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PCS Pit Stops: A Vacation or a Trip?

Posted on: June 23,2025

You know how your great-aunt says, “Oh how lovely! You’re taking a vacation during your PCS leave!” and you smile while your soul whispers, Ma’am, this is a logistical nightmare with a scenic view of I-40 and three cranky kids in the backseat.

Let’s call it what it is, folks: it’s not a vacation. It’s a trip.

What’s the Difference?

A vacation involves drinks with umbrellas, naps you choose to take, and decisions based solely on what brings you joy. A trip involves snack negotiations, bathroom stops that defy logic, and asking your partner, “Did you pack the chargers?” for the 12th time.

And when you’re PCS-ing? Oh, it’s definitely a trip. It might have palm trees. It might even have a museum visit. But it also has government paperwork, hotel room laundry, and a dog that got into something mysterious in the back of the van.

The PCS Mirage

Here’s what seasoned spouses know: every PCS has that moment where you think, “Let’s turn this into something fun! Let’s detour through Yellowstone!”
That’s adorable. And sometimes, it works. But more often, the “Yellowstone detour” becomes “everyone got food poisoning at the roadside diner and now we’re all slightly traumatized by geysers.”

Tips: VACATION vs. TRIP

Top 5 Tips for an Actual Vacation:

  1. Choose joy over obligation. Want to go wine tasting instead of visiting extended family this year? That’s okay. Really.
  2. Plan downtime. Schedule nothing. Sit somewhere nice. Read a book you won’t finish.
  3. Don’t overpack. If your suitcase includes a glue gun or your kid’s science project, you’re doing it wrong.
  4. Limit the company. You, your spouse, maybe a friend or two who also believe in naps. That’s it.
  5. Drink the thing. Margarita, Lemonade, IPA, cold Diet Coke—whatever screams “leisure” to your soul.

Top 5 Tips for a PCS “Trip”:

  1. Lower your expectations. No one is “relaxing.” Everyone is “relocating.”
  2. Pack a go-bag. Snacks, TP, chargers, wet wipes, extra orders. You’re not just road-tripping—you’re surviving.
  3. Build in recovery time. Don’t roll straight into the new duty station without a day or two to breathe. Seriously.
  4. Skip the guilt. Can’t stop to visit Grandma? That doesn’t make you a monster. That makes you PCS-ing.
  5. Find one fun thing. A cool park, a unique local eatery, a five-minute foot rub. You deserve at least one tiny win.

One Final Thought…

Vacations are for you. Trips are usually for them. And during PCS season, what you’re doing is for everyone.

So maybe this isn’t the year you go to the beach and see your cousin’s new baby and stop at every national park. Maybe it’s the year you swing through a drive-thru, blast some road trip music, and call it a success if no one cries after lunch.

And if that’s what your PCS trip looks like? That’s more than okay. That’s heroic.

So go forth, warriors of the road. May your orders be correct, your hotel rooms clean, and your coffee always hot.

And remember—one day you’ll get a real vacation again. Probably. Maybe. We hope.

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