My brother in law did this for 18 months; he said he had trouble getting enough to read since that’s what he mostly did. Maybe take lots of books?
Good luck.
Kindle, if you’re into reading. That way, if there’s any net access (I assume so), you’ll be able to get all the books you want. Just get it before you go there.
Great idea. I have a Kindle, but this sparks a question: are there any licensing problems involved in downloading Kindle books while in Afghanistan? Being out of country doesn’t make that difficult, does it..?
In his tale, it sounded like he was near where the incoming rounds were hitting- it apparently shook all the shit off whatever shelves he had set up in his CHU.
Most of the larger bases have substantial libraries of donated books but I also doubt you’ll have any trouble downloading to your kindle if you have an internet connection.
Can you tell us where you’re going?
I don’t know yet! There are several slots they’re trying to fill.
I’m nowhere near Afghanistan, but I am living overseas. I have an Amazon Kindle account for my Android, and it allows me to download books via my UK account from where I am. So yeah, just make sure your account is active at home and your Kindle is synced before you leave.
Good luck. Would be great if you could explore some Afghan culture (and food!) while you’re there, but I suspect it’d be a bit too dangerous. Make sure to download The Kite Runner if you haven’t already read it.
Congrats!
It will be an adventure that I am sure will change your life for the better - nothing like getting out there and experiencing all there is to see and do.
I would at least try to learn some of the language, Dari Persian, if possible. Not that you will be able to roam the countryside and hitchhike around, but still - I always think it is a good idea to learn at least a smattering of the local language. Even a poor attempt at a local language is appreciated and shows you care enough to try.
When possible, please come back to the boards and fill us in on your adventures!
Congrats. From what I’ve seen, the living standards can vary quite a bit from a relatively posh posting at Baghram to more spartan housing at a PRT somewhere. I’ve been to really small special forces outposts out in the mountains and even they had some sort of sat. TV set up. From what I’ve seen, most people don’t have tv in their rooms, but there are TVs in common areas.
Some people have been lucky enough to have their own rooms, while I’ve known other people who have had to share Connexes with more than one room mate. Just in case you don’t have good internet when you get there, load up a Kindle or whatever with some serious reading material. I like to make sure I have both heavy and light reading, there’s nothing worse than being stuck somewhere with 10 Russian novels when all you’re in the mood for is some Calvin and Hobbes.
Depends on where you are. For a short time I was in an a housing area controlled by the state department. The tv selection was great. On a regular FOB I only had AFN. AFN is now multiple channels. AFN news rotates throughout the day between all of the major cable news networks.
Thanks re. the Kindle information - good to know. (The last thing I want to do is lug a million books over there!) Re. Afghan culture, my understanding is that I’ll essentially never leave base, for better or worse, so my contact will be limited to the few vendors they let on. (Someone can set me straight if I have the wrong impression.) But hopefully there will at least be an opportunity to try the food, if not meet some of the people!
Thanks, and an excellent idea re. learning some of the language - though, per the above, I don’t know how often I’d get to use it. 
Incidentally, I’m almost as excited about the fact that I’ll first be spending some time training in your old neck of the woods, i.e. Germany. Can’t wait!
Due to the nature of my work, I’ll be on one of the bigger, more established bases - so I don’t know that I’ll have my own room and TV and stuff, but it at least won’t be an isolated outpost in the mountains.
Funny advice re. light and heavy reading - I was thinking I should load up on those Russian novels and 1,000-page histories I’ve spent my life meaning to read. But of course, I’m sure I’ll want a lot of lighter stuff as well.
AFN, multiple channels? Wow…when I was very little there was one channel that didn’t even broadcast all day. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but still - wow.
Check out the AFN web page. It gives you the schedule. Where you go may not have all the channels but probably several.
We had a saying when we were there: You either come home a hunk, a chunk or a drunk. Being on base you won’t have to worry about the drunk part but I recommend opting for the work out regime and coming home a hunk. (I came home a drunk hunk :p.)
…which you can’t, so don’t even try. You’ll be surrounded by Americans the entire time. You might meet an Afghani or two, but don’t expect any sort of cultural exposure. You’ll get more of that in a cab ride in New York than a whole year in Afghanistan.
Also, I just want to reiterate- Go to the gym! Spend at least an hour there each day. Remember, there’s nothing in your hutch that you have to hurry back to. Might as well toss some weights around. Building muscle and looking great is the biggest reward for spending a year away from home.
Not to mention the ladies will…“appreciate” the effort. Just keep that in mind every day!
Hunk, chunk, or drunk…well, I can hopefully eliminate one of the three; of the remaining two, I’m not much of a hunk at the moment (desk jobs and junk food will do that to you…), and if I’m not exactly a “drunk”, it probably wouldn’t hurt me to kick the beer habit for a while. So hunkdom, here I come!
You’re inspiring me to take a “before” picture to contrast to the Rodgers 2013 edition!
Lot of good advice here - and congrats, Rodgers01, on getting the gig. Hope you’ll keep us posted on things while you’re there, if you can. If not, take lots of notes and then come back and tell us everything upon (what I sincerely hope will be) your safe return! Godspeed.
Although I do hear complaints about the speed, my friends that are currently in Afghanistan are able to communicate semi regularly on the Internet.
Thanks all for the well-wishes, and yes - internet access allowing, I will keep you all updated! 