How to Make the Most of a Not-So-Perfect Duty Station

“Fort Drum? It’s too cold.”

“Fort Hood? It’s too hot.”

“Fort Leonard Wood? It’s too remote.”

“Korea? It’s… Well… it’s Korea.”

Okay, you get the idea. Every place is too something.

Fort Drum really is cold, but not all year. And if you like to ski, sled, or ice fish, even that cold can be a dream come true.

Fort Hood is hot in the summertime, sure, but they have one of the nicest outdoor recreation areas I’ve ever seen at Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area.

Fort Leonard Wood (AKA “Fort Lost in the Woods”) is remote, but it’s on the edge of the Mark Twain National Forest.

Korea? Well, yeah, it’s Korea. It’s really far away, and it’s really foreign. But it’s also really modern, with Internet 200 times faster than anything most of us will ever see in the States. Korea could be its own blog, as far as I’m concerned (and the shopping and food are fabulous).

I could find something to hate about every installation without trying very hard.

I choose to see the positive, though, and that makes even my not-so-favorite locations ones that have created good memories. The first time this Chicago born-and-bred girl was stationed in Texas, I learned about sweet tea. You Southerners will never be able to appreciate the epiphany to some of us Northerners that is the first sip of brewed sweet tea.

Anyway, Texas was hot, but there was sweet tea. And sweet people. And Tex-Mex, and big skies, and rodeo, and the Gulf Coast just a few hours away.

Germany, even though it was far from home and I deployed twice from there, had really excellent food, beer, and access to travel. It’s also where I met my husband.

Fort Leonard Wood was where we learned to ride motorcycles and discovered that riding through the Ozarks and the Mark Twain National Forest is its own kind of magic.

In Korea, I learned how to give freely of myself and my time—I was a volunteer queen there—and that has become a lasting gift that I have left for others and carried with me. I also had the opportunity to travel throughout the country and even went to a softball tournament in Vietnam.

Do your research. As soon as your sponsor gets orders to a new installation, hit the internet. Find websites, find Facebook pages, see what’s in the area, and get connected before you move. You’ll eliminate a lot of that mystery that makes moving into a new area with new people so intimidating. Most installations have Facebook pages, they all have websites, and Army Wife Network even has the Post with the Most series. Check out travel and tourism sites, Chamber of Commerce sites, local universities, and shopping; that way, things will feel more familiar when you get there.

What does it all boil down to? Wherever you are, there are treasures to discover if you keep an open mind and an open heart. You have to be willing to go out and find them, though—no one is going to spoon-feed your life to you.

I’ve made some of the best and most enduring friendships of my life in some of the places that I liked the least just by getting out and doing things.

So, the next time the military hands you a lemon, slice it up and put it in your tea. You won’t regret it.