# [2008] Fulltime timesharing?



## ronandjoan (Aug 1, 2008)

Anyone else out there timesharing full time?  

We got inspired by Ray's journal when we first joined TUG some years ago and now, finally completed our plan: sold our house last month (in a week, no less!), finished the MISERABLE job of downsizing and going through ALL those boxes (where does all the STUFF come from), sold a lot of stuff (eBay, plus a FREE garage sale!) and put it all in a storeroom in Ohio.  And took off!

To Seattle for the regular monthly visit to my mother (full blown dementia) and now back to Nashville at the Wyndham for 2 weeks, then to PHX to visit my nice for a week (Westgage Painted Mountain) back to Nashvile (flights form BNA to PHX were very cheap in the summer) and then onward to our journey.  Have most things booked through next June...Who else out there is doing this and what tips can you give?.  

You can PM me too, for more conversation. Would love to share ideas.


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## VacationPro (Aug 1, 2008)

ronandjoan said:


> Anyone else out there timesharing full time?
> 
> We got inspired by Ray's journal when we first joined TUG some years ago and now, finally completed our plan: sold our house last month (in a week, no less!), finished the MISERABLE job of downsizing and going through ALL those boxes (where does all the STUFF come from), sold a lot of stuff (eBay, plus a FREE garage sale!) and put it all in a storeroom in Ohio.  And took off!
> 
> ...



Someday, I would like to do this--maybe not full time, but for a big chunk of the year.  I look forward to the responses in this thread, and would love to hear the logistics of how you do this.  Enjoy!  :whoopie:


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## DeniseM (Aug 1, 2008)

Wow, Joan, that's amazing!  Good for you!   

I'm curious - In general, how many TS weeks do you own?

How many exchanges did you make?

How many weeks are rented?

What are your MF's?


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## charcoalmana (Aug 1, 2008)

You need to write a book on the expierence and how you did it !  That's cool stuff , Good Luck


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## ciscogizmo1 (Aug 1, 2008)

Very cool... I'd love to timeshare full time...  You'll have to write a blog or something to share your experiences.

Enjoy your journey...


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## RIMike (Aug 1, 2008)

I too am interested in how the experience and expenses are working out for you..let us know.


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## riverdees05 (Aug 1, 2008)

Sounds great.  Full Time RVing has been going on some time, but may have slowed down with the price of fuel.  Full Time Timesharing sounds like a wonderful adventure.  Please keep us posted, maybe a blog or something like that, I look forward to reading more about your experiences, etc.   If you read some of the books on full time RVing, it might be helpful to see some of the things you have to plan for and ways to handle things, like mail, phone, bills, etc.


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## Aussiedog (Aug 1, 2008)

*Me too!*

How fun   !!!

One of the things that we saw in the 70s and 80s with those who sold their homes and went on the road with their Winnabagos was that at some point they had to stop, usually due to health issues for one or both spouses.  Having a "medical home" (as we now call it) becomes very important as we age.

Since it sounds like your timeshares are in several places I would be interested in your exit strategy.

Ann


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## Dori (Aug 1, 2008)

Joan, what a wonderful plan!  We thought we were doing well planning for 5 weeks next February!  What an adventure you are embarking on.  It will be fabulous.  

We had the great pleasure of meeting Ray and his charming wife Darlene.  For several years, we would visit each other in Florida in February or March.  We spent many happy hours learning of their travels and gathering TS tips.

Have a gtreat time and please keep us posted.

Dori


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## ronandjoan (Aug 2, 2008)

Thanks everybody for the posts - friends said I should write a BLOG too, but I didn;t take it too seriously.  Guess I need too - even if only to keep a journal for myself too!  I always want to and then don;t.

To begin to answer questions:  

We are VIP Wyndham so with the discounted points available (I know some people don't think it is worth it, but it does save us a lot of points),  we can stay at Fairfield resorts and also use the RCI deposits avialable with them.  

We also own 9 other weeks at other resorts.  Some of you will remember that I love Telemark so much up in Cable, WI, and owners can get available  weeks for $199 at 3 weeks out so we are hoping to add on two weeks to our 2 weeks stay there this fall.   $199 a week - that's cheaper than our mortgage was!  and good rent for a very large 2 BD lakeside unit!

We own 5 weeks at St AUgustine Beach and Tennis CLub, (II's TAS) 3 are fixed in January, so we'll be there then.  Trips to MeX, in November, Feb, through SFX and Donitas, and then Hawaii in the spring with SFX.  Other weeks here and there with RCI.

More later.

 and


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## swift (Aug 2, 2008)

Aussiedog said:


> How fun   !!!
> 
> One of the things that we saw in the 70s and 80s with those who sold their homes and went on the road with their Winnabagos was that at some point they had to stop, usually due to health issues for one or both spouses.  Having a "medical home" (as we now call it) becomes very important as we age.
> 
> ...



This is exactly what happened to my parents. They sold everything and went full time RV'ing. My siblings and I begged them to rethink things. Sure enough 2 years later my mom went in for a simple shoulder surgery and things went wrong. She ended up coming out in a full time wheelchair. Of course the wheelchair didn't fit in the RV and they couldn't sell it. Ended up giving it back to the bank and my siblings and I pooled together to get them a duplex. Please protect yourself and have a plan in place. You will be glad you did.


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## Carolinian (Aug 2, 2008)

There was a retired older gentleman who owned a week in the early fall at a resort I own at on the Outer Banks, who had been timesharing full time for years.  Nobody ever remembered him having a wife.  He always showed up by himself and drove his own car.  He owned fixed weeks 52 weeks of the year and moved around.  He liked to sit and talk with the manager from time to time and talk about his travels.  One year, he was having obvious health problems when he was on the OBX and when the m/f bills went out at the end of that year, a response came from a relative the he had died.  So he managed to keep timesharing until nearly the end.


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## ronandjoan (Aug 2, 2008)

Health:  yes, you mentioned health issues.  That is why we are doing this NOW, while we still have our health, and of course, we never know how long we'll have it.  I am hoping for 5 years of health - 

we are talking 2 years of full time timesharing, but the time is already passing so quickly, that.....maybe 5?  Maybe till the end, like the gentleman above?

We plan on returning to Ohio a couple of times a year, not only because all our STUFF is there, but the doctors are too.  I also do various things at the high school there in our small town.


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## heather (Aug 2, 2008)

We timeshare for 5 months of the year by exchanging through RCI, II and Redweek, developer bonus weeks from RCI, Extra Vacations RCI, and Skyauction. But we maintain a home where we love to be in the summer. Our winter costs at our permanent home are reduced by shutting off everything electrical, reducing the natural gas costs to minimal heat, and suspending the phone, cable tv and ISP. We no longer want to move every week but manage to be in most places for at least three weeks where we have established friendships with those who do the same. Life is good!!!!
I too am happy to share strategies.


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## BevL (Aug 2, 2008)

I love this thread.  I've recently sold my professional practice and am taking on work that I can do anywhere with internet access.  Hubby and I have discussed staying for two months, say November, December in Palm Springs using getaways - kids and friends are thinking it's a great thing - they'd have a place to land!!


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## vacationhopeful (Aug 2, 2008)

Fulltime timesharing might be a bit too much, but 39 weeks is 75% of the time. 

I think I might be able to handle only 40% of the time. Like 20 weeks.


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## ronandjoan (Aug 2, 2008)

Heather and Bev, good to hear from you.

Yes, Heather, we have stayed away for 6 months during the last 2 winters to try out our plan and avoid the snow in Ohio (you do not say where your home is) .  I love the spring and summers in Ohio too!  but with the total costs of the mortgage and utilities continuing while we were gone, we decided to try this for a while.  

