How I learned to Love Europe all Thanks to my Uncle Sam

Came over in 1986 to Hanau with my Army Reserve Unit for our 2 week Summer training. While here, I met a German guy, moved over here 5 months later, married and had a lovely daughter. The marriage didn't work out, but I stayed in Frankfurt. Love traveling on short, weekend trips all over Europe, but also enjoy being able to take cheap 1 & 2 week vacations in places like Morocco or Turkey. Wish I had more time to travel even more.

Robert, We have a similar story. My husband was stationed in Germany from August of 1968-January of 1971. We were right out of college and had just gotten married. I was lucky enough to get a teaching job in Heidelberg so it gave us extra money. We traveled all over. Took advantage of every school vacation and went some place. Not so much for guidebooks then but we did well anyway. Really gave us the love to travel. Have gone mostly to Europe all these years, but have also ventured out to Turkey, Panama, Asia, Africa lately. Going back to Italy in 3 weeks. I get excited about every trip. Germany changed our lives too!!

Excellent post Robert. Enjoyed and hope to read others' stories.

Not a GI, but an Army Officer, my Dad was stationed right outside Paris with NATO from '60 to '65... our family lived in a small French village and we were immersed in the culture. Traveled all over Europe every chance we got. We traveled in the RS style long before RS, using the Michelin guides. So many great memories. Been going back to travel and live there ever since.

I suspect that the parents of actors Sandra Bullock and Bruce Willis may have some travel in Europe to tell if they participated on this thread. Both fathers served in the U.S. Army in different eras in Germany. Both fathers married Germans. Sandra Bullock is fluent in German.

I graduated college in the early 90's and worked in sales and advertising for about 5 years before finally getting so burned out and sick of it that I actually enlisted in the Army because they promised me an assignment in Germany (Kitzingen, right outside of Wurzburg). I was 26 at the time and it was a very difficult decision to basically start over but it was the best decision I ever made. Because I was older and more experienced I knew the value of the opportunity I had and I spent every weekend travelling somewhere. My brother had backpacked around Europe a few years before and used Lonely Planet's "Western Europe on a Shoestring" and loved it so he'd bought me a copy and it was probably the best gift I'd ever gotten. I used that thing so much I referred to it as my "travel Bible" and I wore it out. Most of my trips back then were solo since none of the other guys wanted to do much more than drink at the club on base or in the barracks. I went all over Europe those first two years, had some great experiences. After two years in Germany I wanted to go somewhere else where the American presence wasn't as big because in Germany everyone speaks English and there were bases everywhere so it wasn't cutting it for me. I got approved for Italy and moved here in 2000. Fell in love with Italy right away. I got out of the Army in 2004 but was lucky enough to stay in Europe as a civilian. We even did a two year hitch up in Heidelberg (06-08) which were two of the greatest years of my life as we lived right on the Hauptstrasse. Alas, the government has recently decided that I have been overseas too long and are forcing us to move back to the US. No idea where or when yet but when we do finally leave Europe I will be content that I've gotten as much out of it as I could have. I even started writing a book about my experiences that I may end finishing someday...

In 1976 after teaching young Germans to fly jets in Texas my husband received an Air Force assignment to Ramstein, Germany. Our daughters were 9 and 13 so old enough to understand and appreciate the wonderful opportunity we were given. We started traveling almost immediately and traveled as much as time and budget would allow. Two Thanksgivings in Paris, Easter week services at the Vatican, Easter morning services at Canterbury Cathedral, visiting my husbands old students in towns that rarely saw tourists and the list goes on and on. Germany changed my life and the lives of our children. Think of the great foods we never would have tried without this assignment.....the cheeses from every corner of Europe, Brochen for breakfast, wonderful wines, curry wurst, pomme frites oh, we ate like royalty. It was a hard landing from great foods when the next assignment was a small town in Pennsylvania where the new McDonalds was held in high esteem by the locals. In September my daughters and I are returning to Germany to visit the tiny village where we lived off base for three years. Then going to Berlin to see it without The Wall, then on to Russia with a RS tour. We have returned to Europe many times, but this might not have happened without that military assignment. Thanks Uncle Sam!

Thanks. Jo. I have always been curious about how you got there! I enjoy your contributions. My husband and I were just talking about the comfort and trust of being in Europe under the umbrella of the US Army and Air Force. We were there as teachers for 8 years. Loved every minute of the German culture, food, the Rhein River, Bavaria.......We were in Idar-Oberstein, Wiesbaden, and Heidelberg.
Ann

I knew I should have joined the Air Force and Army instead of Uncle Sams Yacht Club that sent me to the western and southern Pacific, and the Indian Ocean!