Military Traveler Tips - part 2

When our friend got married in Virginia Beach, lodging for myself and my sister cost cost less than my dinner.  How is that possible in such a high dollar destination?  Through the power of accessing the Navy Lodge.  

This color never looked good on me.

When looking at a target destination, I sometimes forget to check to see if there is a military base nearby.  This is a terrible oversight on my part.  After all, base services and amenities allow us many opportunities to stretch our money and enjoy a higher standard of traveling.  

One of those amenities is the availability of DoD Lodging. For example, Navy Lodges are a wide network of hotel-like accommodations at affordable rates. As a woman who sometimes travels alone in unfamiliar territory, it adds a sense of security to be located on or just outside military bases.  I've stayed in Navy Lodges in several states, never paying more than sixty-ish bucks a night.  Generally speaking, adjusting my route slightly to stay at a Navy Lodge over a comparable (but more expensive) hotel is totally worth it.  

Check out the offerings:

• California:  El Centro    Lemoore    Moffett (San Francisco)    Monterey    North Island    Port Hueneme    San Diego    

• Florida:  Jacksonville    Key West    Mayport    Pensacola    

• Georgia:  King's Bay    

• Hawaii:  Hawaii Inn (Schofield Army Base)    

• Illinois:  Great Lakes NTC    

• Maryland:  Annapolis    Bethesda    Paxtuxent River    

• Mississippi:  Gulfport    

• Connecticut:  New London    

• Nevada:  Fallon    

• New York:  New York City    

• Rhode Island:  Newport    

• Tennessee:  Memphis    

• Texas:  Corpus Christi    Fort Worth    

• Virginia:    Little Creek/Fort Story    Norfolk    Oceana/Dam Neck    

• Washington State:  Bangor    Everett    Whidbey Island

• Washington DC    

• Cuba:  Guantanamo Bay (no thanks)    

• Italy:  Sigonella    Naples    

• Japan:  Yokosuka    Atsugi    Sasebo    

• Spain:  Rota

But that's just the Navy Lodge.  Also available to military members and retirees:  Inns of the Corps, Navy Gateway Inns, Army Lodging.. the list goes on.  And believe it or not, the government actually has a force-wide site to organize all the information.  If you've been with/in/around the military for a while, you'll recognize what a rare treasure this is!

https://www.dodlodging.com/html/namerica.htm Check it out!

Coming up in the Military Travelers series, we'll talk about MWR, ITT, USO, TLF, and any other alphabet soup you could think of!

Happy Travels!

Marion K.