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TLFs Are Their Own Adventure Within The Adventure

August 21, 2017 By Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

by Allison Struber, Guest Contributor

A Temporary Lodging Facility, affectionately known as a TLF, is not like booking a Best Western where you know the rooms look the same no matter the city.

When you slide in your card key and the door handle turns, it is a mixed bag of what you might see. Maybe we’ll get lucky and this one will have mouthwash along with the little bars of soap!TLFs Are Their Own Adventure Within The Adventure

We have experienced our share of TLFs, but in our most recent stay, I’ve been reminded of 4 things that are always the same despite the differences in the rooms.

4 Things That You Will Find At Most Temporary Lodging Facilities

It is loud. One evening I was walking down the hallway of the hotel only to observe the clarity of sound that traveled from the individual units out into the public space.

It was bedtime and my kids were screaming. As I saw others entering their rooms, I desperately wanted to wave and walk past our door in a way of saying “whose kids are those!?”. Thankfully they entered their rooms before I had to reveal my parental identity.

Next time I’ll try to find a room near a barking dog. We all have our issues and it helps to be in good company. Plus, dog people are cool people.

Mealtimes are really interesting. Recently, in a plan to avoid buying extraneous groceries, I came up with the bright idea of cashing in my promotional dinner prep service. The box came and I put the items in the fridge feeling extremely accomplished.

It was all well and good except I did not account for the 40-minute prep, utilizing every dish in the cupboard and the failure to have basic ingredients on hand such as salt and sugar.

Despite the setbacks, meals 1 and 2 turned out fine. By day 3, I was so tired from lack of sleep and moving preparations, I cooked only the chicken and put the other ingredients on the table raw. We were ravenous, so most everything went – except the garlic cloves. The baby grabbed for them, but they seemed like a choking hazard.

Global footprints are left. I try to avoid waste in our daily living but in TLFs, the challenge is real. Does it help if I just use a little bit of the provided lotion? Surly they won’t throw it away with so much left in it – the conservation signs are everywhere.

I desperately want to save the planet like the signs promote, but I also don’t want to be doing dishes every time I eat, so I buy paper products. Please, someone eat the remaining mustard out of our container so I don’t have to trash it!

Friends are made. Perhaps it was the time we checked in and I became extremely ill. Thankfully the neighbor had kids and instantly took on the role of family by watching our little girl. I am forever grateful for their help.

Or maybe it was the time we met another family on the lawn outside our units. The situation was less than ideal since we were waiting for the fire department to come. I burned a bag of microwave popcorn and the fire alarm went off (oops!). Our friendship grew and this more experienced couple offered great encouragement to us in the years to come – beyond the advice to skip the popcorn and buy chips.

TLFs are their own adventure within the adventure and I’m grateful for them. When my persistence in calling pays off and I finally hear “there is room at the inn” I smile and say a bit of thanks I’m not having to stay in a barn.

We want to hear about your TLF experiences. Share the good and the bad in the comments section. 

Allison Struber is a mother of three and a lover of all things outdoors. Read more at her blog.

Filed Under: Articles, Military Lifestyle, Slider, Travel Tagged With: Connect the Dots, government travel orders, married to the military, military bases, military life, temporary lodging

How to Save or Even Make Money While on TDY

February 16, 2015 By Lila Quintiliani Leave a Comment

TDY (Temporary Duty) assignments can be like the proverbial box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. Some years, my husband has had TDY assignments every couple of weeks, flown to many of them and rented a car. In more recent, leaner times, he’s only gone a few times a year and had to drive our old clunker.

Regardless of the nature of the assignment, though, TDY assignments all have one thing in common: we have (mostly) made money on them. Yes, after his rookie first trip, when we didn’t know any better,we have always made money on TDY assignments.

Here are 5 tips to help you save or even make money while your service member is on temporary duty.5 Tips to Help Military Families Save or Even Make Money During a TDY

  1. Know your entitlements and the rules before you go. Are you entitled to a rental car? Do you know how much you are being paid per diem? Are you being given in-and-around mileage? Do you have to save receipts for everything? Do you know how to file for your reimbursement? These are questions that you should be asking beforehand and you should be familiar with the government travel regulations. The Joint Travel Regulation is the bible when it comes to all things travel-related. However, it weighs in at more than 1,600 pages. So if you need a more accessible place to find answers, try the Defense Travel Management Office’s website. Here you can find detailed information on such topics as the government travel charge card, lodging and how to file your travel vouchers. You can also look up per diem rates around the world.
  1. Be picky about where you stay. While it’s easy to stay at the lodging on the installation, this might not always be the best choice. When we were stationed in Virginia and my husband was frequently sent to the D.C. area, he found that there were several “suite” type hotels that not only had small kitchenettes, but also served hot breakfasts, dinner several times a week and hosted nightly “manager’s receptions” with drinks and appetizers, all for free. Those were all meals that he didn’t have to buy. But in more remote locations, the government lodging could be the only game in town. And if you’re not entitled to in-and-around mileage, you probably want to stay as close to your meeting or event as possible.
  2. Make a good point. My husband has joined the loyalty programs for every hotel and airline that he has used. If you choose to stay at the same hotel chain or fly the same airline consistently, you can rack up rewards pretty quickly. These rewards can translate into free hotel stays or other travel perks later on. While my husband does use his government credit card for things that he will have to produce a receipt and file for (such as rental cars, flights and lodging), for meals and everything else, he makes sure to use our travel rewards Visa card which pays us 1.5 points for every dollar spent. If you are traveling overseas, you will want to make sure your credit card isn’t charging you foreign transaction fees.
  3. Eat to live, don’t live to eat. That first, financially disastrous TDY went something like this: drive-thru breakfast every morning, lunch out at a burger place, dinner at a chain sports bar/restaurant with all the guys. Not only is that bad for the wallet, it’s bad for the waistline. These days, if my husband hasn’t found a hotel that serves a free breakfast, he brings protein bars and granola from home and eats that for breakfast. Lunch is usually Subway or some other sandwich place. 
    Eat to live, don’t live to eat during TDYs. #military

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     And if there’s not some sort of mandatory fun social event going on at dinner, he will either find a semi-healthy microwaveable meal to heat up and eat in his room, thereby saving on drinks and tips. He figures he is able to save at least half of what he is entitled to for meals and incidentals.

  4. Be prepared for the hurry up and wait. Make sure you’ve set aside funds to pay off the credit card bills you may rack up while you are TDY. Even though you are sure that you are entitled to reimbursement, be prepared to pay your credit card bills if you’ve used your personal card for meals and other incidental expenses or else you may incur hefty fines and interest fees. My hubby went on a TDY last September that happened to fall right at the end of the government’s fiscal year, which complicated the filing process considerably. Almost 5 months later, we are still waiting to be reimbursed. When in doubt, use the government travel card as most government credit cards will not charge a fee or interest for late payments due to non-reimbursement.

Even with all the cutbacks and reductions in entitlements, with a little bit of preparation and planning, you can turn your TDY assignment into a potentially money-making experience.

How has your service member saved money during a TDY assignment?

Filed Under: Articles, Money, Slider Tagged With: budgeting, Credit Card, Economics, government travel orders, Made Money, Save Money, TDY assignments, Temporary Duty Assignment

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