Are you over 65? Do you timeshare more or less?

[Pennytx]

Same except we didn't sell the house.
Going on 2 years now

That’s so fantastic
Would love to hear where you’ve been and where you plan on going

 

[wmgjr]

Driving away from the house for the last time felt like leaving on a vacation I never had to come back from. It still feels like being on a never-ending vacation.

Agreed. We weren't intending to stay in timeshares it was supposed to be a 6 week stay. But found over time that TS provided better quality of life and was cheaper than traditional living.

We still have to work remotely so doesn't always feel like a never ending vacation. But we do take time off for nicer timeshare stays and after work having the amenities of a timeshare are more enjoyable than most most condos and HOA amenities.

 

[dioxide45]

Agreed. We weren't intending to stay in timeshares it was supposed to be a 6 week stay. But found over time that TS provided better quality of life and was cheaper than traditional living.

We still have to work remotely so doesn't always feel like a never ending vacation. But we do take time off for nicer timeshare stays and after work having the amenities of a timeshare are more enjoyable than most most condos and HOA amenities.

I am curious what you do about your mail staying in timeshare full time? We aren't full time but are often gone longer than the 30-day limit on USPS mail holds. We used to do mail holds when gone for a while, but they once lost a whole bunch of our mail we asked to be delivered when we returned. Thus we stopped asking for a hold and just let them keep stuffing it in the box, but now our local Post Office has started pulling it out if it gets too full and will return to sender if we don't pick up after 10-days. Thus we have looked into a few other possible solutions like a Good Sam address or one of the other mail scanning services.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I just turned 64, DH is 66. Neither of us feel we are in our 60s. We both still work although with current economic cutbacks my project workload is diminishing. My DH has flexible and remote work ideal for traveling.

We are still using our timeshares more than ever. I picked up 2 VOIs last year. Currently learning to use II for international trades and skiing. We use domestic (Hawaii & NYC) for family reunions, and which would be financially prohibitive without the timeshares.

When we are less mobile we will reduce our portfolio and trade or use our timeshares closer to home. We will also start cruising since that requires less walking.

 

[Timeshare Von]

I am curious what you do about your mail staying in timeshare full time? We aren't full time but are often gone longer than the 30-day limit on USPS mail holds. We used to do mail holds when gone for a while, but they once lost a whole bunch of our mail we asked to be delivered when we returned. Thus we stopped asking for a hold and just let them keep stuffing it in the box, but now our local Post Office has started pulling it out if it gets too full and will return to sender if we don't pick up after 10-days. Thus we have looked into a few other possible solutions like a Good Sam address or one of the other mail scanning services.

"What about my mail?" is my hubby's big challenge (or one of them) about living a full-time RV lifestyle. I always laugh when he brings it up, but I also get that it's really a thing to consider.

 

[wmgjr]

That’s so fantastic
Would love to hear where you’ve been and where you plan on going

We've been a lot of places so far but still more to go.
We drive to most places and open to anywhere contiguous US.

We've been putting off fly to places so Atlantis St John crane Hawaii etc will be sometime later I hope.

Glimpse into the rest of the year:
Staying FS aviara next week after a 3 week stay at Welk. Followed by GPP.

Then WM boulevard, Trump, a 12 night Marriott stay.

Then Carlsbad hotel (tour package), and shadow ridge in Palm springs (tour package)

2 weeks back to back at MGC in a 3 bedroom. (Extra room if anyone's interested in a swap)

Haven't booked yet but plan to stay at Welk for 2 months in the fall.

Then we have utah in November and fs aviara again in December. We just have to fill in gaps between the stays we currently have.

We've played with the idea of moving over to Florida but that feels more restrictive as far as geography and climate.

 

[dioxide45]

"What about my mail?" is my hubby's big challenge (or one of them) about living a full-time RV lifestyle. I always laugh when he brings it up, but I also get that it's really a thing to consider.

We get so little actual important mail and I've successfully stopped the relentless amount of credit offers received by requesting it online. Most everything is paperless now so most of our mail is just local flyers and stuff. Though, every once in a while we need to receive something important like a replacement credit card when it expires. Luckily a bunch of those came before our recent trip.

 

[Timeshare Von]

This has been an interesting conversation . . . touching on many of the thoughts and opinions/concerns I've had over recent years. I don't think I want to live in Florida or Texas . . . but then again, every now & then I'm surprised during a visit when I feel like "I can see me/us living here." That was the case driving through West Texas just a month ago. I really enjoyed the area between Amarillo & Lubbock. I also don't want to live in a "big brown dust pan" like where my youngest sister lives in southern NM. Heck, I barely survived the wind storms and brown-out conditions in that area last month. Northern NM was another matter however . . . although way too far from what family & friends we do have.

