No matter where you are stationed, there are usually some fun and unique travel opportunities near where you are living. This is even more true if you are stationed overseas in Europe. There is just so much to see and do and your time there might be the only time in your life you will be able to visit those places. It is best to take advantage of your time in a foreign country and do as much traveling as you are able and as your budget will allow.

~ Take a lot of day trips. In Germany there are a lot of little villages that you can spend the day at. They have a lot of old buildings and restaurants to try. Sometimes they will have a special market or festival going on and most towns and villages in Germany will have a Christmas market in late November until Christmas.

~ Take advantage of the USO. The USO provides a lot of travel opportunities. You can pick from a lot of different locations and prices. I enjoyed these trips because it was always fun for me to travel with others. Because my husband was deployed twice while we were in Germany, I wasn’t able to go on as many USO trips as I would have liked to go on but the ones I went on where great. This is also a way to meet new people who are also stationed where you are.

~ Look into taking a cruise. As our time in Germany was coming to a close we knew we wanted to go on one big trip and see a lot of different countries. We were able to find a great deal on a cruise through USAA and we were able to visit several different countries that way. It was nice to be able to leave our luggage all in one place and not have to worry about finding different hotels on our trip.

~ Travel with friends. If your husband is deployed and you still want to get some traveling in, find a friend to go with. If you both have children it can be a lot of fun for them and you can help each other out. My best friend and I took all of our kids to Garmisch for a weekend which was a nice break during the deployment.

There are so many different ways to travel and be able to see the part of the world that you are currently living in. Check your local MWR or the USO at your duty station to get started. They should be able to help you find great deals on fun activities and trips near where you live. You can also check out the travel agencies they have on most duty stations.

After being back in the US 2.5 years now, I am so glad we took advantage of our time in Germany and we were able to see a lot of wonderful places. I am not sure if we will ever be able to make it back over again there in the future.

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