Trailing Husbands
Your spouse gets an offer of a job overseas and you get to go along. That’s what most people think of when they hear the term “trailing spouse.” But sometimes the spouse getting the job offer is the wife, not the husband. What does he call himself? Well, for some, the answer is “stud.”
Stud or rather STUDS is an acronym for “Spouses Trailing Under Duress Successfully,” a social club for stay-at-home husbands and fathers living abroad. The first chapter was founded in Brussels in 1994 and currently has 40 to 50 active members. The original members are scattered throughout the world. Some of them organized a chapter in London which now has about 40 members.
The guys meet as often as once a week to talk politics, sports, and, just maybe, child-rearing. In Brussels, they play golf and go biking. In London, they have lunches and pub walks as well as golf games.
Mostly they speak English but they welcome speakers of other languages. The Brussels club hosts an annual dinner dance for themselves and their wives. The London chapter invites wives frequently so they can meet other couples where the wife is the working spouse.
For more information, check out www.belgiumstuds.com and www.studsoflondon.com.