We don;t mind moving every week (so far) although we have enjoyed staying the 3 weeks at Telemark and St Augustine. We'll also have 3 weeks at the Mayan Palace in PV this November and 2 consecutive weeks in Cancun at the in Feb.  Same in HI in April....  Time will tell how long until we tire of moving often.

The first time we had to pack up to leave a timeshre was a shock!  as for several people we have talked to.  What a job!  But, hopefully we have gotten better at it!  I'm sure some, though, are even more proficient than we!


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## luv2vacation (Aug 2, 2008)

What a wonderful adventure!  :whoopie: 

It is something that Hubby and I would like to do when we retire, although maybe not full-time, but at least 20 or so weeks per year.  

Such a great way to see other parts of the country and the world.  And to keep going back to some of your favorite places.

Please keep us updated.


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## Mel7706 (Aug 2, 2008)

*Great thread*

We,too, had a chance to meet and talk to Ray & Darlene.
Very nice & interesting folks. They had a system for what they carried and how it was packed. They had a condo in Massachusetts for permanent residence near family.
We had friends who went fulltime RVing. Changed to a state tax free permanent residence. Mail was sent to a drop and remailed to them as instructed. They enjoyed it for years. Have fun & please provide a link to your blog.


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## heather (Aug 3, 2008)

I'm happy Joan to share where I live. We are in Ontario, Canada on the banks of the St. Lawrence River where I garden to my heart's content from May to early October when what we call our "timehare box" comes out of storage. We spend from mid October to the end of November in the southeastern US, come home for December, and at the end of December leave until sometime in April. For the past few years we stuck to the east coast from Florida to South, with a cruise thrown in somewhere but this year we have reserved in Sedona, Phoenix and Palm springs for January and then will head to South Carolina. All of this is obviously off season but we don't mind. In the next few years we will likely try Portugal for two months as others have done so very happily. We too pack very systematically but somehow our "stuff" seems to overwhelm us sometimes, especially with one set of golf clubs in the trunk of our car (no van or suv for us) and treasures we have purchased along the way.

At last count awhile ago we were up to sixtie + exchanges. I keep all of the confirmations in a binder so must count again soon. It's a bragging thing!!!

It's good to be back here.


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## Carol C (Aug 3, 2008)

Joan, it's cool that you started this thread! I knew about your life change and transition to timeshares, but I wonder if more folks aren't doing same. Of course longtime TUGgers have Ray Harper to thank for inspiration and his journals. I had a chance to see one of his spreadsheets once...that's how he kept track of all the timeshare stays he piggybacked from Thanksgiving to Easter. I think that's the way to go in order to keep it all organized.

As for me, I'm planning to live in timeshares for parts of the winter when weather is crummy here in Georgia. That's primarily mid-Nov to mid-Feb. I don't garden then. My focus will be living in Mexico (primarily Mazatlan and PV) during my winter season. Some years I wouldn't mind spending a few winter months in Spain...Costa del Sol or Mallorca, or even in South America where they have summer when we have winter. Of course those exotic locales will depend on airfares being affordable when I retire.

Speaking of airfares, Joan, do you snag frequent flier tickets for your far-flung forays? 

Let's keep this thread going. It is good to read Heather's postings as well as others!


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## ace2000 (Aug 3, 2008)

I've enjoyed this thread also.  Would anyone care to share your packing tips?  I assume you've got it down to a science.  Also, what do you do during the time in between?  Or do you try to get the same unit for multiple weeks straight?

I hope to be joining the 'club' within the next couple of years.

Scott


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## icydog (Aug 3, 2008)

Our plan was to have enough DVC points to stay at WDW for a month at a time. I now have enough points to stay for two months or a full winter season if we could stay in a studio, God forbid. We love Orlando but will never buy another second home. We had one for sale in St Augustine for two years before it sold well below value this year. 


I also couldn't change resorts like you plan on doing. I would waste two days each week packing and unpacking. Also going on airplanes would be out as well. Too much money. 

As it is we vacation at least one week a month *without *using our DVC points at all. With our Marriott and HGVC weeks, our BG points and last minute deals, our II ACs, our RCI weeks, and then RHC points (and weekly) contracts we could be gone all the time. But we choose not to be. 

I'd miss my dog and kitties too much and I don't have enough money to kennel them for months at a time. *But the thought of it sure is nice. *

The new Marriott in Orlando, we just bought, gives us two 1 bdrms instead of a studio and a one bdrm, so in essence, with our two weeks we could stay for a month in Orlando in our one bdrm units. That sounds nice for a cool NJ February. Too bad the place doesn't open until 2010!!!:annoyed: And too bad ts don't let you take your pets like RV places do

I wish you the best of luck. Let us know how you are doing from time to time.


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## ronandjoan (Aug 4, 2008)

*FF miles for longer trips*

Yes, Carol, I managed to get the FF miles from Delta for the Cancun trip in February and the Hawaii trip in April/May.  Despite the changes in award ticketing!  The November trip to PV was cheaper to buy a ticket from Seattle.

We have quite a few miles and they are there so in case of emergencies, if avaiable, we can use them, as well as for friends and family. 

For 2 family deaths now, we have been able to use them, even at the last minute - one will be tomorrow when we fly back to Seattle from Nashville  (we are at the Wyndham here) since my stepsister died.

We'll return here when we will be staying another week.  Wyndham front desk people arranged it so we could be in the same room for the full 2 1/2 weeks here, even though I had multiple small reservations to make up this stay.


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## ronandjoan (Aug 12, 2008)

*We're not on vacation; we're just living somewhere else!*

Good friends rent a condo for 6 to 8 weeks at the Townhouses at St. Augustine Beach and Tennis Club, where we own some timeshare weeks, said the above quote.  They, like us, bring their computer and printer, and just continue their activities as if at home: except they are in a better climate for the winter! That was our goal too, to get away from the snow.
     Last week we got a call from my father in Oak Harbor, Washington.  We were afraid it was bad news about his wife, who has been very sick.  No, it was her daughter, who also had been sick, but now had passed away.  We got on the Web and got a frequent flyer airline ticket to Seattle from Nashville and went for three days for the funeral.  We told the front desk that we would be gone.  We just left our stuff here, as we were coming back for another week.  We were not interrupting our “vacation”; we were just leaving “home”.


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## lprstn (Aug 12, 2008)

*Sign me up!!!!*

We purchased what we had in thoughts of TSing at least 6 months a year.  We plan to work as contractors for 4 to 6 months stints than travel for the remainder of the year.  

We plan to downsize to a townhome which we own as a rental property now, but it will be paid off by the time my youngest son goes to college.  Once he is outta the house I will be 56yrs old and we plan to sell the big house then.  The rental property is a 2 bedroom, that way if our son has to come home to visit we have a room for him.  Otherwise we will be spending the summers on the road,and hopefully some of our kids can come with us.

For now, I just have to be happy going 1 place a month (we do a 4 day weekend somewhere every month), 4 weeks a year (both me and DH have 5 weeks of vacation/holiday time a year), and every other weekend in the summer.  

My kids happily give up going to sleep away camps and other summer camps for the ability to travel every other weekend in the summer.  We give them a choice and they always chose to travel.  With Wyndam VIP I am able to snag discounted weekend getaways for little or nothing in points, and book my RCI weeks (the 4 weeks a year) with additional points.

LIfe for me now is good and I can't complain, and when I retire it will be even better with TSing 6 months outta the year.  So please keep the information coming as it can make this a real possibility for me with seeing others able to do it.


