Fighting homesickness

My wife is usually glad to see me when she gets home, cause I usually have dinner on the stove or ready for the plate. Most days I am home before she is.

 

My wife likes when I text (NOT DRIVING) where I am. She sends one back and it feels good. I could call her, or she can call me, anytime! It's just a thing we use to feel like we are still in touch.
Coming home and leaving is lot's of hugs (which I like). I have a job to do, I'll do it. If I could do it laying in my bed with my wife and kids feeding me grapes, #### straight i'd do it that way! Think about the soldiers out doing their jobs for us for a year at a time and you can get a feeling how I feel about being away for 3-4 weeks at a time.
I'm waiting for the big lottery win, until then.. I'm gonna do what I gotta do, come home kiss the wife and kids, kick the dog, then get back out and make some dollars.
(I don't have a dog BTW)
Every trucker I met wants to be home. Some just let it fly out of the pie hole without realizing that the other truckers can't make that happen!

 

If you have a smart phone, put the Google map app on it, install latitude and add your wife as a friend. She will be able to see your exact location via the Google map on her computer complete with your icon pic. It helps her feel closer to you. If she has a computer at work, she can "keep an eye on you" all day while you drive.

 

Not a good idea for me, don't want to get caught with my pants down

 

Trucking is a job you kinda gotta develop thick skin for for a lot of different reasons,one of them being seperating yourself from family. There is a huge adjustment period for new drivers. i went through it with my first job/company. I had a real difficult time and it was made worse by the fact that i spent more time sitting than driving which made me feel like I was not only gone but not really doing anything for the better of my family. I went through one more company before hitting my third job which kept me away for 2 weeks at a time instead of my normal one but they kept me busy as hell, paid a good rate per mile and i was making some real headway for my family. You just have to get it in your head that your are doing right by you and the ones you are trying to take care of. It is a difficult situation to adjust to but you have to be mentaly strong. I am by nature a very hard headed person and very determined to be good at anything i do so I just pushed myself until I decided i enjoyed the job.
With all of the technology available today it is really easy to ease the burden as well. If you carry a laptop or a good smartphone you have phone,email and you can get Skype if you are handy with easy technology. If you have a good new smartphone with dual cameras or a laptop with a camera and your family has internet, you can computer to computer video chat for free with Skype. So when you hit free WIFI spots you can not only talk but see eachother. Its simple and free if you have a laptop or new smart style phone. Technology has made things much easier. Im sure there are a lot of old school hands that can tell you what it was like to be gone for a month or 2 at a time with nothing but pay phones and regular mail and postcards to get by with. If you dont have a strong frame of mind the homesickness can get to you. You just have to change your way of thinking and think about the goals you are trying to achieve and the people that you are trying to take care of with your time away. Its not a polite or forgiving industry and it takes some time to aclimate yourself to it if you go in knowing nothing about it. The first few months can be a tough learning period. Dont bail out to quick. you will look back later on and wish you had done more with it. Its hard but stick with it, it can be a rewarding career. Not always with money but you can get a lot out of trucking if you get past the first few months. I was there, we all have been.

 

...and always glad to see ya leave. LOL Just kidding...I couldn't resist.

 

Hello Brandon1285 i'l chime in on this one here is a few things you can do! you may have thought of them may not.

1.cell phone call your family daily and your friends fill them in on what you do!
2.pictures messaging with your family
3.webcam---(wifi at almost all TA'S) this gives you eye to eye and also i use it to read stories to my children we each have the same books and we all read together! makes it a family thing!
4.postcards get them at every state you go to mail them too your kids. just imagine your children getting there own mail with there name on it.
5.pictures of your family carry them in your truck.

I hope some of these things help you in your new choice of life style. remember thats what it is. everything you once did now has changed. but it is a rewarding trade to be in.

 

Jagerbomber, that was spoken as a true, dedicated truck driver! You hit it all on the head of the nail, and just as truck drivers get home sick, spouses are sick of you not being home. When working together to enjoy what you do have, and not focusing on what you don't, it is only then you may realize neither one of you are ever without each other.

Trust, respect, patience, faith, dedication, communication, and understanding........Don't leave home without it, or you just may lose your way back home!

 

I really like the reading together and postcards-- I'll have to try that when I start up. Thanks!

 

Aztrucker great ideas, I love the post cards from round the world, and reading time together. When blade 1st went out, to help the kids adjust I remember putting a poster of the U.S. up on the wall with a package of star stickers, everytime dad called home or the kids called, they always wondered where daddy was, so with a star marking the map each time daddy called have the kids a sense of envolvement, knowing where daddy was. By the time there was really no more stars left, they were not near as sad thinking about daddys gone to work but where will daddy go next....and of course we needed more stars ...lol