Anyone been to S.Korea?

[casndan]

My DH is currently at Camp Hovey in SKorea, we are having tons of issues with him getting his RandR and it may be easier for me to just go over there, I think that it would be a learning experience if nothing else, anyway, I was curious to see if anyone else had ever done this. Also, has anyone ever gone over and lived unsponsored? I was wondering if anyone had been able to work that out...I'm just hoping for something 18 months is dragging on

 

[lyeag]

Going unsponsored is EXPENSIVE. I did spend a little time over there on tdy when I was in the Navy. As long as dh can get reservations at the Dragon Hill Lodge, I think you could have a nice time with your husband. Is he able to take leave, but just not get home for r and r? I am not familiar with the camp you mentioned is it in the the northern or southern part of the country?

 

[miste76]

While I was stationed over there... my mother came to visit me two different times. It wasn't that bad. She stayed in a hotel off post (I was stationed at Camp Humphrey's.) It was great for both of us!!! We shopped together, went out at night together, and during the day... she did a little bit of shopping/sight-seeing on her own.

 

[lovemygoofy]

I wouldn't go over there unsponsored and right now my dh and I are talking if I want to go sponsored. You have the potential to be in a completely different part of the country he is in and end up by yourself. You can aboslutely go visit over there and enjoy yourself and then come home. I know deployment is hard no matter where he is but you can tuff it out. If you ever need to vent please feel free to PM me. I know how it feels.

 

[weregoingtodw]

My DH is over there right now. I was going to go over in May but ended up having two separate accidents in two weeks and messing myself up pretty bad, to the point where DH had to extend his leave to take care of me while he was on his mid-tour. Long story short, he used up all his leave & actually had to borrow some, and I'm not sure about going overseas and missing my physical therapy, etc. now, so we went ahead & canceled the visit (I'm going to Disney instead.

We considered going unsponsored, and I know a lot of people have done it; it just wasn't feasible for us. You didn't mention what kinds of obligations you have here in the States - do you have children? A job? Own a home? All those things can affect whether or not you go. Have you considered that he can still deploy over there, and you'd have no one around? Would he be allowed to live with you or required to live on post, while you had an apartment by yourself on the economy?

Oh yeah, as for visiting - have you looked into taking a hop?

Good luck... it's a long tour, but you can make it!

 

[casndan]

We have no children, no home, and I have no job, I'm a full time student, and if I went over there I would more than likely utilize the U of MD that they have on base, I'm doubting that I would live on base, I'm not sure that it even available where he is, I would look for housing off base, possibly with another military wife. I know that its not the ideal situation, but it is only me that I have to worry about, I certainly would not attempt it with children, but I like to think of it as an adverture, if I can pull it off financially, which it seems may be very difficult, landlords over there want their rent very much up front and its very expensive, but if I can do it, I think that I will, life is too short...I have thought about taking a hop...but I'm not sure how to do it! Have any other dependents done it recently? Internationally? It was my understanding that it was only available CONUS but if someone knows differently please let me know!

 

[Dcat2u]

I went over uncommand sponsored many years ago and lived for 11mos. I lived in a 1 room hootch not too far from the bridge to the DMZ. It was definetly an experience. My husband is planning on asking for a tour to Korea after this next deployment so he can come back to Ft Hood to retire. I plan on taking our 2 DD's over to visit for 2 weeks.

 

[weregoingtodw]

We have no children, no home, and I have no job, I'm a full time student, and if I went over there I would more than likely utilize the U of MD that they have on base, I'm doubting that I would live on base, I'm not sure that it even available where he is, I would look for housing off base, possibly with another military wife. I know that its not the ideal situation, but it is only me that I have to worry about, I certainly would not attempt it with children, but I like to think of it as an adverture, if I can pull it off financially, which it seems may be very difficult, landlords over there want their rent very much up front and its very expensive, but if I can do it, I think that I will, life is too short...I have thought about taking a hop...but I'm not sure how to do it! Have any other dependents done it recently? Internationally? It was my understanding that it was only available CONUS but if someone knows differently please let me know!

Under those circumstances, I'd absolutely try it - in a heartbeat!

As for hops, they are only available OCONUS, in fact, unless your sponsor is with you. Since we as spouses of remote members aren't considered OCONUS, we're not even authorized for the overseas flights - EXCEPT they do make an exception for you to go visit your spouse once. You have to get yourself to Seattle, then take the hop from there. You can find a lot more info at http://www.osan.af.mil/public/731AMS/space A/ncssa.htm.

Another site that I found really helpful was http://noncomkorea.tripod.com/. It encourages families to consider going noncommand-sponsored, but does give you a heads up about what to expect, etc.

HTH!

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

One of my very good friends is getting stationed in Korea. He's leaving at the end of April and he's supposed to be there for 2 years I'll miss him but hopefully I'll be able to visit him at some point. If you go see DH I hope you have a safe trip