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## jennstall (Aug 30, 2008)

I love this thread. And I've love to timeshare full-time. I had always dreamed about RVing fulltime, but the more I thought about it the more I realised that I am not "maintenance girl". It is bad enough just remember to get the oil changed in my car LOL  

Right now I live with family in the Northeast while I build my own business, but since I work online and it is transportable, I am spending the winter in Florida. Last year I spent about 6 weeks down there, split between my DVC timeshare, my RHC and then the rest of the time at HoJo's 

But this year, I have nearly 8 weeks booked from December to end of January. So far three weeks at DVC (but leaving weekends to conserve pts) and then the rest is all RCI Extra getaways. I'm trying to decide now if I want to shell out money to spend February in Florida as well (all the prices for Extra getaways shoot up dramatically in Feb.) or move up north to Myrtle Beach for the month. It won't be as nice as Florida, but I'm sure it will still be better than Boston! And a lot cheaper than Fl.

What will be really nice this winter is I'll get to see different parts of Fl. and not just Orlando.


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## Black Diamond (Sep 2, 2008)

*7 year away from full-time TS*

:whoopie: Waiting for kids to exit for college,  then hit the road to TS all winter in south, travel in mid-west and other places during summer months. 

Thanks!!


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## rickandcindy23 (Sep 2, 2008)

Good luck to all of you who are considering full-time timeshare living.  We have very deep roots in Denver (travel about 8 weeks a year), and all of our kids are nearby, so we can't do the same.  I like living vicariously through others, so a journal here would be a great way to share your experience.


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## x3 skier (Sep 3, 2008)

Definitely not full time but with 12 weeks every ski season in Steamboat Springs and 4 weeks at other places like London, Mexico and ?, its enough for me.

If I could the DW away from the grand kids, it might be even more but who is complaining? 

Cheers


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## ronandjoan (Oct 16, 2008)

*I am getting tired of motels*

September 21
 I will be so happy to get back into a timeshare condo!  Because of our plans – reunions, friends/family visits, etc, we have had to be in motel rooms (well, two nights in a B&B and 3 at a friends’)  for 4 weeks but otherwise, for  a high school reunion and family visits have been in places where there are no timeshares, and we miss the condo size and amenities (full kitchen, laundry, etc.)  It’s a drag keeping an icechest cold, figuring out where to put everything we use (i.e., computer, printer too sometimes!) and doing laundry.  Today we drive to Cable, WI and one of our most favorite places, Telemark!

Thanks for everyone's comments.

See  my blog at 
http://ronandjoanjourney.blogspot.com/


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## eal (Oct 16, 2008)

We are currently wrapping up Week 2 of a 23-week vacation/sabbatical staying in timeshares.  We started our trip with two weeks at Big Sky Mt; on Saturday we move on to Park City.  The trip also includes 5 weeks in Hawaii, a month at home over Christmas (including a family wedding) then three months in Costa Rica and Arizona.  

After an initial few sunny days the weather in Big Sky has been terrible - cold and snowy.  I am so happy that we have a great big condo to hang out in, with lots of good books to read and two hot tubs.  

We come here every year at this time and the weather is usually terrific for the fall colours.  I would be feeling pretty ripped off if I didn't have 21 more weeks to go!


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## julienjay (Oct 16, 2008)

If you don't mind  me asking, approximately how much does it cost to "timeshare" full time?

I have been trying to figure this out

If you have a 2 BR lockoff and split it into 2, then get ACs for both, that's 4 weeks for one timeshare. Is that right? 

Then if you have several of those, that would take care of several months.

And then you could do getaways for the rest?

Just curious.

What would be your "dream" plan and budget?


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## ronandjoan (Oct 19, 2008)

*Budget for fulltime timesharing*

Well, we have just begun this, so we do not know the exact costs yet.

It will be dependent every year upon possible bonus weeks, AC, last calls , getaways, etc., that we can get.  I assume that every year would be different but obviously there has to be a limit.

The fixed bottom line would be the annual total maintenance fees you pay for all your units.  Everyone's will be different depending upon what they have.

Using your own units mean no exchange fees.  We have 3 fixed weeks at St AUgustine (TAS) in January that we know we will almost always use.  We have 2 floating weeks there too and so if we deposit them, we sometimes (but not always - that's the catch) get an AC and then pay the exchange fee to use the AC - a great price for a week of course- and an exchange fee to use the deposited week, which raises the cost of the week's stay over the regular maintenance fee.  Same for any RCI weeks deposited, the price of the week will have to include the exchange fee too.

The best deal is to get lower priced bonus weeks, whether they be Getaways, Last Calls, Extra vacations or bonus weeks from Donitas or SFX.  RCI and II getaways and Extra Vacation prices have increased SOOO much, we have been using Donitas and SFX instead.  

SFX bonus weeks are $379 (since we are Platinums, a membership fee) or $399 for regular free membership.  These are all for 5 Star  deluxe resorts, a real bargain!  We have 3 weeks scheduled in November in Puerto Vallarta, a 1 BD at the Mayan Palace for $379 each, total $1137. If it was one more week, the "rent" would be $1516, which is cheaper than our house costs were.

Better still is using bonus weeks at Telemark, our very favorite timeshare, in Cable WI, one or two BD units for owners at 3 weeks out if available (They usually are) for $199 per week.  We are just now returning from being there a month.  If we had 4 bonus weeks, the  monthly "rent" would be $800 - substantially less than our home costs were - remember this includes, utilities, housekeeping, all furnishings and any maintenance problems taken care of, cable, telephone, as well as having swimming pools, both indoor and outdoor, and lake access for fishing.  Some units are huge 2 BD lakeside!

Our cheapest way to use RCI is to use our Fairfield /Wyndham points since we can deposit units with points and then exchange them.  If we can use the smaller units the cost is very good.  Watching the "Sightings" TUG thread really helps to snag good units with even a low value week.

Our Fairfield/Wyndham ownership, being points, which can be discounted also, allows for many more good values as well as single night stays while traveling.  For example, we spent 18 days at the Wyndham Nashville in August, including weekends, which cost more points, half the time in a 1 BD Deluxe and half in a 2 BD lockout, for a total cost value of $682.50 which is a monthly rate of  $1137.

Of course, the travel to the different places will be part of that budget,  Obviously there are choices as to where and when to go, (even if you have more choices available that you may turn down), which might save more $$ - like staying at Telemark all summer! - inexpensive weeks, and very little travel.  

It would be cheapest to stay at Donita’s bonus weeks, some of which are $59 for the week!!  Of course, that would mean last minute planning and able to travel about rather freely.  

I am afraid I have not given a $$ figure since it is dependent on so many factors.


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## Aussiedog (Mar 25, 2009)

*how is it going?*

Since this thread started a while ago I thought I would bump it up and try to entice some of the fulltime and almost-fulltime timesharers to tell us how they are enjoying their great adventure!

Ann


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## krmlaw (Mar 26, 2009)

DH and I have many years before we retire, well about 20. But we are hoping to timeshare for the winters down south. hopefully it will work!


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## ronandjoan (May 3, 2009)

*We are still at it*

Thanks for asking Ann...we are still going strong.
We had thought 2 years, now we think more!
I have to update my BLOG - we are at Kona Hawaiian Resort now for a 3 week stay.

Some of you are ALMOST full time the great vacations you all take!  We have to plan a little more carefully since we don;t have a home to return to if something does not work out.  So far, it has been fine.

The only problem is that we almost NEVER want to leave where we are!!!!  everywhere is so nice!


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## Jaybee (May 3, 2009)

I hope this thread stays active.  I love reading about how different people use their ts.  I love staying in places for 2 weeks at a time, and would enjoy more...especially in HI, but my DH starts missing his recliner too much.  LOL!