And as we get older and more dependent on decent and accessible medical facilities & doctors, and Medicare reliable plans (I LOVE my advantage plan!) . . . I feel as though we might never leave the Milwaukee area. That said, the taxes are stupid expensive and continuing to get worse . . . especially our real estate/property taxes on our home. Add to that, the impact of state taxes on social security and other retirement funds . . . and Wisconsin just doesn't feel like a good fit.

Maybe we'll get it figured out by the time I'm 70 . . . I feel that when RMDs come into play for me, we need to be out of here and wherever "retirement" takes us.

 

[Tacoma]

I am 67 and my husband will be 65 in a little over a week. We have never not used a week (except for his father's funeral-but as we own that week with friends they just invited others) and during covid I had to put some WM points in II. I own BRMR which will cease to be a timeshare in 2030, an EOY at Holiday Park Kelowna shared with friends which will expire in 2037, an EEY at Delta Grand Okanagan which will expire after I do, an EOY Buganvilias which expires in 2029, 6000 HGVC points (embarc), and 20,000 points WM. We still are travelling a lot but trying to do a lot more international travel and Mexico and cutting back on trips to the US. Since WM is the equivalent of 2 weeks a year I consider I own 5.5 weeks with the flexibility of buying more points in both WM and Embarc when I need them. By 2030 that will be reduced to 4.5 weeks. I have been to all of the WM Canadian resorts, most of them several times. I still have 3 Canadian resorts in Embarc (out of 6) that I have not been to. Unlike most people my timeshare resorts are some of my most expensive stays (also the most comfortable) but travelling in North America is expensive. When I travel internationally (generally SE Asia) my accommodation is rarely over $100 CDN or $70 US. For those trips it's the airfares that add to the cost. I dislike the extra fees to exchange with II so generally just use WM resorts but I'm determined to get some bucket list exchanges in the next few years, possibly to the Atlantis Resort and hopefully a resort in Southern Spain or England. I wish there were more European options but I generally only spend 3-4 nights in one place on an international trip anyways. I may check out Hapimag for my next Europe trip. I feel I have the right balance of timeshare weeks and money for other trips for now. When I don't I may give away a few weeks but I have been very careful in what timeshares I have acquired.

 

[Luanne]

This has been an interesting conversation . . . touching on many of the thoughts and opinions/concerns I've had over recent years. I don't think I want to live in Florida or Texas . . . but then again, every now & then I'm surprised during a visit when I feel like "I can see me/us living here." That was the case driving through West Texas just a month ago. I really enjoyed the area between Amarillo & Lubbock. I also don't want to live in a "big brown dust pan" like where my youngest sister lives in southern NM. Heck, I barely survived the wind storms and brown-out conditions in that area last month. Northern NM was another matter however . . . although way too far from what family & friends we do have.

And as we get older and more dependent on decent and accessible medical facilities & doctors, and Medicare reliable plans (I LOVE my advantage plan!) . . . I feel as though we might never leave the Milwaukee area. That said, the taxes are stupid expensive and continuing to get worse . . . especially our real estate/property taxes on our home. Add to that, the impact of state taxes on social security and other retirement funds . . . and Wisconsin just doesn't feel like a good fit.

Maybe we'll get it figured out by the time I'm 70 . . . I feel that when RMDs come into play for me, we need to be out of here and wherever "retirement" takes us.

We did retire to northern NM, Santa Fe in fact. Dh's sister and husband lived there, but we didn't move to be closer to them. My family was in Ozark, MO, no desire to move close to them. One daughter stayed in CA as that was where her friends were. She told us we needed to do what we needed to do for us. We do see her about once a year, sometimes more. Our younger daughter is living with us now, and working in New Mexico. Not something she'd planned to do, but that was where the job was.

 

[wmgjr]

I am curious what you do about your mail staying in timeshare full time? We aren't full time but are often gone longer than the 30-day limit on USPS mail holds. We used to do mail holds when gone for a while, but they once lost a whole bunch of our mail we asked to be delivered when we returned. Thus we stopped asking for a hold and just let them keep stuffing it in the box, but now our local Post Office has started pulling it out if it gets too full and will return to sender if we don't pick up after 10-days. Thus we have looked into a few other possible solutions like a Good Sam address or one of the other mail scanning services.

We pay one of our contractors to use their address and scan our mail into our digital cloud.

 

[CO skier]

That was the case driving through West Texas just a month ago. I really enjoyed the area between Amarillo & Lubbock. I also don't want to live in a "big brown dust pan" like where my youngest sister lives in southern NM.

Amarillo and Lubbock are in the north Texas panhandle. I drove through there a month ago, and it looks like southern New Mexico to me.

