When Friends Circle Back Around

I love how when you are in the military long enough, friends from past duty stations start circling back around to you. Though I’m not an avid social media user, I am thankful to have it. At times, it’s the only way I’ve discovered where old military friends land again. And sometimes they land with me…or near me….or I travel near them…or some interesting situation brings us back together.

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Help! I’m Road Tripping Alone with the Kids!

I miraculously survived a road trip recently, where I, alone, took my four children to visit family and friends. We traveled through eight different states, stretching roughly 2,810 miles (not including the miles in between to pull off and use the travel potty, take an off-route break for gas and food, and visit extra family and friends outside of the main destinations) and we took 18 days to do it all.

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Westgate Salutes Military Weekend

This past November, I learned about an incredible opportunity for military families, and immediately I wanted to shout from the rooftops about it.

Each Veterans Day, Westgate Resorts in Orlando gives away FREE vacations to 900 military families! It seemed too good to be true, so I took the time this past December, to head to Orlando and participate in the Westgate Salutes Military Weekend event, to see it for myself.

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Wait, How Do I Travel Again?

Like most people, 2020 did not take me much farther than my city block. My husband was deployed, and I was busy working. It was nearly impossible to take a vacation. One of our absolute favorite things to do together is travel. We’ve taken a trip to Europe every year since we’ve together—until 2020. My husband came home at the end of the year, and we dreamed of being able to travel again, but it still seemed so far fetched.

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My Favorite Things: Top 5 Florida Beaches

Beach days! Oh, how my kids love going to the beach, but oh, how much work it is for us as parents. If you’re like us, we usually make a full day of it in order to make the mission worth it. This means not only packing the obvious sunscreen and towels, but the wagon to help transport those items, along with swimmies, life jackets, beach toys, water bottles, snacks, and more. When the kids aren’t yet walking, I’ve brought the infant car seat or a Bumbo seat, too. Once we were stationed in the Miami area, we also invested in a small beach tent and a couple folding beach chairs.

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What I WILL Miss About Germany

As I near the end of my time living in Germany while my wife serves in the United States Army, this is Part II of a three-part series, examining my thoughts and feelings as I prepare to head back to America and leave Germany behind. Part I examined what I will not miss about Germany and can be found here. Part II, below, examines what I will miss about Germany. Part III examines what I’ve learned during my time in Germany.

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Schwartz Family Travel Essentials

We travel a lot by car. In part, we travel by car because it’s expensive to fly and partly because Brandon doesn’t like to fly without a parachute. We’ve driven from Colorado to Arizona, Alabama, Florida and even to Canada. Traveling as a military family is a bit different from regular civilian journeys as we often move to unfamiliar areas and don’t return to a previous duty station. With PCS season upon the military, I decided to collect my tried-and-true travel essentials to share with prospective movers; I hope this helps!

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