We’re down to (nearly) our final week in Alaska, and I think that I must block this part of the PCS process out each time because, regardless of how prepared I think I am, it never fails to surprise me how utterly chaotic it is. It’s finally May in Alaska, we’re down to our final countdown with just eight (and a few hours) days to go, and we’re in the final stages of prep. But, even with all the chaos, we’re doing our best to soak it up.

The Final Countdown

Tomorrow, bright and early, our unaccompanied baggage (UAB) will be packed up and shipped off to Korea and, hopefully, will make it there sooner than our HHG, which was sent a few weeks ago. We’ve been house camping since then, dining on patio furniture indoors, using a camp kitchen from generous neighbors and finishing those last-minute purging tasks, but we’re ready to move. Move there, move on, move to a new home; all of it.

It’s hard sort of existing in two places at once. We’ve had one foot in Korea and one foot in Alaska for a while now, and I think it’s safe to say we left our hearts in Korea back in 2023. This feels like a full-circle sort of thing, but it doesn’t make the final countdown much easier. After a solid panic from yours truly this morning, we’re back to loading suitcases and prepping. Danny heads with Ryan to New Hampshire tomorrow, the kids and I move into a hotel on Monday, and it’s happening.

May in Alaska

Thankfully, spring has sprung in Alaska, the snow is gone, and the mosquitoes have returned, and we’ve been able to bask in the longer days again, which has tempered how hard this transitional period of the PCS really is. The kids, especially, are grateful for the normalcy in all of it. We’ve kept their bikes and rollerblades for UAB, so clear roads means ample playtime, and we’re soaking it all up.

We’ve been planning our first adventures in Korea again, and it feels so incredible to know we have a community of both military and Korean nationals, alike, on our team and ready to welcome us home…soon. I think the hardest part of this whole process will be the farewells though, and I’ve definitely sort of put that at the back of my mind because I’m not emotionally prepared for the finality of all of it yet.

Writing Our Next Chapter

I know that I’ve expressed what a challenge Alaska has been for our family, but I feel like the final countdown can’t be marked without acknowledging what a blessing it’s been, too. We’ve made incredible friends who’ve become family. We learned Alaska – and the US (for now, at least) – aren’t where our hearts lie. We were tested and blessed, broken and reforged. This has been a beautiful chapter, but we’re so ready for the next.