Garfield, NM

 

[rapmarks]

Agreed. We weren't intending to stay in timeshares it was supposed to be a 6 week stay. But found over time that TS provided better quality of life and was cheaper than traditional living.

We still have to work remotely so doesn't always feel like a never ending vacation. But we do take time off for nicer timeshare stays and after work having the amenities of a timeshare are more enjoyable than most most condos and HOA amenities.

This I don’t get. First, I don’t find timeshares less expensive than owning a home. And didn’t you say you still had your home? Two, a timeshare has more amenities than a hoa has? I live in a timeshare resort and it does not have as many amenities as my home in Florida in an hoa, and it certainly doesn’t have a better quality of life. Even though I have small homes, they are more spacious and more comfortable than a timeshare

 

[mjm1]

We've been a lot of places so far but still more to go.
We drive to most places and open to anywhere contiguous US.

We've been putting off fly to places so Atlantis St John crane Hawaii etc will be sometime later I hope.

Glimpse into the rest of the year:
Staying FS aviara next week after a 3 week stay at Welk. Followed by GPP.

Then WM boulevard, Trump, a 12 night Marriott stay.

Then Carlsbad hotel (tour package), and shadow ridge in Palm springs (tour package)

2 weeks back to back at MGC in a 3 bedroom. (Extra room if anyone's interested in a swap)

Haven't booked yet but plan to stay at Welk for 2 months in the fall.

Then we have utah in November and fs aviara again in December. We just have to fill in gaps between the stays we currently have.

We've played with the idea of moving over to Florida but that feels more restrictive as far as geography and climate.

Would you please elaborate on what type of units you stay in and the typical cost of those reservations? I like the idea, but am having a difficult time understanding how it could be less expensive than living in a home and having a better quality of life.

 

[wmgjr]

This I don’t get. First, I don’t find timeshares less expensive than owning a home. And didn’t you say you still had your home? Two, a timeshare has more amenities than a hoa has? I live in a timeshare resort and it does not have as many amenities as my home in Florida in an hoa, and it certainly doesn’t have a better quality of life. Even though I have small homes, they are more spacious and more comfortable than a timeshare

Well this may be a case of to each their own.

Addressing the 2nd point about amenities, our HOA had a pool from the 80s and a clubhouse we had to pay to use. So really just a pool. No hot tub. No zero entry. No water features. No meeting spaces (unless pay for clubhouse) no business center, restaurants or marketplaces on site, no scheduled activities that we wanted to attend.
I'm not sure which resort you live at but if we don't like the amenities we move somewhere else.

All in we paid around 2500 a month mortgage reserves all costs included. Didn't have cleaning. Estimated 250 a month for reserves and repairs. Our average monthly timeshare stays were 1600 when we started in 2023. 1400 in 2024. And around 2k now in 2025. We've been choosing to stay at higher end places and begrudgingly pay the resort fees more recently to be at places like Hilton and FS more often as I'm no longer as motivated to prove that TS living is cheaper than standard living.
We converted our house back home into a rental. So it pays for itself for now.

As far as quality of life speaking for myself. When we started our journey my daughter was 2 and son was just over 1. Having housekeeping support, kids clubs, activity centers, movie theatres (Grand desert, peak 7, peak 8, desert blue, etc), scheduled activities, onsite playgrounds, relief from home owner responsibilities while raising toddlers allows us to spend more time with the kids, have more time for our marriage, or more time to work.

Kids also enrolled in a daycare "academy" with a national presence and often available near our TS locations.

The combination of all of these things has allowed us to increase our income, spend less, invest more, pay off debt (86k plus so far).

We're relatively young (mid 30s), with 2 kids and very little support from family. TS feels like one of my best investments even before we were full time. Our travel style changed after having kids but see more potential as they age.

I know way more info than you asked for but it's working for us right now. Plus I've gotten to meet some great people through this site and in person during our travels.

 

[wmgjr]

Would you please elaborate on what type of units you stay in and the typical cost of those reservations? I like the idea, but am having a difficult time understanding how it could be less expensive than living in a home and having a better quality of life.

See post #65.

Standard cost for our timeshare weeks is less than 385 (including membership costs, mf, exchange fees, resort fees etc.) this is an average. And has gone up recently.

When we first started we were staying in 1 bedrooms but now we generally book 2 bedrooms and higher.

 

[Pennytx]

Well this may be a case of to each their own.

Addressing the 2nd point about amenities, our HOA had a pool from the 80s and a clubhouse we had to pay to use. So really just a pool. No hot tub. No zero entry. No water features. No meeting spaces (unless pay for clubhouse) no business center, restaurants or marketplaces on site, no scheduled activities that we wanted to attend.
I'm not sure which resort you live at but if we don't like the amenities we move somewhere else.

