The Island
Well, here's something interesting. I recently heard about a career opportunity that would be a bit of an adventure. We could go live on a tropical island in the middle of the pacific for a few years, thousands of miles from civilization. Sounds crazy huh?
Well there's a lot more to it. This island is Kwajalein, in the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands, part of the Reagan Test Site. It's out there roughly midway between Hawaii and Australia, 8 degrees north of the equator. The island where we'd be is an army base, about 1.2 square miles of land (much of it taken up by the air strip) with about 2000 people living in it, working on all sorts of projects, most having to do with the big radars and other sensors they have set up over there. If I wanted to go there to work, I'd be committing to at least 2 years, and most people go 3-4 years. If we want to go, we'll have to at least wait until we're married (otherwise she can't come) and probably also until we've started on a family (you'll understand why). It's a big decision to make, and we've been putting in a lot of thought. Let's go through the pros and cons:
Cons:
1. Medical facilities. The hospital they have there can only do so much; for anything really serious it's a 5-6 hour flight to get to Honolulu. I don't need much, but it might not be enough for M's needs. For one example, they won't deliver babies; if you're pregnant, you have to leave the island in the last month or so of term.
2. Isolation from family and friends. We'd miss family get-togethers and holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. We'd be unable to see all the friends we have over here. We can be in touch by phone, but the time zone difference makes it hard. Moreover, if we go out there with kids, we'll be denying the grandparents a chance to see them. They could come visit us on the island, though.
3. M's Career. There probably wouldn't be much, if any, human factors work there for her to build her career. There might be something, but it certainly wouldn't be as good an experience as keeping up a full-time position here in the states.
4. Church. They have a chapel with a number of different services going on, but it's questionable whether there will be a group of "progressive" Christians like ourselves where we'd feel like we belonged. At any rate we'll certainly miss the church we go to now.
5. Limited range of activities. There's only so much you can do there, and much of it involves outdoor sports. For people like M who aren't into sports, or even for me, it might get boring.
6. Unchanging scenery. It's hot and humid all the time, all year round. You're on the same island all the time and don't have the chance to get away more than once or twice a year.
Pros:
1. Money. I'd get a paid a premium over my regular pay, pay fewer taxes from being overseas, and most of our expenses (like rent, electricity) would be taken care of. If we went out there we could probably obliterate any remaining student debt and save up a nice down payment on a house. That would be pretty huge.
2. No commute. You can't even own a car there. You bike or walk everywhere, and it's all so close by that you can come home for lunch.
3. Travel perks. They'll pay for you to come back to Boston once a year and pay for another flight to Honolulu and back each year (just air fare). Plus, out there you're a lot closer to interesting destinations like Japan, Bali, Australia, New Zealand, etc.
4. Time. A lot of the time that gets frittered away here on commute and running errands can be better used here. Spend more time with your family, develop those hobbies you've never had time for, get in shape, volunteer for stuff, etc. You may have fewer choices of things to do with your time, but you'll have time in abundance.
5. My career. You know that going out there is an important experience based on the fact that so much of the lab's leadership are "Kwaj alums". It's practically a rite of passage. They send their best people out there, often in leadership and management roles, highly exposed to the army and contractor people we're working with. I don't plan or even want to turn this into a chance to get into management, but even if I don't do that the experience can only serve to make me more valuable.
6. Good place to have little kids. M says she'd really like to be able to stay home when the kids are young, but while we're still here in Boston that might not be financially doable. If we went out there, we'd both have time to be with the kids and we'd be able to afford her not bringing in a second income. This part right here is enough to get her pretty excited about the idea.
7. Good social environment. There aren't a lot of people there, but the ones that are tend to be very friendly and social. With such a small social circle you really have to be nice to everybody; you'll see them everywhere you go. It helps that there's a lot more time to be social and get together often. For example, potluck cookouts on the beach are a regular occurrence. Also, the friendships you make there tend to be very strong, from what I've been told, and stick with you for many years.
I've talked to a few folks at the lab who have been there and learned some things from their experiences. For now, it seems like we'll want to wait a few years before trying for this. We're basically planning to get married sometime within the next year, but it we probably want to wait a bit before starting a family, and it would not be ideal to try having a first child while we're out there. But we also don't want to wait too long because after a certain age fertility can be an issue. Plus, if we wait too long the opportunity may disappear; right now they're already trying to set things up so much of the work there can be done remotely. But to go there without kids would make potential boredom issues more pronounced, especially for M, who would be interrupting her career without being able to dedicate that time to children as she wants.
With all these variables its definitely a tough call. But thankfully we don't have to decide right now. We can get all the info and then not worry about it for a while. As time goes on we can come back to the idea and see where we stand. There was a study recently that said once you get all the information on a complex problem, the best way to come up with the right answer is just to let it digest and decide with your gut. One of the Kwaj alums I talked to said the same thing. When the time comes we'll just have to decide based on what feels right.
Thinking about this has been quite an experience by itself. It means seriously looking at the future and being comfortable planning on having a family even though we're not yet married or even officially engaged. But as remarkable as it is, it seems perfectly natural. We both know deep down that it's going to happen, that a family together is what we both want. If we do go off to the island, we may be far from home, but we'll have each other, and it'll be our greatest adventure yet.
