Military father trying to show his wife and kids the world.

Frank Blaha Start Date: Jul 8, 2025 - End Date: Apr 7, 2026
  • Massachusetts, United States of America
  • New York, NY, United States of America
  • England, United Kingdom
  • Wales, United Kingdom
  • Scotland, United Kingdom

My Travel Story

by: Frank Blaha Start Date: Jul 8, 2025 - End Date: Apr 7, 2026
We don't have an extraordinary story, just a military father who wants to show his wife and kids the world. I've been an aircraft mechanic for 14 years, deployed to Afghanistan twice, and a theater security trip to Romania. Deployments mixed with training, TDY's, exercises, etc, I've missed a lot of my kid's childhood. Fortunately I have a rockstar for a wife, and she's done an amazing job running the show, going to sporting events, band things, you name it, she does it. We had our son a year out of high school, and never really got a chance to do those "crazy young adult" things. We struggled for a long time, young, broke, trying to figure out having a kid, as a couple of kids. Now we aren't really struggling so much, but, still tough to make a big vacation happen for 4 of us. I'm trying to make it happen soon, before my kids start their own lives and start their journey becoming productive members of society, because, life moves pretty fast, and it has sort of snuck up on me. My 19 year old son is going to a cheap local college, and my daughter is still in high school. My thought is, I've seen the world with the help of Uncle Sam, so why not try and let my family see a bit of the world as well. I got a chance to go to the UK for a few days and fell in love with that place. My grandfather flew B-17s during WWII and I've tracked down the airfield he flew out of so I'm excited to show the kids that piece of history that is close to our hearts. I also got an opportunity to go to Salem, Mass and really enjoyed that as well. My wife and daughter love Hocus Pocus and my son and I find the history of Salem super interesting, so it will be cool to show them that area. My wife and I didn't get to see much outside of our hometown when we were young, so I just figured I'd give this place a shot to take some of the edge off of the $20,000 rough estimate it will take to make this 2.5 week trip happen. I appreciate anyone who reads this short story of someone who is trying to show his family the world.
  • Massachusetts, United States of America
  • New York, NY, United States of America
  • England, United Kingdom
  • Wales, United Kingdom
  • Scotland, United Kingdom