After Moving, I Kept My Job by Flying Across the Country Every Week

I never imagined I’d move back in with my parents after getting married, but I found myself living in their basement less than a year after my wedding — just to keep my dream job.

During my senior year of college, I was thrilled when my internship turned into a full-time role as a data analyst. After graduation, I returned to my hometown in South Dakota to start my career with a company that I loved.

Nine months after getting married, my husband received active-duty military orders to begin pilot training in rural Oklahoma. I was torn between moving to Oklahoma to support him or keeping my job in South Dakota.

Job opportunities in my field were extremely limited in rural Oklahoma, and in 2019, remote work wasn’t so common. I didn’t want to walk away from a job I loved, but I also couldn’t imagine starting a long-distance marriage before our first anniversary.

A few weeks before my husband’s training began, my boss proposed an unconventional arrangement: I could work remotely in Oklahoma for part of the month as long as I also returned to the office in South Dakota for two weeks at a time. It seemed worth a shot.

Although it was challenging, both personally and professionally, it became one of the most important decisions I made to keep my dream job.

Traveling across the country so often was stressful, but we made it work

My new back-and-forth schedule was exhausting.

I’d spend a week living with my parents in South Dakota and commuting to the office, then fly to Oklahoma to be with my husband and work remotely while he completed pilot training.

Sometimes, I would fly back to Oklahoma just for the weekend to see him before returning to South Dakota for another week in the office. He would drive nearly two hours each way to the airport, often early in the morning or late at night.

Fortunately, because of my husband’s previous job with an airline, I had access to standby flights. Being able to fly for free whenever seats became available was a huge help financially, but it often left me stressed and scrambling to make last-minute decisions.

Without this perk, though, I would’ve been spending around $300 on round-trip flights about every other week. I still would’ve done this arrangement to keep my job, but it would have significantly strained our budget.

In the end, I’m so glad I prioritized my career — and that is has paid off

Although I loved spending time with my parents while I was in South Dakota for two weeks at a time, being away from my husband was difficult.

His training was rigorous, and I felt guilty that I couldn’t be there to support him full-time like other military spouses. Still, I prioritized being in Oklahoma for his biggest moments in training, including his first solo flight, assignment night, and graduation.

Leaving my friends every few weeks was hard, too. Pilot training is a highly social environment, and I hated feeling like I was missing out.

Throughout all of this, I was so grateful to have my dream job and my husband’s unwavering support for my career. After all, many other military spouses I’d met had quit their jobs to move to Oklahoma with their partners.

This lifestyle didn’t feel like it could be sustainable for very long. Fortunately, after about a year, I was approved to work remotely for three weeks each month, with only one week in the office required.

This allowed me to be in Oklahoma almost full-time for the last few months of pilot training. When the pandemic hit, I was relieved to transition into a fully remote role.

We’ve since moved to Florida for my husband’s next assignment, and I’ve continued to progress professionally without gaps in my resume and even grow my career with a master’s degree that’s allowed me to teach part-time.

Being able to keep my dream job has provided a steady presence in our chaotic military life, and I’ll never take it for granted.

To this day, I’m extremely lucky that my company and family were both supportive of my career goals.