Lodging offers military vacationers a home away from home

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Wendy Lopedote
  • 916th Public Affairs Office
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  The following commentary is the third installation in a four-part series by Master Sgt. Wendy Lopedote on the military benefits in the realm of travel and tourism. Visit the wing's Facebook page to see where Master Sgt. Lopedote visited in August as part of her "Where in the World is Wendy Lopedote" contest.


Home is where you hang your hat. Home is where your heart is. A man's home is his castle and E.T. even phoned home.

As a military member though, you are never really far from home no matter where in the world you happen to be.

That's because a little touch of familiarity can be found in the hundreds (maybe thousands) of lodging options available to service members and retirees across the United States, Europe and even parts of Asia.

Nothing was more comforting to me than stumbling upon the last room available at an American base near Naples, Italy. For four hours I had been circling the city, lost in a maze of tiny streets and completely surrounded by equally tiny cars with surprisingly large, angry drivers.

I'm not sure if it was my stunned, deer-in-the-headlights look, or if my Italian had become a little less broken, but I managed a communications breakthrough and a police escort to my new home for the night, the Capo Inn at Naval Support Activity, Naples.

The cost for a really nice room, with marble-tiled floors and an upscale kitchenette was just a fraction of what hotels in the city were charging. That was back in 1999, but a recent check of their website showed the current prices for rooms are $60-$80 per person.

You don't even have to be a desperate world traveler to take advantage of great prices on lodging. Forty-four states in the U.S. have military installations - with several states having many bases.

With the right planning, staying on the cheap close to major attractions is well within your reach as a member of this "exclusive" military travel club.

For example, to stay near Southern California attractions such as Hollywood, Disneyland and SeaWorld San Diego, book a room at Los Angeles Air Force Base or March Air Reserve Base for about $45 per night rather than at least $150 per night out in town.
Don't forget the sister services either. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar have several lodging choices in the Southern California region. The main lodging at each of these bases has recently undergone renovations so they're not like the navy rooms of old (for any of you who've been there, you know what I mean).

For those wanting to stay on this side of the country, there are many military lodging choices all up and down the eastern seaboard.

Going to Orlando? Check out Patrick AFB on the Atlantic coast of Florida or MacDill AFB on the gulf coast. Both are a little driving distance away but are still in the thick of the many fun things to do in the Sunshine state.

Staying at Langley AFB or Norfolk Naval Station will save you big time when you want to cash in your annual "free entry" into Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. And finding a room near our nation's capitol should be no problem with the abundance of military installations in that region to choose from.

If getting closer to the dirt or communing with nature is more your style, you will find that many bases have a family camping area, or "FamCamp." This may be the most cost effective way to vacation if you're traveling with a big family, as rates are extremely reasonable.

On our recent trip to Sturgis, S.D., my husband, Ben, and I stayed at Ellsworth AFB's FamCamp. We had a large tent space with electrical hook-up (via a very long extension cord). Our total for the weeks' stay was a whopping $48. People who stayed for the week at private campgrounds closer to Sturgis were paying upwards of $300 - per person!
Quality of services does vary at each FamCamp as does the size and number of sites available. It was only $6 per night for us to set up camp at Hunter Army Airfield, Ga., on a trip south a couple of years ago. However, it was on the primitive side, with only a small sink and toilet in the bathroom - no showers. We made do.

The location was spectacular though with the Hunter FamCamp set right on the banks of the intra-coastal waterway south of Savannah, Ga. After the fishing boats turned in for the night, we were the only ones out there to watch the fireflies dance in and out of the Spanish moss hanging from the branches of massive oak trees.

Nothing, it seems, could break the serenity. That is, until the helicopters flew overhead... repeatedly... all night long.

Yes, the biggest drawback of staying on a military installation is that it is a military installation, complete with reveille, the national anthem, and day and night operations of all types of aircraft.

But that's the sound of freedom, right? A little noise is a small price to pay (along with the small price of lodging) to be able to have a safe, clean, and oh-so-familiar home away from home.

To start your own adventure, make sure you do your homework. I've found the following sites to be very helpful in tracking down the information I need to plan a memorable, but still inexpensive (read "cheap") vacation:

http://af.dodlodging.net

http://benefits.military.com/misc/installations/Landing_Page.jsp

www.militarycampgrounds.us/