So, I, too can live vicariously by reading all these posts.  Thanks for bumping it up, Ann.  Jean


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## ronandjoan (Aug 30, 2009)

*Continued full time timesharing*

I have updated our blog, still missing last week's though at Fox River Resort in Sheridan IL which was very nice.

http://ronandjoanjourney.blogspot.com/

We are on our second year now - we do not have any "home base" even though we goto Seattle a lot to see my mother.. still need to utilize our storage  unit there for things to live with. In and out andin and out each time - too bad it is not a 24 hour storage facility, so sometimes we fly in late and have to wait until the next day to get our living "stuff."

The hardest thing is not having those items you need to use regularly at your fingertips - they are in a plastic bin!  Normally they would be on a shelf somewhere in your house or condo.

We have decided to go only once to Mexico after this year - it is too hard to cook all meals in the condo and too expensive to eat out very often....any thoughts on this?


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## ace2000 (Aug 30, 2009)

ronandjoan said:


> We have decided to go only once to Mexico after this year - it is too hard to cook all meals in the condo and too expensive to eat out very often....any thoughts on this?


 
I don't understand your point about Mexico compared to other timeshares. Is it because timeshares in Mexico don't generally have full kitchens? The dining out is generally cheaper in Mexico than other places.

Thank you for bringing this thread back to life.  I find it fascinating!


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## PeelBoy (Aug 30, 2009)

Joan, 

I have bookmarked your blog to learn your experience.

Is full timesharing a lonely life?  I love and probably am addicted to traveling, however, I don't think I can uproot from my city, my country (Canada), my relatives and my friends.  For example, Air Canada, though great, is not the greatest airline in the world.  I use Air Canada almost exclusively because I feel like home.

How do you deal with your emotional link with your hometown and people/activities in your hometown?

Again, thanks for sharing.


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## PamMo (Aug 30, 2009)

I think this thread is great! I hope the topic stays active and we hear tales and strategies from others who are full/part-timing in timeshares around the world.

ronandjoan, I also wonder why in Mexico, it seems too hard to cook in the room? Limited kitchens in the timeshares you've been to? We're in Mexico several weeks a year (Cabo, PV, and Mazatlan), and I don't think our meal planning is much different than at home. We go out for some great meals, but use our kitchens a lot. I'm definitely not a gourmet chef - I prepare fresh, simple meals with fish/meat and lots of fruits and vegetables. I love the grocery stores in Mexico with all the wonderful seafood and produce! And I can't seem to stay away from the panaderias for pastries and breads -- aaargghhh! It's a good thing we walk a lot!


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## 2snowbirds (Aug 30, 2009)

*Great blog*

Joan, I have been reading your travel blog for the past hour.  Love it!  I really appreciate your description and opinions of the different resorts that your are visiting.  It's giving me ideas on where we might want to travel in the future.  We have been retired for 3 years and at that time thought we'd become semi-full time RVers.  We RVed for the first year of retirement, then we purchased our first timeshare about 2 years ago.  Well, since the timeshare purchase, our RV sits in the garage most of the time.  It now only serves as a supplement to the timeshare travel.  Also, with the additional fuel cost of traveling in an RV, the cost of travel is about a wash.  Convenience, hands down, timesharing is the way to go.  Happy travels to you and thank you for sharing your travel blog!


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## icydog (Aug 30, 2009)

*How do you do it?*



ronandjoan said:


> Anyone else out there timesharing full time?
> 
> We got inspired by Ray's journal when we first joined TUG some years ago and now, finally completed our plan: sold our house last month (in a week, no less!), finished the MISERABLE job of downsizing and going through ALL those boxes (where does all the STUFF come from), sold a lot of stuff (eBay, plus a FREE garage sale!) and put it all in a storeroom in Ohio.  And took off!
> 
> ...



I noticed your timeshare weeks on the side under your name. How do you parlay those weeks into full time timesharing? I am really curious. Thank you.


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## John Cummings (Aug 30, 2009)

Aussiedog said:


> How fun   !!!
> 
> One of the things that we saw in the 70s and 80s with those who sold their homes and went on the road with their Winnabagos was that at some point they had to stop, usually due to health issues for one or both spouses.  Having a "medical home" (as we now call it) becomes very important as we age.
> 
> ...



I saw a similar problem with my parents when they retired. They were just 62 and 61 at the time. They sold their home and moved to Arizona with the plan of spending the summer months in a cooler clime. That worked OK for the first 10 or so years but as time went on it became more difficult to travel. The timesharing thing would be orders of magnitude worse as you would be constantly uprooting yourself. It may sound like fun in the beginning but as you get older it will be not so much fun.

Personally, I learned from my parents and spent 10 years researching where we wanted to retire. The main thing was it had to be a place where we would be happy all year and not feel like we had to escape for any reason. I retired a few years ago after moving where we are now. It is just 45 minutes from where we lived prior to retirement. Now we do lots of traveling with most of it being non-timeshare per our preferences.


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## John Cummings (Aug 30, 2009)

ronandjoan said:


> ...we are talking 2 years of full time timesharing, but the time is already passing so quickly, that.....maybe 5?  Maybe till the end, like the gentleman above?
> 
> We plan on returning to Ohio a couple of times a year, not only because all our STUFF is there, but the doctors are too.  I also do various things at the high school there in our small town.



That is different. I thought you meant doing it forever.


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## John Cummings (Aug 30, 2009)

heather said:


> I'm happy Joan to share where I live. We are in Ontario, Canada on the banks of the St. Lawrence River where I garden to my heart's content from May to early October when what we call our "timehare box" comes out of storage. We spend from mid October to the end of November in the southeastern US, come home for December, and at the end of December leave until sometime in April. For the past few years we stuck to the east coast from Florida to South, with a cruise thrown in somewhere but this year we have reserved in Sedona, Phoenix and Palm springs for January and then will head to South Carolina. All of this is obviously off season but we don't mind. In the next few years we will likely try Portugal for two months as others have done so very happily. We too pack very systematically but somehow our "stuff" seems to overwhelm us sometimes, especially with one set of golf clubs in the trunk of our car (no van or suv for us) and treasures we have purchased along the way.
> 
> At last count awhile ago we were up to sixtie + exchanges. I keep all of the confirmations in a binder so must count again soon. It's a bragging thing!!!
> 
> It's good to be back here.



This is off the subject but I am curious if you live close to the 1000 islands. My wife and I did a boat tour there last year as part of a 5 day loop tour we took from New York City to Niagara Falls, Niagara on the Lake, Toronto, 1000 islands, Washington DC, etc. The boat tour of the 1000 islands was great.

We live just an hour from Palm Springs and visit there frequently for a few nights. In fact we are going to be staying at the Agua Caliente Casino Resort in Rancho Mirage ( Palm Springs area ) in a couple weeks for 5 days.


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## donnaval (Aug 31, 2009)

I love this thread!

We hope to do between 50% to 75% timesharing.  In preparation, we've purchased a little dump of a house a couple of miles from where we live--we currently use it as storage for our business, but it's ready to live in once it's emptied out.  We'll sell our big house here and use the dumpy little house as home base during the summer months and the Christmas holidays.  We own it free and clear, the taxes are quite low, and the utilities can be shut off when we're away making it a very affordable home base.  One vehicle can always be in the garage in case we have to make an emergency trip home.  

