With the traveling season around the corner many military personnel will take leave and travel home with their families.While visiting family can be amazing it can also cause you to be in need of a vacation and some therapy immediately following your visit. At least this was the case for me. I needed to find a way to make our visits home less stressful and more enjoyable so I came up with a few ideas for our last few visits and guess what? They worked! So now I’m sharing them with you.
1. No “We’re Coming Home!” Announcements
Why? Because everybody wants to see us. You’re probably thinking-wait…are ya’ll that popular?! Well the answer is yes! We have a huge family and when people hear we are home our cellphones are constantly ringing. We let a few select know to be expecting us and once we are settled, we announce it.
2. Come see us or don’t see us.
Unless you are a Parent, an older or ill family member, this is our rule and we stick to it. We didn’t come all the way from the West Coast to be held hostage by anybody’s schedule. If you wanna see us make time to do so. Please and thank you.
3. Set a schedule.
Often times when we go home we are bombarded by invitations. Don’t get me wrong we appreciate everyone wanting to spend time with us but it’s awful to have to call someone and apologize for not being able to make it to something because we didn’t plan properly. So when we went home last year we used the calendar feature on our phones and it worked great! This enabled us to know ahead of time which invitations we could accept and which we had to decline.
4. We kindly accept shelter.
We never stay at a hotel. I understand this may not be realistic for some but we usually stay with my Parents or my Bro and Sis-in-law. It’s free, they feed us, and there’s cable and wifi so it’s really a no brainer.
5. Enjoy Yourself.
When we tell our kids we are going home they start the countdown immediately! They love everything about home and I want to make sure they enjoy every second of our visit because it’s their way of taking a break from military life. So my Honey and I make sure we take in the sights, eat at our regular food spots only found in St. Louis and make lots of memories with family and friends.
Danielle has been a Navy Spouse for 16 years to her dear husband, Corey. Together they have 4 children and reside on the West Coast. Currently pursuing a career in Screenwriting, Danielle hopes to one day bring a voice to the African American community of military families. In her spare time, Danielle enjoys cardio in the form of shopping and relaxing on the beach.
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Army Wife 101
Krystel is the mom of two and an Army Wife. In addition to Army Wife 101 she is the Co-Founder of SoFluential.com a digital media agency that connects brands with the military market. She has appeared on MSNBC ,FOX LA and formerly was a weekly contributor to HLN's "Raising America". She has written for various outlets including Sheknows and Lifetime and is a big fan of cupcakes and french fries.
Krystel is the mom of two and an Army Wife. In addition to Army Wife 101 she is the Co-Founder of SoFluential.com a digital media agency that connects brands with the military market.
She has appeared on MSNBC ,FOX LA and formerly was a weekly contributor to HLN's "Raising America". She has written for various outlets including Sheknows and Lifetime and is a big fan of cupcakes and french fries.