1. Don’t forget to take pictures before, during, and after the PCS. For 1, you need to take pictures of your valuable items before the movers pack them up. Take the camera with you, your gonna want to take pics of these memories.
2. When traveling with children, don’t forget to have baby wipes, antibacterial gel, a change of clothes for everyone in the family, entertainment, food, drinks, toys and gadgets, a cell phone charger, a sense of humor, a whole lot of patience.
3. Don’t wait until you reach your final destination to research the area you will soon be calling home.
4. Don’t decline offers to help. This is no time to prove how skilled you are at multitasking.
5. Don’t hold your breath that your shipments will arrive on the estimated arrival date you were given. They won’t. So be prepared for long hotel stays, picnics on the floor, and elevator music while you sit on hold with the personal property office.
6. Don’t leave things lying around your house that you don’t want packed. The movers can’t read your mind. If you don’t want your underwear packed, hide it in your suitcase. If you don’t want the diapers packed, put them in your car. If you don’t want to find a trash can filled with trash on the other end, make sure all garbage is at the curb. If you can’t find a place to hide stuff? Post-It notes with big X’s. Even movers in foreign countries know that that means hands-off.
7. Don’t let friends see you off on departure day. It’s just too hard. Say “goodbye” and shed your tears the day before. Then make a clean getaway on departure day. You can’t make a fresh start with mascara dripping down your face.
8. Don’t expect your husband to be there to help. Whether he misses the pack-out or the pack-in or the travel in between, you should prepare yourself to deal with any and all portions of the PCS by yourself. But that’s no problem. After all, you’re a MilSpouse. You’re used to doing things on your own by now, right?
9. Don’t be too hard on yourself. PCS’ing is stressful, and exhausting, and frustrating and makes you want to poke your eyes out with a fork. You’ll forget to pack something that should have been packed. You’ll get lost the second you pull away from the airport. But it happens. Life goes on. And you’ll have a funny story to break the ice with the new people you meet at your next duty station.
10. Don’t panic! I promise you’ll reach your destination in one piece, even if your grandmother’s china doesn’t.
This list can go on forever!!! Every PCS you do chances are your list will get longer and longer.
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