• A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!
  • The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 31 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 31st anniversary: Happy 31st Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $24,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $24 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    Tens of thousands of subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!
  • The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!

RV vs Timeshare?

A

ace2000

TUG Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2006
Messages
5,032
Reaction score
152
Getting close enough to retirement age that we have to start thinking about this question. I'd love to hear from anyone who has experienced both lifestyles and what their thoughts were on the advantages and disadvantages of each - in comparison. Right now I'm leaning towards a teardrop camper (or a fifth wheel) and experiencing both.

All are welcome to chime in with their thoughts, what's everyone think?
 
We had some friends that did this, sold their house and traveled about the country. They started with a 5th wheel and truck but soon traded it in for a full class A motorhome and towed a small honda. It was easier for them to explore in the areas they stayed with the small car vs the truck.

They lasted about 4 years them bought a home in Az, now they winter at home and travel in summer.

We used to own a 25ft trailer before buying a timeshare, I dont think we could go back to that style of travel, we are spoiled now by quick flights, rental cars and the accomodations.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 
I'd been a tent camper since I was a kid, and I know how to enjoy myself on a camping trip. As I got older, I graduated from tent camping to a pickup camper, then to a travel trailer. Shortly after I retired from the Navy, I bought a 34-foot motorhome, and hit the road. We spent more than a year traveling around 11 western states. It was great, relatively inexpensive (define "relatively"), and we saw a lot. I learned I don't mind living in a smaller space. I enjoyed the travel, and I was very comfortable. I could easily do it again.

What I learned I didn't like was the sometimes very crowded space in RV Parks, the cost of repairs and parts, and sometimes the unpleasant people who are living next door. The thing about an RV is the "getting there" is often better than the "being there." If you don't enjoy driving, if you aren't willing to do things for yourself, and if you're not a careful, observant driver, it can quickly become something you won't enjoy doing very much. If you don't enjoy doing it, you won't do it. There are a LOT of RVs for sale from people who thought they'd like it better than they actually did. There's a valid reason for that.

A teardrop camper is great, as long as it's nice weather. Do you ever plan to go where it rains, or gets cold? You may not have the space to get out of your own way. Great for a weekend away in good weather, but what if that doesn't work out?

A fifth wheel can be like towing a house. You need the right vehicle, and you must be prepared for the sheer volume of what you're driving, and towing. Nice place to stay, certainly, but even in the best of times, it's still "just" a trailer.

My best recommendation is to borrow or rent a trailer and/or a full-on RV in various sizes and configurations. Test them as if they were your own, and decide how much you like the idea. You may find that the romance of the idea is more than the reality of actually doing it.

Timesharing is what it is. It is very different than RVing, because you're moving into someone else's place for a week or whatever. With an RV or trailer, it's a lot like camping - you spend a fortune so you can live like you're homeless. :)

It's a fun way to go, but you have to know exactly what you're getting into. Good luck!

Dave
 
We used to have a small self-contained travel trailer and we enjoyed it when the kids were little. But it was always a lot of work to get everything ready to go, and then a lot of clean up and maintenance to do when we got home. It was fun then, but I prefer timeshares, now.
 
We started RVing in about 1994 with a little 21' 5th wheel and a small half ton pickup. We also had a couple of timeshare weeks. So I don't see it as an 'either/or' choice. They are different ways to travel. Timesharing is kind of a no hassle way to go. With RVs, it's always something, from the 10 mpg fuel mileage and the having to get reservations online well in advance for RV space that's always too close to the neighbors and full of kids and dogs. Then the equipment breaks or the plumbing clogs up or the oven has you on hands and knees with a long handled lighter to cook something. And they're SMALL! We traded that one for a new 32' 5th wheel with a slide-out living room, and of course it took a bigger pickup. It was very nice, but still it was about 300 sq. ft. And weighted 10,000 lbs, so powering up those highway hills goes through a lot of fuel. I was (and am) comfortable driving the large pickup to sight-see, in fact still own the pickup even though the trailer is long gone.

Trading the 5th wheel for a motorhome is a consideration, but then you think, it has all the systems- water, liquid waste, furnace, a/c, electric power (both 12v & 120v) as a 5th wheel, then it also has an engine, transmission and other running gear. If it goes into a shop, you're going to a hotel. And it never happens at home.

We took a couple of cross-country trips with the big trailer, then joined a campground 'timeshare' where we could leave the trailer in the hills, on a lake, and just go there on long weekends, hook up the trailer and put it on a site, level it, turn on water/power/sewer and enjoy it. That grew old in time, I actually sold the campground membership for more than all but the best TSs sell for on TUG, and the trailer soon after.

Now we have an urban loft second home amid the high-rises, bars, restaurants, theaters, and of course we also have the timeshares.

Jim
 
It’s funny this should come up. Lately I’ve been obsessed with the idea of having a small RV or Sprinter Van. We used to do lots of car camping and really liked it. But it’s too much work. I like the idea of it being a nice weather and just deciding to head off for the weekend, with the dogs and a mountain bike. We’d mostly go to Big Bear Lake, and up there you can park on the dirt forest roads and camp without a reservation. Seems more appealing than Timesharing and deciding where you want to go a year in advance.

