short three years, and then we’ll be back to shoveling snow in January. We will miss the beauty and the year-around summer weather.
But living in Guam is not all beaches and suntans. We miss family dearly. We cry at the events we miss – the birthdays….the holidays….our oldest niece saying her marriage vows. Blogs, emails, and Facebook all help with the distance. And of course, the trips home. Home for our family is in Mississippi and Louisiana. We have been able to “hop” home for the last two summers for long visits.
“Hopping” is a unique military activity. The best part of hopping is that it’s free. The worst part of hopping is that there is no guarantee that you will end up where you want to go. “Space Available Passengers” are allowed on military cargo planes if the crews agree and it does not interfere with the mission. You have to be prepared to pay for commercial flights is you get stuck somewhere. This past summer when I hopped back to Guam with my three children we ended up spending the night at the terminal at Hickam AFB when our flight was cancelled at ten-thirty at night – way too late to call a friend to come and get me! And there was a chance that the flight or another flight would leave at any time. Sometimes it is just best to stay at the terminal to sleep on top of the suitcases.
Other adventures we have had living in Guam is the ability to travel to places that would be too expensive for us to travel from the States. Since we have been here we have been able to visit Cairns, Australia, the Islands of Palau and Saipan, and to Tokyo to see where our oldest was born. We currently plan to spend Thanksgiving in Singapore and Spring Break at the Great Wall of China. We would have never have done these trips from the mainland.
But day-to-day life in Guam is an adventure as well. There are several pristine beaches, incredible snorkeling and scuba-diving available, and lots of jungle to do a “boonie stomp” (aka hiking). It’s incredible to be on the beach within minutes of leaving your house any time of the year.
Shopping is also an adventure….but not necessarily a positive one on some days. One day it took me going to seven different stores to find a small battery for my car remote-control. Then I paid four times what I would have at Wal-Mart. I have learned to go to Ross and Macy’s when they open before all the Asian tourist arrive to shop. But I do get to use expired coupons six months past the date at the stores on base. At most overseas bases you get an APO box for your address, but since Guam is a US territory, we do not. Our address and phone number are just like any other US address or phone number, but many stores refuse to ship here and charge extra to call here.
But, it is all worth it. The sense of community and camaraderie I have found at our base in Guam is so much stronger than the bases we have lived at on the mainland. Also, the sheer adventure of learning about a new culture is a gift I feel very fortunate to give my children.
What about you? Have you been stationed overseas? Did you love it or want to leave it?
Our most recent overseas tour was in Italy, two years ago now. We were there for three years and really enjoyed our time there. Italy is a difficult place to live in many respects. For instance, the telephone service is monopolized, and you learn to be very. patient with customer service — because there isn’t any!
I totally agree that overseas’ bases promote a sense of unity and camaraderie that Stateside bases don’t usually instill. Virtually everyone is away from home and family and thus very open to forging new friendships, and for the most part everyone is excited about the opportunities for travel and learning about the local culture, thus giving something instantly in common with new friends you meet.
We’ve never been to Asia, though! I hope you keep enjoying your time there and take every opportunity to travel when you can! Thanks for sharing your experience!
This guest post highlights the key to success for any overseas tour – a positive attitude. You just can’t go overseas and expect to find Walmart and your hometown church. They aren’t there. You’ll have to find new ways to do familiar things, and that can be hard.
I’ve found, both as an exchange student/exchange host and as a military spouse on overseas tours, that there’s a point in time, usually at about Week 6, where you get past the “I got here!” euphoria and realize that it’s all completely alien and that you want to go home. This is where you have to stick it out and find that positive attitude. If you can last a few more weeks you will feel way, way more comfortable, you’ll start to meet people besides your sponsor and your feelings about your new home will change for the better.
Overseas tours offer some unique advantages. First, you’ll make lifetime friendships. When you’re all strangers in a strange land, you find ways to forge deep bonds with people. Most of my best friends now are all people we met on our first overseas tour – in 1986!
Second, you can give yourself and your children the gift of travel and the international perspective that comes with really understanding another culture. I promise, if you get out and learn about your adopted country you will never be the same, and it will be good.
Third, you can save money if you try really, really hard. Overseas housing allowances are generous, and there are many ways to save even if you travel a lot (only use one car, camp or share lodgings with friends, shop at the commissary…). You can come home with money in the bank if you don’t fall victim to the “I’ll never see it again so I have to buy it now” mentality.
Fourth, you can become closer as a family. You have to work together for an overseas tour to succeed.
I must point out that honesty is very important if you are considering an overseas tour. People with quasi-broken relationships who go overseas without the intent to work towards a real solution will come home divorced. People who lie on the overseas screenings will find their children’s (or their own) chronic health problems will flare up, and they’ll discover that the hospitals in other countries may not work like ours. At all. The active duty member and spouse must, must, must be honest about wanting to share this experience together. Deployments are hard, but deployments from a base in, say, Japan, where Grandma and Aunt Susie are 3,000 miles away and can’t help babysit – well, they’re harder. And they happen.
We loved our two tours in Italy so much that we hope some day to go back to Europe to live. We’ve given our children the gifts of travel…and food adventure…and seeing issues from several angles. We’ve learned to cook some pretty fantastic dishes. We’ve gained lifelong friendships and an endless stock of memories. For us, the joys definitely outweighed the sorrows.
Being a Coast Guard family it’s unlikely that we’d be stationed overseas (not impossible, just very few spots for my husband’s rate), if we were offered the opportunity (LOL, “told we were to move there) we’d be thrilled. I think it would be very exciting and I would revel in the chance to give my kids a taste of just about any culture.
First I would like to say THANK YOU! Then I have a question. What is it like planning meals while overseas?
To answer the questions about meals: For the most part it’s not a problem. The commissary on base typically carrries the items we want. That being said last year we went three months without any fresh herbs and they are currently not carring sun-dried tomatoes. The selection of any item is really only between two brands. Here in Guam we are able to go to a store off-base -”downtown” – and will find what we’re looking for – at a much higher price than the commissary, but at least we’ll be able to read the labels! When we lived in Japan and went to the local stores we had a hard time with all the labels and directions in Japanese. In Guam we’re spoiled a little – we’re over-seas, but yet at the same time still in America…America with a twist in some cases, but still America.
We are stationed in what is considered OCONUS…on Maui. We love many things about Maui and are really enjoying our time here. While I do miss the comraderie and support that a base provides (especially those commissary prices!!), we have been blessed with a great church family and some sweet military folks here, too!
A childhood friend of mine is stationed on Guam right now. Her name is Shelly Sanchez and her husband’s name is Chris and they are an awesome family (they have 4 kids with another on the way). He’s a Seal, so I don’t know if you’ve crossed paths, but I just got excited by the connection.
This couldn’t have come at a better time! We are planning on going to Guam or San Diego next and I have plenty of anxiety about going to Guam. I am excited but really don’t know what to expect. Is it a good size NEX? Our friend said we should always order what we need from the NEX catalogue for Christmas, etc and it is normally cheaper that way. I am most nervous about the flights to be honest! How is the doctors offices? I assume it is all comparable to here but those are all the questions I worry about!
I lived in singapore for 4 years thanks to the military and have a great friend who lives in guam and works at teh library look her up she can offer you lots of awesome advice on Singapore great things to see and do … if you want more info email me at christy@ladybugzcreations.com. I look forward to talking with you and I miss living overseas as soon as our kids are grown 5 years left we are headed back to the world of abroad living back to the wild blue yonder of the great contries in Asia and Europe might as well live and live large than stay in teh US and no see the world I can see the US when I am old and gray. Good Blog..