We're "practicing" by gradually increasing our number of weeks away.  For the past few years we've been staying for three weeks in Florida during late January/early February, and then taking at least one week every six weeks or so at various places.  I'm gone a little more than my husband since he still worries about the business more than I do 

We have some fixed weeks but will probably dump those in favor of more points.  We like the cheapness of the weeks we can get through the points systems we own--last-minute points deals with RCI points, and cheap Wyndham points deposits.  I enjoy searching for exchanges (so far) and it's a thrill to find a great stay.  Weeks we procure with these systems cost under $300 for the week including exchange fees and the pro-rated costs of our maintenance fees.  So we figure it costs us $1200 per month or less to live in multi-million dollar resorts, where we don't have to worry about maintenance, utilities, insurance, and have to do very little housekeeping.  We always eat the majority of our meals in the unit so our food costs are typically about the same as we would spend when we stay home.

So far we've moved every week; maybe next year we'll try four weeks in Florida and try staying in one resort for two weeks in a row.  But we actually feel like we must have a bit of vagabond in our blood because we always look forward to the next place.

It's interesting to see the reactions of friends and family to our lifestyle and proposed change.  We have some friends who are total stick-in-the-muds who seldom vacation and can't imagine missing Judge Judy every day.  We have others who say they'd love to do the same.  Time will tell how we feel about it once we're really into it.


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## 2snowbirds (Aug 31, 2009)

donnaval said:


> I love this thread!
> 
> 
> We like the cheapness of the weeks we can get through the points systems we own--last-minute points deals with RCI points, and cheap Wyndham points deposits.  I enjoy searching for exchanges (so far) and it's a thrill to find a great stay.  Weeks we procure with these systems cost under $300 for the week including exchange fees and the pro-rated costs of our maintenance fees.  So we figure it costs us $1200 per month or less to live in multi-million dollar resorts, where we don't have to worry about maintenance, utilities, insurance, and have to do very little housekeeping.  We always eat the majority of our meals in the unit so our food costs are typically about the same as we would spend when we stay home.



We do the same - watch for the great deals, then put all the pieces together to plan the ultimate trip.  I usually budget our trips using an average of $55 per night , which brings our monthly timeshare costs to about $1,500-$1,700. Considering the wonderful resorts and luxury units, this is quite a deal.  We've experienced some beautiful areas that we would have never explored without the discovery of timeshares.  We too eat most of our meals in, but when we're visiting a "seafood" area, we like to splurge and eat out more than usual.  

I think part of the fun is planning the trip.  If you're not willing to put in the time and energy in the planning, I think these trips would be difficult, if not impossible to put together.


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## DaveNV (Aug 31, 2009)

swift said:


> This is exactly what happened to my parents. They sold everything and went full time RV'ing. My siblings and I begged them to rethink things. Sure enough 2 years later my mom went in for a simple shoulder surgery and things went wrong. She ended up coming out in a full time wheelchair.




My Uncle worked six days a week for over forty years for a sheet metal company, and saved every penny he ever earned.  He never took a day's vacation, and was never sick.  He always talked about the future - how much fun it was going to be to retire for good and hit the road in a fancy RV, fishing his way around the country.  

When the time came, he and my Aunt did just that:  Bought a super fancy RV, sold their home, and hit the road for a 12 month vacation, the first of many they had planned.  Three months later Ernie came down with a mysterious illness that turned out to be leukemia, and within another three months he died.

Life is short - eat dessert first.

Dave


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## ronandjoan (Sep 5, 2009)

BMWguynw said:


> When the time came, he and my Aunt did just that:  Bought a super fancy RV, sold their home, and hit the road for a 12 month vacation, the first of many they had planned.  Three months later Ernie came down with a mysterious illness that turned out to be leukemia, and within another three months he died.
> 
> Life is short - eat dessert first.
> 
> Dave



So sorry to hear about your uncle after all their plans.  Yes, we know that the exit strategy is the most important... e.g. esp with possible health issues clouding our travel.

We thought we had a plan, now we are having to change it, and we DON'T KNOW!!!!  we like SO MANY places!

Thanks for all the good and useful postings!


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## wegottago (Sep 6, 2009)

I would like to know when you travel to several TS's are you always mtg new people or do you get lonely?  Is it hard not having your 'regular' friends around?  Also, you and your DH must get along great if you spend that much time together especially if you don't know anyone at these TS's?

Sounds like great fun and I admire you.  I remember 30 years ago (it seems like yesterday!)  I had a good job, relationship of 4 years that wasn't going anywhere, and just a simple easy life. I wanted more.  I gave it all up to go backpacking thru Europe for several months.  I talked to a lot of people about it before making a decision.  I didn't listen to the naysayers but used the support of those who said go for it.  It was the greatest time of my life and even though I went alone I was never alone unless I wanted to be as I met so many people to travel with.  Even got a new boyfriend out of it.  Now, I want to do it with my kids someday and/or live in Europe for awhile when I retire.

Good Luck and have fun and stay healthy!


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## ronandjoan (Sep 8, 2009)

John Cummings said:


> The timesharing thing would be orders of magnitude worse as you would be constantly uprooting yourself. It may sound like fun in the beginning but as you get older it will be not so much fun.



Well, I have to admit, when we can stay in the same place/unit for multiple weeks, it is really nice!  For example, in January we will be 5 weeks in St Augustine (at TAS).  We were 6 weeks in Telemark (WI) this summer, only 3 of them were in the same unit, but we still loved being there that long.  

Yes, packing/moving day is not fun....because we are so sad to be leaving!
.


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## ronandjoan (Sep 8, 2009)

donnaval said:


> I love this thread!
> 
> We hope to do between 50% to 75% timesharing.  In preparation, we've purchased a little dump of a house a couple of miles from where we live--we currently use it as storage for our business, but it's ready to live in once it's emptied out.  We'll sell our big house here and use the dumpy little house as home base during the summer months and the Christmas holidays.  We own it free and clear, the taxes are quite low, and the utilities can be shut off when we're away making it a very affordable home base.  One vehicle can always be in the garage in case we have to make an emergency trip home.
> .



This would be ideal.  One problem we are having is that we do not have a place to go back to like a home base where we could have our things spread out to easily find items we need to simply live with.  We have a storage unit in Springfield OH (where most of our things are packed away in carefully labeled boxes!) - we sold all the furniture except for family heirloom antiques - 
and another storage unit in Seattle because we come here so often (we are here now) and we stay in our son's condo, but we can't leave our everyday living stuff out since he rents it when we are not here (and sometimes when we ARE here so need to move to a motel for a few days! - but they get a good rent for it), so we need to go to the storeroom for each visit and bring out our Rubbermaid bins with everyday living items.

We have a car here which we leave in the condo parking lot, and a van on the east coast (full of the TS living items) which we leave at friends' houses for extended periods-   or just at the airport,  if it 's just for a week.

So, our problem now is REMEMBERING exactly what is where!!!!


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## ronandjoan (Sep 8, 2009)

eal said:


> We are currently wrapping up Week 2 of a 23-week vacation/sabbatical staying in timeshares.   I would be feeling pretty ripped off if I didn't have 21 more weeks to go!



Looks like you are out at much as Ray was!

I feel the same way ... we don't want to leave a place since we like it so well, but we know there are more great places in the future to look forward to.  And the same with the weather - okay, it was COLDER almost EVERYWHERE last year, but warmth is in the future - at least in Mexico!


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## malyons (Sep 8, 2009)

We stayed at Tortuga Beach Club last week and met a gentleman who was also full time timesharing......He said he owned 51 weeks, most of which were in FL, and just spent the year travelling from unit to unit and a week with family.  Had 17 consecutive weeks in Daytona for a "home base" and otherwise seemed to group weeks together in parts of the state as much as possible (was currently on 1 week in Tortuga and then off for 2 more on Sanibel at another resort).  I'm a long ways off of retirement, but found the whole idea fascinating....just wanted to let you know there's more full-timers out there!


