APO/FPO Friendly Shops

I would like to share a frustration of mine. My family has been stationed overseas four times, in four different countries, and my husband has been deployed four times. All those assignments and deployments have combined to total nearly 10 years of living and working overseas. While we welcome each chance to live somewhere new, living at military bases overseas comes with some unique challenges. One of those major challenges is shopping. While it's fun to get off base, and buy locally (My home can attest to the fact that I'm good at shopping in other parts of the world.), on a daily basis my family has needs that are best fulfilled by items we can purchase in the States. The Commissaries and AAFES help with many of those needs, but in addition, I do a great deal of shopping online. Here is where the frustration comes into play. While I appreciate all the retailers, big and small, that ship to APO and FPO addresses, there are many that do not. I think that there are a number of reasons that shops choose not to ship overseas, but I believe that one of the biggest reasons is that they simply don't understand the process. APO/FPO addresses include a US zip code, so shipping to them is done via the United States Post Office and the shipping rates are the same as they are Stateside. The only difference in shipping to military bases overseas is that a customs form must be filled out for most packages, but the process takes only a minute or two.

Ghandi said "to be the change you want to see in the world". So, rather than sitting at home and complaining to my husband that I can't order a particular birthday gift for my daughter, I am starting a shopping directory, at Dot Mil Mom, that features shops that ship to APO/FPO addresses. If you already do so, please contact me at dotmilmom at yahoo dot com to be included in our shopping directory. If you don't ship to APO/FPO addresses yet, but would like more information on how to start, please contact me as well. It is a wonderful way to Support Our Troops and I look forward to hearing from you.