by Debra Kerr-Hunter

Created on: March 01, 2009

Military families require a degree of organization when moving from duty station to duty station. Often those moves can be from one coast to the other, and sometimes even to another country. It is important to organize all contacts for businesses, schools, and other services that the members of the family may need. The nuts and bolts of the move are important, and organization of these details should be given great consideration. There is, however, another aspect of the move that should be given equal priority, and that is the emotional impact on the family.

Relocation involves leaving friends and family, leaving familiar surroundings, leaving pets in some cases, and going to a new place where everybody in the family is a stranger, including the active-duty service member. The emotional strain can be overwhelming on the adults in the family, but it can be downright devastating to teens and younger children. Uprooting from friends and schools, daycare providers, and favorite family recreational locations can leave a void that may put a person in the same emotional state as grieving. There are ways you can prepare ahead of time to make the move and the separation from all things familiar much less painful

The Internet has created a much smaller world for all of us. It has given us e-mail, social forums, and on-line photo logs to allow us to share with those far away. Using some of the following suggestions can make moving to a new location an adventure for the whole family:

1. Create a family Facebook or Myspace page in order to keep friends and family members posted on the progress of the move, the traveling points of interest, and the adventure of settling into a new place. Keep the profile as private as possible to only include specifically selected viewers so that it remains a choice of who you wish to share the information with.

2. Register a family email address on one of the free email servers on-line and send e-mails to everyone in your contacts list informing them of your new e-mail address. E-mails received during the move will not be lost and can be retrieved at any time during your travels. A separate folder can be created for each family member, to store emails received for each family member.

3. Sign up and download one or several of the free messenger services so that communication can be established with people that you wish to keep in contact with during your move and upon arrival at your new address.

4. Sign up for a free on-line calling service like

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