Tag:

empty nest

Empty Nest at Home, Full Lives Ahead

by Florence Reisch March 31, 2024

Continued from Part 2 of Florence’s story.

For anyone who has spent decades as an expat trailing spouse, seeing your children leave the nest and your husband become a stay-at-home retiree is a major change of life, dynamics and pace.

We had often talked about this phase of our lives, although it has come earlier than for most of our peers. My husband, Alex, now in his mid-50s, has been building up our finances for many years so that he could spend more time with our children and aging parents, and fulfill his dreams — including a plan to sail around the world! (The catamaran is being built in Poland and, if all goes well, we’ll be starting this new adventure in May. )

During his first few months of retirement, I observed that my husband seemed to be experiencing a bit of what we trailing spouses go through at the start of our expatriation — the adjustment to everyday life, the lack of social contact — except that the timing was his choice. As for me, however, I’m just beginning to reap the benefits of the projects I’ve been developing in the shadow of his career.

Bucket Listing Expat Experiences Military Moves

From anxiety to Aloha

by Erica Klinger September 7, 2023

written by Erica Klinger

Continued from Part 6 of Erica’s story.

After spending six years in Washington, D.C., my tenth move as a trailing-spouse Navy wife brought us to the tropical paradise of Oahu in Hawaii.

By this point, with a little nudge from COVID times, my employer had seamlessly transitioned to remote work with no plans to return to a full-time, in-office model. My youngest daughter was also getting ready to leave home for her first year of college at the University of Tennessee. It made sense for me (and Gleyber, our red fox Lab) to join my husband for his two-year tour at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base.

Still, I was taking a leap, not knowing if I could keep my job or continue to feel like a successful part of the team with a six-hour time difference —but I knew if I didn’t try it, I would regret it.

This turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Military Moves Trailing Kids

Cross-Country Culture Shocks and Confidence Gains

by Erica Klinger April 26, 2023

written by Erica Klinger

Trailing spouses are forced to encounter change more than the average human, often without much support. In my 28 years as a Navy wife, my family has experienced close to a dozen house moves, including six different states and one overseas tour. Throughout this adventure, I’ve continued prioritizing my professional advancement as a creative marketing professional. In the past, pursuing your own career dreams hasn’t been expected of military wives — but times are changing and I hope sharing my story publicly inspires others to never give up on their dreams.

Continued from part 5 of Erica’s story.

My family has just packed up and moved more than a thousand miles away for the 11th time, prompted by my husband Jeff’s U.S. Navy career.

As we prepare to move from Hawaii to Maryland, it seems like a good time to reflect on our previous relocations, especially our last two cross-country shifts: from Washington state to Washington, D.C. in 2016, and from there to Hawaii six years later.