Looking for Home in All the Right Places
Oct 02 2008
Wow, we are blown away by the replies to our first post. We will try to reply to some of them as soon as we can. It was really fun for Mary Claire to read the posts by people she had served with.
As I wrote last time, I wanted to elaborate on how we came up with our idea to travel the country. Well, it stems from having spent eight of the past 10 years out of the U.S. From 1998 to 2004, we were in Okinawa, Japan, at Kadena air base. Then, after my wife’s stint at Bolling AFB in Washington, D.C., with the Air Force surgeon general, we spent 2004 to July 2008 stationed at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany (where my wife was a nurse-midwife).
Being overseas was fantastic (everyone should try to be stationed there at some point), and we made the most of the assignments. We wanted our kids to know about different cultures and ways of thinking, so we lived off base and involved ourselves as much as possible in the local community. Our children attended the local schools in each country and played soccer for the German village we lived in. I was assistant coach for the village’s Bambini team when my youngest played (essentially I rolled the balls to the kids as they ran up to the goal to kick shots, and I carried the ball bag). We tended to shop off base, and we explored and visited as much of the surrounding areas and countries as we could.
Because of local cultural immersions, our children learned to ski in the Alps; ate sushi in Tokyo; fed monkeys in Bali; climbed the Eiffel Tower; pretended to be VonTrapp family members running through Salzburg, Austria; ate French fries in Belgium (they were invented there, after all); played soldier in the fields around Verdun, France; and enjoyed the natural hot baths of Budapest, Hungary, and the chilling Alpine waters of the Eib See near Garmisch, Germany.
As we thought about our return to the states, we realized what was missing in our kids’ experiences were things like going to the edge of the Grand Canyon and looking down (or spitting when mom and dad aren’t looking), crabbing on the Oregon coast, swimming the rivers where the 49ers panned for gold, seeing the battlefields of the Civil War, playing on the white sands of the Florida panhandle, and eating deep-fried Twinkies (well, the last item might not be a bad thing to miss). Therefore, to help our kids round out their cultural experiences to date, we decided to take the time to show them America and introduce them to the unique cultural and historical aspects of the country (OK, even deep-fried Twinkies).
The second reason for our trip is that we have no place to call “home.” There are a few reasons for this. For one thing, we don’t own a home. Also, because of our time overseas, we haven’t put roots down anywhere. And finally, there is no one compelling place that draws us there. My wife and I are both from the west coast, and the places we grew up or lived when out of college or first married have changed dramatically. Most are sprawling expanses of concrete, with more traffic, pollution, and crime than when we lived there (the wonderful results of growth).
Therefore, we want to make this trip to see the different towns and areas of the country and find a place that we feel drawn to and want to call home.
Finally, we are at the perfect time to make such a trip. Mary Claire has just retired, and the Air Force will store our household goods for year. I can teach online while writing articles for magazines and blogs (and while searching for a trip sponsor. Our RV can be a country-wide rolling billboard for some firm. Can you hear me USAA? 
). The kids are still young, and, well, you get the idea.
Next up will be how we attained our rig and our first journey leg.
A truly great idea. During our 41 years of marriage, we looked forward to our trips across country with our kids in two as some of our best experiences. I hope you find a place as rewarding as we did here in the southwest corner of Oregon.
You have chosen an excellent way to teach your children about America. I have traveled all the way across the U.S. many times, in cars four times and actually hitchhiked four times, in my teens and early 20s. The experiences of those journeys have shaped my opinion of the people that keep this nation functioning day after day. My photographs captured the sights, my journals have preserved the words many people shared with me. You and your children should make it a point to keep a daily journal. It will be one of the most important pieces of writing they might every do. In these days of massive financial crisis you may find people willing to share far more details of their lives with you than otherwise might be expected. Good luck!
I am an old (83) navy retiree and my wife and I did a slight reverse of your projected safari. We travelled in the USA extensively and also in the Orient. So after I dropped the anchor in the midwest we immediately took a three week trip through Europe.
We ended up in Indiana because that was where the first job was offered to me was located. After accepting it on a Wednesday I had another offer the next dayfrom a company in Long Beach. The owner was not a happy camper wen I said I had accepted a job in the Midwest. He asked me what the salary was and I was GREEN. He bellowed through the phone that he would pay me more. I told him that I had given my word to accept my first offer. HIs response was “You have a lot to learn about civilian life Commander”, and slammed the phone down. He was right but I still believe in standing by my word. On Friday I had an instant replay for a job also in California. I made two people angry at me but I flew to Indiana.
After week on the job I flew back to San Francisco tpicked up the family and drove the family, in a Mustang, across coountry to start my civilian job. My wife had us stop by 1500 every day so the two girls could have time in a swiming pool. At the Grand Canyon I looked at my trip report and we had netted 46 miles for two days. I have always said that all Americans should see the Grand Canyon and the Pananama Canal.
The company paid for the entire trip (They also paid to have our other car delvered to us). I stayed with the company for eons.
I enjoyed the work and my coworkers.
I hate the snow but the “kids” are almost through Penn State.
We have been to Europe many times. We had been to Italy so many times that we gave one daughter and her mother=in-law a trip to Tuscany since we had been there three times before. The other daughter’s husband ‘s job precluded his going.
I still say that you will dropyour anchor when you find a job that the Comany treats you well – even if you havo put up with some snow.
Good Luck Dan.
PS: my wife is a former Navy Nurse and ended up teching High School English.
Dan
4 Years ahead of you. Check out my blog. We’ve no kids with us and do a lot of volunteering. There are opportunities for you and the kids. Drop me a line if you wish.
@Daniel: Great story. And good on you for sticking to your word. I went from the civilian side to being married to the military and noticed that in my wife’s work, more people kept their word than in my old line of work. I sure wish politicians would do that.
Cheers, Tom
Tom,
A wonderful story, made better by your sharing it. It sparks both nostalgia for things past and happy anticipation for things to come for those of us who have served.
Coming from a military family and having served a career in the Army as well, it is easy to recall old adventures through your fresh perspective.
If you haven’t read it, you should pick up a copy of Pat Conroy’s book or get a movie DVD of “The Great Santini”. Pat was a Service brat from my era; his story is our story – and part of yours, too.
Best regards,
Steve Butcher
@Steve:
Thanks for the reply. I have read Pat Conroy’s books. They are excellent. They are also sad, in terms of how his dad treated the family – especially the last one about his year playing basketball. Excellent reading though.