-MJR
Well there's a lot more to it. This island is Kwajalein, in the Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands, part of the Reagan Test Site. It's out there roughly midway between Hawaii and Australia, 8 degrees north of the equator. The island where we'd be is an army base, about 1.2 square miles of land (much of it taken up by the air strip) with about 2000 people living in it, working on all sorts of projects, most having to do with the big radars and other sensors they have set up over there. If I wanted to go there to work, I'd be committing to at least 2 years, and most people go 3-4 years. If we want to go, we'll have to at least wait until we're married (otherwise she can't come) and probably also until we've started on a family (you'll understand why). It's a big decision to make, and we've been putting in a lot of thought. Let's go through the pros and cons:
Cons:
1. Medical facilities. The hospital they have there can only do so much; for anything really serious it's a 5-6 hour flight to get to Honolulu. I don't need much, but it might not be enough for M's needs. For one example, they won't deliver babies; if you're pregnant, you have to leave the island in the last month or so of term.
2. Isolation from family and friends. We'd miss family get-togethers and holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. We'd be unable to see all the friends we have over here. We can be in touch by phone, but the time zone difference makes it hard. Moreover, if we go out there with kids, we'll be denying the grandparents a chance to see them. They could come visit us on the island, though.
3. M's Career. There probably wouldn't be much, if any, human factors work there for her to build her career. There might be something, but it certainly wouldn't be as good an experience as keeping up a full-time position here in the states.
4. Church. They have a chapel with a number of different services going on, but it's questionable whether there will be a group of "progressive" Christians like ourselves where we'd feel like we belonged. At any rate we'll certainly miss the church we go to now.
5. Limited range of activities. There's only so much you can do there, and much of it involves outdoor sports. For people like M who aren't into sports, or even for me, it might get boring.
6. Unchanging scenery. It's hot and humid all the time, all year round. You're on the same island all the time and don't have the chance to get away more than once or twice a year.
Pros:
1. Money. I'd get a paid a premium over my regular pay, pay fewer taxes from being overseas, and most of our expenses (like rent, electricity) would be taken care of. If we went out there we could probably obliterate any remaining student debt and save up a nice down payment on a house. That would be pretty huge.
2. No commute. You can't even own a car there. You bike or walk everywhere, and it's all so close by that you can come home for lunch.
3. Travel perks. They'll pay for you to come back to Boston once a year and pay for another flight to Honolulu and back each year (just air fare). Plus, out there you're a lot closer to interesting destinations like Japan, Bali, Australia, New Zealand, etc.
4. Time. A lot of the time that gets frittered away here on commute and running errands can be better used here. Spend more time with your family, develop those hobbies you've never had time for, get in shape, volunteer for stuff, etc. You may have fewer choices of things to do with your time, but you'll have time in abundance.
5. My career. You know that going out there is an important experience based on the fact that so much of the lab's leadership are "Kwaj alums". It's practically a rite of passage. They send their best people out there, often in leadership and management roles, highly exposed to the army and contractor people we're working with. I don't plan or even want to turn this into a chance to get into management, but even if I don't do that the experience can only serve to make me more valuable.
6. Good place to have little kids. M says she'd really like to be able to stay home when the kids are young, but while we're still here in Boston that might not be financially doable. If we went out there, we'd both have time to be with the kids and we'd be able to afford her not bringing in a second income. This part right here is enough to get her pretty excited about the idea.
7. Good social environment. There aren't a lot of people there, but the ones that are tend to be very friendly and social. With such a small social circle you really have to be nice to everybody; you'll see them everywhere you go. It helps that there's a lot more time to be social and get together often. For example, potluck cookouts on the beach are a regular occurrence. Also, the friendships you make there tend to be very strong, from what I've been told, and stick with you for many years.
I've talked to a few folks at the lab who have been there and learned some things from their experiences. For now, it seems like we'll want to wait a few years before trying for this. We're basically planning to get married sometime within the next year, but it we probably want to wait a bit before starting a family, and it would not be ideal to try having a first child while we're out there. But we also don't want to wait too long because after a certain age fertility can be an issue. Plus, if we wait too long the opportunity may disappear; right now they're already trying to set things up so much of the work there can be done remotely. But to go there without kids would make potential boredom issues more pronounced, especially for M, who would be interrupting her career without being able to dedicate that time to children as she wants.
With all these variables its definitely a tough call. But thankfully we don't have to decide right now. We can get all the info and then not worry about it for a while. As time goes on we can come back to the idea and see where we stand. There was a study recently that said once you get all the information on a complex problem, the best way to come up with the right answer is just to let it digest and decide with your gut. One of the Kwaj alums I talked to said the same thing. When the time comes we'll just have to decide based on what feels right.
Thinking about this has been quite an experience by itself. It means seriously looking at the future and being comfortable planning on having a family even though we're not yet married or even officially engaged. But as remarkable as it is, it seems perfectly natural. We both know deep down that it's going to happen, that a family together is what we both want. If we do go off to the island, we may be far from home, but we'll have each other, and it'll be our greatest adventure yet.
-MJR