On the Move: Military Travel Guide for Jetsetters

Going on adventures while serving in the military may seem like a challenging feat, considering the demanding nature of the profession. However, contrary to popular belief, it is indeed possible to strike a balance between military duties and leisure travel. In this guide, we will delve into the art of maximizing your time off in the military to explore the world around you. Whether you are seeking military trips or contemplating military travel options, this article aims to provide valuable insights on finding the best destinations for a rejuvenating long weekend. Additionally, we will unravel the secrets of effective budgeting for vacations, offering practical tips on utilizing travel planning spreadsheets and budget sheets for Excel. As someone frequently questioned about the compatibility of travel and military service, I assure you that it’s not about being out of the service; it’s about adeptly prioritizing and managing your time to savor the experiences that travel has to offer within the military lifestyle.

Budget Your Money to Travel

Key Takeaway: Make travel a financial priority by strategic budgeting. Trim unnecessary expenses, save money, and redirect funds towards the adventures you desire.

I’ll be honest with you – the ability to travel typically comes with making cuts at home. If you are willing to be a bit of a homebody, you will find yourself with a lot of money to spend traveling. If you spend a lot of money at home such as eating out, partying, expensive purchases, then your budget of travel will be non-existent.

One prevalent misconception hindering travel aspirations is the belief that it’s financially out of reach. Contrary to this notion, affordable travel is within everyone’s grasp; it’s a matter of prioritizing and making conscious choices. Personal experience, particularly during deployments, taught me to reevaluate my needs, realizing that material possessions weren’t as vital as I had initially thought when I first joined the military. Streamlining expenses on non-essential items like clothing and trinkets significantly reduced my spending (especially the trinkets).

A pivotal adjustment in my budgeting approach involved reining in expenditures on dining out and drinks. The impact of frequent restaurant visits can swiftly erode your monthly income. Instead, I opted for a balanced approach—indulging in takeout once a week while preparing most meals at home. For those with meal cards, opting for the dining facility over eating out can yield substantial savings. Cutting down on services provided by the hospitality industry proved to be an effective cost-saving strategy. Because let’s be real here – how often are you eating out every week and how much is that costing you?

Now, with the financial basics covered, let’s address another common budgeting excuse: “But I’m only a (insert rank), the military doesn’t pay me enough!”

While you may not be rolling in excess cash, there’s still room to enjoy budget-friendly travel. Trust me – I’ve seen people of all ranks go on nice trips – all the way down to PFC (E-3) to Specialists (E-4). Just don’t make those “Private” mistakes by having excessive car payments or frequent takeout and alcohol expenses.

Click here to download an excel budgeting sheet.

What you should ensure you keep in your budget:

• Retirement – try to put in enough to meet the max contribution limit each year ($5,500). Your future self will thank you.
• Rainy day funds – put away a little each month for emergencies.
• Insurance – Have homeowners insurance (even if in the barracks), and car insurance. While you may not use it often, insurance is a life saver for when things go wrong – and eventually, they do.
• Education – if you are not sticking around long enough to have the government pay for your schooling, then start saving for that now. Learn more about what you earn from the GI Bill here.

After those, everything else is basically negotiable. Based on a E-4 pay, if you can only put away the above $360 a month you will have $4,320 a year. If you can manage to trim the fat some more and put away $500 a month then you can have $6,000 a year. You can budget travel to a lot of US destinations for $800, that’s about 6 trips with $4,320 and almost 8 trips with $6,000.

How to Track Where Your Money is Going

Not sure where all that hard-earned money is disappearing to? Download Mint. This website and phone app will categorize your spending from your bank account. You will be given a pie diagram that will break down how much you are spending in each area. Use that to analyze where you can afford to cut down in order to save. My screenshot above shows my largest payment for this month so far is “Home” or basically my rent and home bills!

I used this app to create my rough estimates for my budget. I check it monthly and adjust my spending on “take out” and “groceries” accordingly. It’s a great way to remain aware of your spending.

Practical Tips for Saving Money While Traveling:

1. Embrace the Battle Buddy Approach: Leverage the military’s emphasis on camaraderie and find a travel buddy who shares your interest. Sharing a hotel room with a companion can significantly slash accommodation costs, as hotels often constitute a major expense in travel.
2. Connect with Diverse Military Networks: With the military community being diverse, build friendships with fellow service members from various locations. This provides an opportunity to visit and stay with friends in different places, granted you get permission beforehand.
3. Strategic Booking: Plan ahead and book your travel as early as possible, especially when armed with an approved leave/pass form. This foresight can result in significant savings on airline tickets and might also unlock budget-friendly hotel options.
4. Opt for Accommodations with Kitchenettes: Save on dining expenses by choosing hotels with kitchenette facilities. This enables you to prepare some of your meals in the comfort of your room, reducing the need to eat out for every meal.
5. Utilize Your Chevro-Legs: When exploring a city, consider walking to various sites instead of relying on expensive transportation like Uber or taxis. While it may take longer, walking allows you to discover hidden gems along the way, offering both an enriching experience and saving money. Instead of relying on taxis or rental cars, explore the local public transportation options. Public buses, subways, or trams are often more economical and can offer a chance to experience the destination like a local.
6. Take Photos not Trinkets: You’ll be surprised how much you spend on souvenirs or gifts while traveling. If you want to become a more frequent traveler then I would recommend cutting the trinkets/souvenirs. If you opt for just taking photos, you will find yourself saving between $20-100 each trip.
7. Travel During Off-Peak Seasons: Choosing to travel during off-peak seasons can result in lower prices for accommodations, flights, and attractions. Additionally, popular destinations are often less crowded, allowing for a more enjoyable and cost-effective experience.
8. Explore Alternative Accommodations: Consider alternatives to traditional hotels, such as vacation rentals, hostels, or guesthouses. These options can be more budget-friendly and provide a unique local experience.
9. Take Advantage of Military Discounts: Many businesses, including hotels, restaurants, and attractions, offer discounts to military personnel (within the United States). Always inquire about military discounts and present your military ID to avail of potential savings.
10. Pack Snacks and Water: Avoid unnecessary spending on snacks and beverages by packing your own. Having snacks and a reusable water bottle on hand can keep you fueled throughout the day without breaking the bank.
11. Take Advantage of Free Activities: Research and explore free activities and attractions in the destination. Many cities offer free walking tours, museums with free admission days, or outdoor events that can enhance your experience without adding extra costs.
12. Limit Data Roaming: If traveling internationally, be mindful of data roaming charges for your mobile phone. Utilize Wi-Fi whenever possible and consider purchasing a local SIM card or an international phone plan to avoid excessive charges.
13. Travel Insurance Comparison: Before purchasing travel insurance, compare different plans to find one that suits your needs and budget. Sometimes, credit cards may offer complimentary travel insurance, so check your existing coverage.
14. Collect Rewards Points: Take advantage of loyalty programs and credit card rewards. Accumulate points through travel-related expenses and use them for future trips, covering costs such as flights or hotel stays.

