Thoughts and explanations

Matt has applied to be a Foreign Service Generalist, specifically a Consular Officer which means that he would be working at US Embassies and Consulates interviewing foreign visa applicants and helping out American citizens living or traveling abroad. I think it will be a perfect match - his experience as a Public Defender here in Philadelphia has really taught him enormous lessons about judging character and thinking on his feet and maneuvering as nimbly as possible through a hulking bureaucracy. He is too modest to fully admit to how good he is at his current job, but I can see that he agrees that there is no better training for the job he wants. Right now, all that stands between us and this new adventure is the Oral Assessment and that is no small challenge. It is a full day of exercises designed to give the candidates the opportunity to demonstrate their possession of the State Department's 13 Dimensions. (Dun, dun, dun!) We are preparing like mad and at the end of the day I have to admit that this is pretty much out of my control. I am not going to take the test, Matt's the one who has to pass it. This is simultaneously a huge relief and totally panic-inducing.

Why aren't I applying too, you may ask. This is a good question. Of course, American expats need Nurse Practitioners, and there is an application on the State Department website specifically for NPs . Unfortunately, each FSO has to commit to "world-wide availability" and while I want to travel the world, I only want to do it with Matt. If I were an FSO as well, we'd be known as a "tandem couple" and our employment options would be limited because we could only go to posts where they were looking for a Consular Officer and a Health Practitioner Specialist at the same time. Many tandem couples end up long-distance for long periods of time and I do not want that! Maybe, as we get further into this, I'll realize that we really can both work for State and stay together, but after a huge amount of preliminary research, it seems like the best thing to do is to have Matt work for them and I'll try to work in the local economy or at the embassy as an Eligible Family Member (EFM). I don't know if I can be an Eligible Family Nurse (Practitioner), I might be an Eligible Family Administrative Assistant. This is honestly okay with me. I am confident that the life we'll have not just traveling the world but living in different countries for 2-4 years at a time, working for the US Government (cue swelling patriotic music), will be equally or more rewarding than a long and successful career as an NP would be.

But how will you afford it? You are, of course, too polite to ask, but I know you're wondering and we did too. It seems impossible to remove my income from the picture and still end up retired in any kind of comfort. But, remember, thousands of families have done this for decades and many of them have children. We have always gloated that the money other people divert to the college fund goes right into our retirement and travel accounts. But the FS really does make life easier financially. Whenever we are abroad, approximately two-thirds of Matt's career, our housing will be paid for. Much of our travel and all of our moving expenses (including transporting the Tobe-dog) will be taken care of. Also, Matt and I are really excited for so called hardship posts. These are places like Nairobi, Kenya

or Jakarta, Indonesia

where the cost of living is low and we'd be paid a bonus because they're hot/dangerous/have less than optimal health care facilities.

So, where will you go? As I mentioned before, we agree to worldwide availability. So, we could be headed anywhere: Ulan Bator, Mongolia

or St. Petersburg, Russia

or Lima, Peru

or Toronto, Canada

I have read repeatedly that the Career Development Officers (CDO) at State pride themselves on helping FSOs and their families design a career in places they are excited to serve. I am sure I will have much, much more to say on this topic in the future. Right now I am excited about seeing the whole world and open to everything. Our first two posts will be two years each, after that we get to stay put for longer stretches (up to four years, I think), and most people come back to DC for training between posts and for tours at Main State.