A blog from Army&You’s summer edition by Alisha, @armylifewiththerobertsons

In May 2019, our lives changed. We packed up and made a massive move from Scotland to England. 371 miles and seven hours away from family and friends.

Being a family girl and having a great network of friends I knew it wouldn’t be easy, no one can prepare you for this lifestyle. I took to Instagram and created our page @armylifewiththerobertsons – and it has really helped me.

My husband is a re-joiner, coming back to the army aged 28. Leaving Scotland with our children who are 12, six and four, was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. We have a very supportive family, which helps massively and if it wasn’t for my mum, step-dad and gran, I think we’d still be living out of boxes!

We try not to compare Scotland to England but it’s difficult. The transition to different schools and nurseries was a big deal for us. Everything changed and it took a while to get my head round it all. My oldest daughter really struggled to settle and would ask why all her friends back home are in primary when she’s in secondary.

Two years on and just as we started to finally settle, we entered the pandemic and my husband was promoted – bad news and good news all at the same time. In my head I thought with lockdown people would feel what it’s like to be an army spouse. We don’t get to see friends or family often and army life can get very lonely at times. We are hoping for our next posting to be in Kinloss in Scotland – still three hours from our hometown but better than seven!

Next time we are due to move I know I don’t need to stress as much. My advice to anyone is to keep your circle small and be yourself. Don’t just sit in the house. I think having the kids has helped as I went to lots of groups. People always remember us as we are Scottish, which I think is nice. I’ve met some friends for life and this is just the beginning of our journey. I came across a quote that has stuck with me… “it never gets easier, you just get stronger”.

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