The Trailing Spouse

The Trailing Spouse: A term used to describe a person who follows his or her life partner to another city, often country, because of a work assignment.

My husband works for an international Australian-based company, and was posted to Memphis, Tennessee for a great, career enhancing role. ‘Trailing Spouse’ is my current job title, and has been for the last year and a bit, or 20 months if you count the time since I quit my job. Besides parenting, it’s probably been the most challenging, yet rewarding job that I have ever done. It’s fairly unique, and there aren’t a lot of us that have the opportunity to do this. So, here are my thoughts so far in case you’re interested, or find yourself in a similar position in the future.