All in we paid around 2500 a month mortgage reserves all costs included. Didn't have cleaning. Estimated 250 a month for reserves and repairs. Our average monthly timeshare stays were 1600 when we started in 2023. 1400 in 2024. And around 2k now in 2025. We've been choosing to stay at higher end places and begrudgingly pay the resort fees more recently to be at places like Hilton and FS more often as I'm no longer as motivated to prove that TS living is cheaper than standard living.
We converted our house back home into a rental. So it pays for itself for now.

As far as quality of life speaking for myself. When we started our journey my daughter was 2 and son was just over 1. Having housekeeping support, kids clubs, activity centers, movie theatres (Grand desert, peak 7, peak 8, desert blue, etc), scheduled activities, onsite playgrounds, relief from home owner responsibilities while raising toddlers allows us to spend more time with the kids, have more time for our marriage, and honestly for me work more (I'm a workaholic ).
Kids also enrolled in a daycare "academy" with a national presence and often available near our TS locations.

The combination of all of these things has allowed us to increase our income, spend less, invest more, pay off debt (86k plus so far).

We're relatively young (mid 30s), with 2 kids and very little support from family. TS feels like one of my best investments even before we were full time. Our travel style changed after having kids but see more potential as they age.

I know way more info than you asked for but it's working for us right now. Plus I've gotten to meet some great people through this site and in person during our travels.

Good for you
I think that’s awesome for your family
What an adventure

 

[Timeshare Von]

Amarillo and Lubbock are in the north Texas panhandle. I drove through there a month ago, and it looks like southern New Mexico to me.

View attachment 111056


Garfield, NM
View attachment 111057

Here's one of the photos I took in the area I thought looked interesting (and not like a brown dust pan).

 

[Rolltydr]

Never had any desire to visit Texas. I think of it as a big, brown, dustpan. LOL!

In my opinion, that’s probably the best thing you can say about it!

 

[Pennytx]

I’m raised my children partially in Texas
It’s a beautiful place
Others may not feel the same
But… after all, that’s why we all have timeshares so we can discover what we like

 

[rapmarks]

I am surprised people can get upscale timeshares for so little. I thought my maintenance fees were lower than many at 1000 a week. I know when I communicated with Cindy about little Sweden, while I was paying 1000 it was costing her 1500 maintenance for the same thing through shell. So if I traded my week it was running around 1400 and poster spends $385. He is doing great

 

[wmgjr]

I am surprised people can get upscale timeshares for so little. I thought my maintenance fees were lower than many at 1000 a week. I know when I communicated with Cindy about little Sweden, while I was paying 1000 it was costing her 1500 maintenance for the same thing through shell. So if I traded my week it was running around 1400 and poster spends $385. He is doing great

My Costco analogy for people.
Your contract is like your membership to Costco.
Gives you access to the exchange companies/store. That's where the deals really are. Especially if you can book in advance and take advantage of sales.

Our higher cost weeks (Marriott) is more like our actual vacations where we take time off or travel further. For everyday living we wouldnt rely on 1k a week.

The lower your actual MF are the better as far as access but FT wouldn't be possible without the exchange companies low season inventory.

 

[rapmarks]

My Costco analogy for people.
Your contract is like your membership to Costco.
Gives you access to the exchange companies/store. That's where the deals really are. Especially if you can book in advance and take advantage of sales.

Our deeded week usage is more like our actual vacations where we take time off or travel further. For everyday living we wouldnt rely on 1k a week.

The lower your actual MF are the better as far as access but FT wouldn't be possible without the exchange companies low season inventory.

When we were looking for a home on Florida we took advantage of those extra vacations. Saved us from staying in motels and rushing our decisions.

 

[geist1223]

I spent two weeks at WorldMark Stablewood Springs in Hunt, TX for the April, 2024 Solar Eclipse. Really enjoyed the Texas Hill Country -- lots of trees. The Texas DOT plants wildflower seeds on the roadsides, and they were in full bloom. The weather was beautiful in April, but it would be way too hot for me in the summer.

We were also at Stablewood Springs. Too bad it was cloudy during the Solar Eclipse. It was a pain when the water service went out for a day+. We talked to one of the night time Maintenence guys. He said when the pump from the Well to the Water Storage Tank on the top of the Hill went out he left a note for the morning guy NOT to fill the Pools in the morning. Which he ignored or did not see. This caused the Water Tank to mostly drain all the fresh water. Then it took a while to get the pump fixed.

 

[wmgjr]

When we were looking for a home on Florida we took advantage of those extra vacations. Saved us from staying in motels and rushing our decisions.

That was our original thought with our first long term booking.
Did y'all buy before the Covid price jumps on homes?