Debating whether to wait it out

I'm in a somewhat unique position. I've spent well over a year now deployed to the Middle East, and I have about eight or nine months left out here. Presently, I have no idea where I'll end up when I do eventually head back to civilization. Could be the US, or Australia, or possible somewhere in Europe. Ever since joining this site last month I've been wondering whether I should try to meet someone online, and work on developing a relationship while I'm still out here, or wait it out until I'm settled into my next position before pursuing a relationship with anyone.

While I'm sure I could put the time I have left out here to good use searching for and getting to know the right woman, I'm also worried it will persuade me to make less-than-rational decisions affecting where I move next. I also don't want a solely online relationship; even if it starts out that way, I want something "real."

Can anyone who has been in a similar situation share the path they took, and what motivated them to do so?

A difficult circumstance.

My gut was to say cultivate as many relationships (low-key) as you can so that no matter where you landed, you would have at least some local contacts who would be able to introduce you into the local scene.

But as you say, if you become involved (high-key) and it might sway your career decisions, well after-the-fact, you go with the relationship because they're actually hard to come by imo... but because it hasn't happened yet, maybe it is best to wait so that you don't have the issue when it comes time to make that career decision.

We all have "requirements" of our partners... and one of yours could be "my partner must be willing to relocate when I relocate."

Don't know what else to tell you because I was never the proverbial military brat nor in that situation myself.

I'm on the same page as the previous poster. So much so that I have very little to say otherwise.

The only thing that I would add is that the relocation thing when it comes to internationally could be difficult in that not all countries let all people come and live in them (including military), so you might want to take that into consideration.

I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide. Good Luck with the new career moves :)

When I said including military in my previous post I meant military families, obviously not the military itself :)