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## ronandjoan (Oct 13, 2009)

I have updated my BLOG as of the end of September, but the BEST is yet to come - we finally...... got to....FLORIDA and warm weather! - well, I mean HOT weather - unseasonably hot, after all.

http://ronandjoanjourney.blogspot.com/


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## djpotts50 (Oct 13, 2009)

*Full-timing*

I have read blogs about people full-timing in timeshares, in RVs, and on cruise ships! Since the wife and I like all three types of living (travel), we plan on doing all three. I will be 50 and my wife will be 47 when we retire!!!

We have purchased a 45 ft. Newmar Essex luxury RV with 4 slides as our primary condo on wheels and set up residence in a state with no state taxes to stretch our retirement dollars to the max. We even set up a Retirement Asset Holding Company in Missoula, MT and named it D & D World Travels, LLC (named after me and my wife - Don & Deb) which protects our RV, tow vehicle, and toys from personal lawsuits - just didn't want to ever take any chances that one law suit could wipe out our retirement assets.

We also can live in timeshares for 16 weeks per year without using bonus time or renting additional credits. We own large memberships with both WorldMark and Great Links Resorts.

We also plan on doing 3 to 4 cruises per year. We travel a lot taking advantages of last minute specials and off-season values. We love cruising with Carnival, Norwegian, Holland America, Princess, and others.

We will hit the road fully retired some time between Aug 2010 and May 2011, so it will be here before we know it. We will keep up a travel blog of our adventures which will also include overseas timeshare trips and overseas cruises. The timeshare weeks and cruise trips will give us some out of the RV time, but frankly we went for the largest RV made to help eleviate that closed in feeling that smaller RVs can give a person after some time on the road.

Life is too short to just settle on one way to see the world. Heck, if I had grown up near the sea, I am sure I would also be looking at buying a yacht and cruise the oceans for several years. I did investigate the condo cruise lines, but thought the costs for a two to four year around the world cruise was not as cost effective.

I love reading about people traveling full-time and get tons of ideas from others.

Here is our RV if you are interested in seeing it.

http://www.yourrvhome.com/FLASH/020709_04_essex.html

:whoopie: Sergeant Major


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## djpotts50 (Oct 13, 2009)

*Full-timing*

Some friends have asked me what would a person do living full-time in an RV. Some thoughts are to travel throughout the USA and Canada and see everything possible.

We do belong to a few different lifetime RV clubs and a few different lifetime campground memberships. Each of the RV clubs have annual Rallys and the option to take several Caravans per year. RV Rallys are an annual gathering of club members. Rallys usually last from 4 days up to a week. Rallys tend to have lots of potlucks, seminars, live entertainment, day trips, and much more. It is a great way to meet old friends and make new friends while living full-time on the road. For those wondering what a Caravan is, it is where a group of RVs (say 10 to 15) group together with a caravan leader and travel as a group to places like Alaska, the Maritimes, etc. Caravans tend to last for a week or more to as much as a couple of months. It can be alot of fun traveling in a small group for both comaraderie and safety.

The campground memberships are a lot like timeshares in themselves and allow us to live in each campground for up to 2 to 3 weeks at a time for free or at a cost of $10 per day, depending on which membership we are utilizing. Most campground memberships have club houses, pools, laundromats, jacuzzis, saunas, hot tubs, horse stables, tennis courts, basketball courts, golf courses, lakes (fishing and boat rentals) and lots of other amenities like you would find at your nicer timeshares. 

I can't imagine ever getting tired or traveling in our RV; especially with the breaks from RVing by staying in timeshares and going on cruises. Life should be looking really good as long as we eat healthy foods, exercise daily, and try to stay as healthy as possible. Quality of life is as important to us as quantity of life!!!

:whoopie: Sergeant Major


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## ronandjoan (Oct 18, 2009)

*A Great PLan*

You have such a great plan, congratulations on having those options and also to be able to retire at such a young age.

Sounds like you will have SO MUCH FUN!!!!

We all pray for good health!!!


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## julienjay (Jan 6, 2010)

Where are you at these days? Just curious!


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## krmlaw (Jan 7, 2010)

*planning for retirement ...*

DH and I are still young (44 and 31), but starting to plan for retirement. 

We are debating buying a condo in FLL, or trying to do the winter commute with TS/cruises. 

Not sure which ... we will only be "going south" for part of the year (the colder months in NY)


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## love2travelguy (Jan 7, 2010)

*Fulltime timesharing book*



charcoalmana said:


> You need to write a book on the expierence and how you did it !  That's cool stuff , Good Luck



I second that comment. I'm intrigued.


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## jennstall (Jan 11, 2010)

More and more I've been thinking about doing something like this myself. Originally I had the idea of getting a conversion van to travel with, something like a RoadTrek or a Sportsmobile.  I was thinking about using the conversion van for overnights where I was between timeshares or for when traveling to places that don't have any timeshares.

But the more I think about the cost of doing that, the more I wonder if simply sticking to timeshares full-time would be more cost effective, with the occasional hotel or motel stays thrown in when necessary.  

If I did full-time I would probably only do it for a couple of years. I'm in my mid-40s now and at some point I would like to own my own place, but for now I just want to travel.  So if instead of spending tens of thousands on a Conversion Van, if I just put that towards my timeshare costs, it might prove to be more cost effective.

What I'd like to do is hash out the most economical way to achieve what I want - say, for example, keeping my accommodation costs to $2K or less per month. Right now, during winter I spend less than that to remain in the Southeast all winter so I figured it was do-able the rest of the year as well. I use a lot of Last Call rentals on RCI in addition to the points I own.

Currently, I own DVC, Wyndham and Royal Holiday. I'm thinking that if I augmented what I already own with Worldmark and, maybe, RCI points, then that might give me the flexibility to take advantage of their various "last call" type of transactions where weeks use less points the closer they are booked to the travel date. 

I don't have VIP with Wyndham and I have no intention of sinking that kind of money into them, but maybe picking up additional Wyndham points just for depositing to RCI might be worthwhile too. Of course, one option which occurred to me is taking them up on their Discovery program option at some point. Since that program is good for a few years (right??), that might be just all the time I need as a VIP. 

And for the RCI points, I know there's someone running a temporary rental membership for RCI Points, right? One of my big issues is that I don't want to be stuck with too many timeshares once I decide to scale back my traveling.

Do any of you have any thoughts on this? I was thinking about starting a new thread for the purposes of hashing out what would be the most efficient way to full-time,  but since we are already discussing full-timing here I didn't want to duplicate the topic.


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## kjt (Jan 12, 2010)

*Day Dreaming*

I've been having a fun lunch today, just day-dreaming.  I had never thought about time-sharing full time before, but here are my thoughts...

My retirement dream would be to get an apartment wherever my daughter ends up (she's still in high school now).  We only have 1 child, so my home is wherever she is.  I'm afraid she's going to end up in Texas - she LOVES Texas (nothing against Texas, except the huge bugs and heat and snakes).  We'd keep the apartment full-time.  It would be our storage place / place to keep our extra car / our "home" and place to go for holidays, etc.

3 months of the year I'd like to rent a house in a different part of the world each time (California / Florida / Europe / Caribbean).  This would avoid the feeling of hating to leave so often, every week or so.  This would allow us to meet new people, learn different cultures, etc. and be a place for our friends and family to come visit also.  Perfect!!

We just have 5000 points HGVC, but if we used the points as studios over non-peak times that would spread out to 3 weeks, so that would be additional vacations for us during off-season.