Optimal Times for Military Travel

Key Insight: Leverage the frequent long weekends provided in the military for local and short-distance travel. Plan ahead by checking your unit’s holiday schedule to maximize savings. Save your longer leave periods for flights that require 5 hours or more.

Now, let’s address the challenge of finding time to travel within the military.

We are fortunate to receive an annual allotment of 30 days of leave, a generous allowance when compared to the standard two weeks provided by most businesses in corporate America. Even more advantageous are the numerous training holidays, federal holidays, and designated days off (DONSA), essentially encompassing all the three-day and four-day breaks generously granted to military personnel. Taking advantage of these built-in breaks allows for strategic planning of travel experiences without depleting your leave days unnecessarily.

Use Long Weekends those long weekends to get in travel without impacting your leave. 

For the Soldiers in South Korea, I am counted 13 long weekends in 2019. That’s 46 additional days of potential travel time. Let’s say you can only make half of those long weekend due duty, training, or budget, that’s still 20 days’ worth of free additional paid travel be it outside of your local area – or even things in the area.

How do you find these travel dates? Most major commands have the yearly holiday schedule posted online, and after a quick google search a couple of installations, divisions, corps, have the memorandum for record that has the scheduled days off posted. The yearly holiday schedule is posted typically before the beginning of the new fiscal year (~September) so the entire next year is laid out in advance – so there shouldn’t be any surprise long weekends.

Just try googling your Corps, Division, or Installation and “holiday schedule”.

With your units holiday schedule you can plan well in advance for long weekends, submitting passes 1-3 months in advance depending on the unit standard operating procedure for mileage and foreign passes. This means cheaper tickets once the pass is approved! Long weekends are a great way to explore locally or check out destinations that are 4 hours or less flight away.

Another way to save on leave? The change in Military Leaves and Passes AR 600-8-10 allows for Pass, Leave, Pass “(pass/leave/pass/): A Soldier may take a pass period Friday to Sunday, legally take a leave period the following Monday through Thursday, then begin a new pass period the following Friday.”

How can you use Pass/Leave/Pass? A great example is during the Winter Break. If you have no plans to go somewhere, save that Leave by putting in a Pass for Christmas, leave for the days in-between and then Pass for NYEs. In this case you only used 3-4 days of leave instead of the 12. It requires some more paperwork, and commanders may complain, but you are authorized Pass/Leave/Pass. There is one note though – you have to return to your place of duty for each. This means you can’t put this in and be gone at your vacation spot for the entirety of the time.

How to Maximize Your Time Off

Click the image above or click here to download the excel calendar.

Plan. Plan. Plan. 

Be it with the calendar I have attached, or with any method that you want. But if you plan how to maximize your long weekends you can save money by booking early. It also puts a mark on your calendar of what you are saving for. This is also just a great way to accomplish your dream travel or bucket list spots so you aren’t leaving that duty station thinking “wow I didn’t go anywhere!”

Once you find your units holiday calendar then you can use this calendar resource to plan out the next year. This one is filled out with the plans I made for 2019 to show as an example of how you can use it. Just merge or unmerge the cells to make long weekends. Or print it out and hand write on it as necessary.

Added bonus: there is a leave calculator at the top. Just drop in your current leave count for January in the far-left column and each month will update to add the 2.5 days. If you plan to take leave one of the months just put the number of days you intend to take in that month’s second column. It will then subtract that number from your leave day total.

Tip: If you are noticing the cells are reading as “###” then the column is too small, just widen it a bit to see the number!

Resources to Plan Travel

If you are not certain about where to go but know you want to explore, then here are some ways to find new places to explore:

• Skyscanner: you can use this flight finder to also find destinations. Just plug in the nearest airport and then instead of putting in a destination type in “everywhere”. From there the website will generate approximate prices to a variety of locations. I recommend checking the block for “direct flights only”. From here you can see where you can easily catch a direct flight to! I use this feature all the time to try and find new places to go – I just list all the locations there are direct flights to and then research them to see if there is anything I would be interested in seeing or doing at that spot.

• Pinterest: If you found some random destination from the flight search above, or maybe you are trying to just explore locally, then Pinterest can be a wealth of information. Just type in the location name in a search bar and you can find a lot of pins related to that area with guides, itineraries, and everything in-between.
• Tripadvisor: Tripadvisor also has a lot of resources for locations, just search the “Things to Do” function to see popular attractions at a place you are interested in.