Trailing spouses are forced to encounter change more than the average human, often without much support. In my 26 years as a Navy wife, my family has experienced 10 house moves, including five 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 for the first time inspires others to never give up on their dreams.
Continued from part four of Erica’s story…
As a Navy spouse, my family’s frequent relocations have exposed me not only to interesting cultural differences, but to the sharp contrasts in political and moral viewpoints within the same country. In that sense, our biggest move was our 2013 transfer from the “red state” of Tennessee to the “blue state” of Washington. (A 10/15 on the Gupte Scale, for reasons shared in my previous blog post.)
I generally take a bipartisan attitude, marking my ballots based on current issues rather than party loyalties, and try to avoid discussing politics. But, as recent elections have reminded us all, every person’s vote really matters — not just in swing states every four years, but also for local offices and initiatives. During my time in the Pacific Northwest, where the default system of voting-by-mail seems to have led to stronger civic participation than in other places we had lived, I started to learn more about the key issues facing our country and really solidified my passion for working in health care and patient advocacy.
Cost of Living
In addition to switching from politically conservative to progressive circles, we knew that there would be many other cultural shifts to consider in our move from the Mid South to the Pacific Northwest. Instead of “y’all” and sunny bright colors, we’d have to fit into a more trendy world of wearing black and grey, tattoos and people who didn’t immediately invite me into their conversations.