The reason this is ideal is that this will give us a place to go to as we get elderly, where we would already have our primary doctors, etc.  Also, as we pass away, my daughter will only have to worry about what to do with the 1 week timeshare (give it away, for all I care if she doesn't want anything to do with it).  

My parents passed away (my mother had parkinsons and dimentia, so I'm preparing myself that this may be my fate) and it was heartbreaking to have to figure out what to do with their beautiful house and their HGVC timeshare (which has been an absolute nightmare - more than I can say).

OK - now I have to let my husband know of our plans!


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## ronandjoan (Mar 5, 2010)

jennstall said:


> I don't have VIP with Wyndham and I have no intention of sinking that kind of money into them, but maybe picking up additional Wyndham points just for depositing to RCI might be worthwhile too. Of course, one option which occurred to me is taking them up on their Discovery program option at some point. Since that program is good for a few years (right??), that might be just all the time I need as a VIP.



Jennstall
Advice, do NOT do the Discovery progam with Wyndham, it is not cost efective.  Instead, buy some points on eBay.


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## ronandjoan (Mar 5, 2010)

Guess I've been off this THREAD for too long - what does the [2008] mean?

Where does the time go?

We are still "out there" and starting to repeat visitations since some we have fixed weeks (e.g. St Augustine and now Villa Dela Palmar in PV), some we love so much to own (e.g. Telemark) and others we just enjoy returning to, like right now we are three weeks at Vacation Village at Bonaventure.  I wanted to update my BLOG and in doing that have all the new pics on Snapfish, but that task has gotten beyond me for the moment, working on the pics.  

We have been to some very nice places since I last updated.  I'll get busy.

I also need to answer people's questions that have been posted here.


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## ronandjoan (Mar 5, 2010)

kjt said:


> My retirement dream would be to get an apartment wherever my daughter ends up (she's still in high school now).   It would be our storage place / place to keep our extra car / our "home" and place to go for holidays, etc.
> :



That would be very practical - it is great that you are planning ahead now.  We may start renting our son's condo full time in Seattle so we'll have a place to go back to and not have to unpack everything from the storage unit to just "live" for a week or two.

Which means, that then, we would not be called full-time timesharers any more!


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## ronandjoan (Mar 5, 2010)

kjt said:


> 3 months of the year I'd like to rent a house in a different part of the world each time (California / Florida / Europe / Caribbean).  This would avoid the feeling of hating to leave so often, every week or so.  This would allow us to meet new people, learn different cultures, etc. and be a place for our friends and family to come visit also.  Perfect!!



This would be IDEAL!  We never like to spend just one week at a new place anyway, and then when we like a place so well, even the 3 weeks we are staying at several places this year is not enough!


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## ronandjoan (Mar 5, 2010)

julienjay said:


> Where are you at these days? Just curious!



In January we were at St Augustine (TAS) for 5 weeks.  We went immediately to Puerto Vallarta via Seattle, (stayed one night in a motel close to the airport to use their shuttle) and stayed at Torre Vallarta through Platinum Interchange, which was wonderful, and then our 2 fixed weeks at Villa del Palmar.  Flew back to Seattle to visit my mother and the family and get her taxes ready for her accountant, for 9 days and then flew back to Daytona where we had left our car with a friend and drove here to Vacation Village at Bonaventure in Weston FL.  We’re here for 3 weeks and my MIL and BIL will be here tomorrow for a week (from Little Rock.)  My husband will do his mother’s taxes for her then.   Right after they leave, we are flying to DC for 2 nights in order to be at the finals for the National Trumpet Competition, guessing/betting that our granddaughter will place in the final three – they do not announce it until Sat afternoon and that would be too late to plan, last year she won 1st place, then we’ll fly back to FLL and finish out our last week here.  Then to 2 nights at Wyndham Cypress Palms to get a better air fare by leaving FL on Tuesday.

Then we return to Seattle (timing for that is my dad’s birthday – he’ll be 93) as well as to visit my mother and do our taxes.  Hmmmm, sure do spend a lot of time on taxes at this time of year, huh?  And of course, we have to carry all that paperwork….not the least hardest part is remembering where everything is – is it in the van on the East coast, in the storeroom in Seattle or the storeroom in Ohio.  Oh yes, Make a List, I used to be good at that, but the lists I have sometimes get changed as I find another handy spot in the WRONG plastic Rubbermaid bin at the last minutes of packing up!  

We return to Daytona for 3 weeks in April at the Tropic Sun Towers, and then start our trek north, staying at the Wyndham Plantation near Atlanta for 3 nights, 3 nights at the new Wyndham Smokies Lodge near Knoxville, (another BIL) then back to Ohio, staying with a friend while I write a report for the high school there, go to doctor appointments and start moving some of our stuff from the storeroom there to our son’s new house in Springfield IL.  

Then to Seattle for a couple of days before flying to PHX to stay at the Scottsdale Camelback resort from Platinum Interchange for a week to visit my niece and also to see our grandson compete in the International Tuba competition in Tucson.   Back to Seattle and may be going to DC again for my husband’s military reunion – no firm date for that yet, though, maybe June 9 – back to Seattle, kids have a concert too, then to Hawaii for 6 weeks starting June 18.

And so it goes,  There’s more of the same,….through next Feb!


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## a1000monkeys (Mar 5, 2010)

What a great thread.  Lots of great ideas.  Retirement is still far away for us, at least 18-20 years.  In the meantime we'll vacation as much as work and the school schedule allows.

I envision keeping our home or maybe a smaller condo nearby and travelling 4-6 months a year.  The weather is mild year-round here but I'd still rather spend my winters in Hawaii.


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## ronandjoan (Mar 6, 2010)

Amen to that!  We are looking for WARM!

and having trouble finding it....


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## RDB (Mar 10, 2010)

djpotts50 said:


> ...
> 
> Here is our RV if you are interested in seeing it. ...



NICE!!!
What do you do with the RV while you TS or cruise?


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## ace2000 (Mar 11, 2010)

RDB said:


> NICE!!!
> What do you do with the RV while you TS or cruise?


 
Very nice RV!


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## glypnirsgirl (Jul 15, 2010)

*Bumping this thread*

Hi Joan - Saw that you had updated your blog. Just encouraging you to update this thread too at your leisure.

elaine


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## ronandjoan (Jul 21, 2010)

Finally updated my BLOG as per last week and we are on now week 5 of our 6-week stay in Kona.  It has taken me a while since I wanted to include the Snapfish links for all the pictures of the resorts we have stayed at.  We have had a fabulous time here in Kona, will leave July 30th for Seattle for a week, then back to Ohio, where our van is.

Some strange things I splurged on for this visit -- since there was the thread about what to take to a timeshare:  I spent $7 to purchase the following items at thrift stores:
butter dish, tray, 4 ice cream dishes.

I felt the "investment" was worth it for 6 weeks.  We have had several people over for dinner as well as having BIL for a week, so the tray to cart things to and from the lanai really helped.  The butter dish made it so much nicer...and the ice cream dishes because the bowls at two of the timeshares were HUGE, and the pitiful amount of pudding I would put in them for dessert would have looked like NOTHING,....and also it made it quite fancy.

So....using for 6 weeks made it more fun and nice.  And when we leave, we can give them back!

Here's the link

http://ronandjoanjourney.blogspot.com/

Joan


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## glypnirsgirl (Jul 21, 2010)

*Hi Joan!*

Just finished reading the updates to your blog. It is so enjoyable to read about your adventures! I loved the pictures, too. I looked at all of your albums.

I am such a fan!!!

elaine


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## rickandcindy23 (Jul 21, 2010)

I think Joan has a gypsy spirit.  We could never do anything like that, we are too attached to things, but I love thinking about it.


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## ronandjoan (Jul 21, 2010)

I htink my husband has the gypsy spirit and I just enable that!

Before we were married, (41 years ago!!!!- this week) he traveled as a single GI  with just a duffle bag and a military ID card (no 9/11 rules then!).  So he is a little frustrated with all the new regulations - like a passport??? 

So sometimes we have a few comunication problems about the new and different travel arrangements when he has to have me around too!  But...may I say, he sure does like traveling in timeshares!!!  Are we spoiled!!


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## ronandjoan (Jul 24, 2010)

*A great benefit to this lifestyle*

Many of you have asked how it is possible to live away from a homebase for so long.  What I miss most from the house in Ohio was the beautiful garden view from the deck in the summer evenings.  Today after I did my laps in the pool (I go here at KHV when it opens at 8 a.m. since otherwise it is too busy), I was sitting a while to dry off and noticed how gorgeously landscaped the pool area was (as is the entire resort, of course), and no one else in the pool…it was like having my own pool…and, even though I love gardening, I realized here was a beautiful garden for me to sit and enjoy, but without the maintenance! (If I do get the urge to garden, everyone is happy to have me help them!)  Last week, at Sea Mountain, down by the black sand beach, when I got out of the pool, I could sit and look at the rocky coastal view!  How blest we are to be able to live at places like these!  Photo is Sea Mountain pool view


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## chriskre (Nov 30, 2010)

Joan,

I see you're still on the road full time.  

So how's it going?  

I so want to do something like this one day.


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## london (Nov 30, 2010)

*Permanent Retirement Home*

When in the future do you think you will find a permanent retirement home?

Do you plan on full time timesharing for 5 years or more?

You are starting your third year, which is quite a feat. Your blog is so enjoyable to read.

Best wishes for 2011.


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## ronandjoan (Dec 3, 2010)

chriskre said:


> Joan,
> 
> I see you're still on the road full time.
> 
> ...



Hi Chriskre
Thanks for posting on the thread...well, yes, we are still out there
and it is not as hard as you might think....so yes, you CAN do this!  

It would be an advantage though, to be able to run back to a homespot occasionally, like Ray Harper did - he had a condo in Connecticut,I read....

Many TUGGERS are out many weeks, so some of them are almost fulltime!  Maybe someday we might do that, just be away many weeks instead of all 52!  Prior to 2008, we were away from our home in Ohio a total of 8 months at the end....so we felt we needed to break free of that property.

but right now....we are still busy planning and planning.  Hopefully, health will not be a problem, it almost was in September!


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## ronandjoan (Dec 3, 2010)

london said:


> When in the future do you think you will find a permanent retirement home?
> 
> Do you plan on full time timesharing for 5 years or more?
> 
> ...




We planned on timesharing 2 years...but now? don;t know.  We are pretty well booked up through March, 2012 and still have places we want to go.  Although, as I have said before, we keep going back to the same places we have been, we liked them so well.

We do know we will eventually need a permanent retirement home, yes, but where???  We thought 2 years would be enough to decide, but we are still undecided.  We like TOO many places!

Of course, family plans, issues, and concerns make things more complicated.  My stepmother passed last week and the "phone call" meant that we quickly changed our plans.. got on the best Delta flight we could and also found the best place to leave our vehicle for the extended period.....and that still leaves my mother at 91, father at 93 and MIL at 89.  Couple that with grandchildren activities we would like to be a part of....no, we really do not go just wherever we want to!  We do have the freedom to choose, of course....and have chosen to be with family and DH's military reunions.

We have finally said that we _must_ begin to seriously decide:  so the question is, where does it feel most like Home?

Thanks for writing....


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## chriskre (Dec 3, 2010)

Hi Joan, 
I'm just so fascinated by this.  I've put a link to this thread on other forums because people just can't fathom how affordable this could really be.
I hope you don't mind.  You're famous.   
Kind of a guru for all of us wannabe's.

I'm finding that I am going to Orlando about 6 or 7 times a year already.  Not for full weeks all the time, but for 5 or 6 days sometimes, add my 3 or 4 weeks at the beach and I'm hopeful that when I do finally reach retirement or hit that lotto I'll be all trained up.   

I hope you find your perfect retirement home.  This country is just so beautiful I can understand why you're having trouble.  

Keep us posted.


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## ran-ran (Dec 6, 2010)

I just finished reading this thread and one word, AWESOME!


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## beach_bumz (Dec 6, 2010)

ran-ran said:


> I just finished reading this thread and one word, AWESOME!



I agree! Love your blog!


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## rapmarks (Dec 6, 2010)

Are you flying and renting cars?   I have to hand it to you for downsizing that much.  
When we were looking for a 2nd home we did 11 weeks in a row, 9 weeks in a row and 12 weeks in a row.  I definitely feel a lot of drawbacks to that lifestyle, but as you are going all over the country that is a big plus.


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## ronandjoan (Dec 19, 2010)

chriskre said:


> Hi Joan,
> I'm just so fascinated by this.  I've put a link to this thread on other forums because people just can't fathom how affordable this could really be.
> I hope you don't mind.  You're famous.
> Kind of a guru for all of us wannabe's.
> ...



Well, I feel honored!  

We feel like we need to find a place to settle down, and since last week in Seattle was RAINY RAINY and we had to be out in it in order to see all the kids' concerts, we really do not want to be where it is cold, or rainy.  We are hearing more and more people say, When I retire, I want t go to somewhere WARM.

Well, what can we say?  We have arrived in Florida now, and although it was in the 50's today, it is SO MUCH better than up north, e.g. Ohio.


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## ronandjoan (Dec 19, 2010)

rapmarks said:


> Are you flying and renting cars?



We drive on the east coast, then fly to Seattle, and drive there.  At first we rented cars in Seattle, but then purchased our son's old car, and saved so much $$.  We were able to buy another used car last month, when the other car's tranmission went out.  (see my BLOG for details)

So, we have 2 cars, like many of you.  Just that one is in Seattle and one stays somewhere east of the Mississippi, wherever we are flying out of.  We have many friends that will keep our car for our extended trips, -- for just a week to Seattle, we'll leave it at the airport, but for months, we need a more safe place, and less expensive too, of course.  But we have just found that Bloomington IL, near our son, has FREE parking at that airport.  So we are planning to leave the van there next summer.

I look for the cheapest places to fly to Seattle from and then plan to leave the car there.  We also utilize motel's park and fly options when we need to.


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## chriskre (Dec 20, 2010)

ronandjoan said:


> Well, I feel honored!
> 
> We feel like we need to find a place to settle down, and since last week in Seattle was RAINY RAINY and we had to be out in it in order to see all the kids' concerts, we really do not want to be where it is cold, or rainy.  We are hearing more and more people say, When I retire, I want t go to somewhere WARM.
> 
> Well, what can we say?  We have arrived in Florida now, and although it was in the 50's today, it is SO MUCH better than up north, e.g. Ohio.



Welcome back to Florida.   
You're just in time for some sunny weather.


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## ronandjoan (Dec 21, 2010)

Thanks, we relaxed as soon as we landed!


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## rapmarks (Dec 21, 2010)

ronandjoan said:


> I htink my husband has the gypsy spirit and I just enable that!
> 
> Before we were married, (41 years ago!!!!- this week) he traveled as a single GI with just a duffle bag and a military ID card (no 9/11 rules then!). So he is a little frustrated with all the new regulations - like a passport???
> 
> ...


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