BUT: I know it will be more work than I expect. You still have to pack, organize food, get everything together. It’s the same with the boat. And we can’t really justify having a boat, multiple timeshares AND a camping van. So we are unlikely to act upon my new obsession. I was thinking, “it sure would be nice to connect with some RV owners in nice places, trade a timeshare week for time in their RV, all set up and ready to go on the site, just show up and camp.” So maybe if Ace buys something nice, we’ll have to set up an RV exchange section in the marketplace.
 
You have to like camping and do not mind forgoing the comforts of being in a larger space, including having nice hot showers in the comfort of a home or a timeshare unit.

I refused to go camping when I was in grade 5 and 6 and it was a compulsory event for all students. My parents wrote a letter to exempt me from going.

I spent about 10 years taking lots of vacation and trips with my ex-husband on his nice yacht around the world and even then, I hated most of it. While we could shower and cook on his yacht, there is nothing compared to being in a large kitchen and a large bathroom. RV'ing is never going to be an option for me.
 
Last edited:
We were/are campers. We have tent camped, had a pop-up, and when we have gone in the shoulder season where weather may be an issue, we have rented an RV. Out of the three, I liked the last option best. We rent near the place we are going (ok - Yosemite) and drive the RV in followed by our car. That way you don't use as much gas and don't have to store/maintain the RV. Just drop it off and wave goodbye. RV's seem like a money pit to me. YMMV.
 
Last edited:
SmithOp said:
We had some friends that did this, sold their house and traveled about the country.
Click to expand...
A cousin of mine and her husband did the same thing after their kid graduated and left home. They sold their house, bought a 5th wheeler, and traveled the country. Three years later they got divorced. :eek:

Kurt
 
PigsDad said:
A cousin of mine and her husband did the same thing after their kid graduated and left home. They sold their house, bought a 5th wheeler, and traveled the country. Three years later they got divorced. :eek:

Kurt
Click to expand...

I have to admit I never really gave this much thought when I was younger but since our kids have all finally moved out of the house, everything in our relationship is taking on a much different perspective. I never really considered this period of life would create such an adjustment. Given that, and considering retirement to be coming soon, that's yet another significant adjustment on the horizon. You hate to hear about couples being married so long ending a relationship but I can now more easily understand why (and how) it happens.
 
PigsDad said:
A cousin of mine and her husband did the same thing after their kid graduated and left home. They sold their house, bought a 5th wheeler, and traveled the country. Three years later they got divorced. :eek:
Click to expand...
It takes a (or 2) special people to live 4 feet apart for months- or years. As many here know, I am a retired trucker. We had fair numbers of senior (retired) couples who trained together then ran 'team' trucking coast to coast. It's possible to make pretty good money, pack quite a bit of it away if the couple's retirement is bit short, and 'see the USA'. I'd make a small unspecified wager that 90% of those people were not operating as a team, trucking, after 2 years. Most often, they found a way to simply retire, or one continued trucking and one went 'home', or they went their ways. I was not in a position to track them accurately to find who did what. Nor did I really care. I retired and never looked back.

Jim
 
bbodb1 said:
I have to admit I never really gave this much thought when I was younger but since our kids have all finally moved out of the house, everything in our relationship is taking on a much different perspective. I never really considered this period of life would create such an adjustment. Given that, and considering retirement to be coming soon, that's yet another significant adjustment on the horizon. You hate to hear about couples being married so long ending a relationship but I can now more easily understand why (and how) it happens.
Click to expand...

When the kids are at home, focus is mainly on keeping the household running. After the kids are gone, it allows a lot more free time for the couple to take a longer look at each other, and decide how much they want to be together. Spending time in a cramped RV in strange surroundings can amplify a problem. People often grow apart, and what wasn't much of an issue when the kids were around is often a large problem when there are no distractions. It can, and does, happen.

Dave
 
I ran a business with my husband, we actually got married after we started our business, and sat within 100 feet of each other, working directly with each other for at least 5 hours a day while at work, not including our commute to / from work and meals together, and then back home, talking about work the whole time. We retired 2 years ago.

We are both very strong willed, aka stubborn, and it was really hard. We just reached a major milestone of being married for 10 years and every year had been a "Whew, we made another year." I have not fought (not physically) with anyone so much, ever. Yet, we are still together. It ain't easy but it takes 2 to make a relationship work.
 
VacationForever said:
We are both very strong willed, aka stubborn, and it was really hard. We just reached a major milestone of being married for 10 years and every year had been a "Whew, we made another year." I have not fought (not physically) with anyone so much, ever. Yet, we are still together. It ain't easy but it takes 2 to make a relationship work.
Click to expand...

But could you spend a lot of time in an RV with him? Might be an even bigger challenge. :)

Dave
 
I did a financial analysis of timesharing (buying weeks resale) vs: buying a good but used Class A (gas) motorhome. The three weak or expensive points of a motorhome are (1) tires and (2) transmissions and (3) gas. If you get a motorhome with an Alison tranny, that may be different. But many motorhomes are built on a large pickup type chassis and have a pick up engine and tranny (GM or Ford). They last okay in a pickup but are subjected to moving around a 30-35,000 pound vehicle. So, they don't do as well. If you are always driving on the flat that is easy service but if you are doing the mountains, that is hard on the trannies. A good friend bought a used Ford-based RV (Rexhall) with 30K miles on it and had to put in a tranny (#3 on that rig) at 35K. And tranny #4 at 65K. He did mountain RVing. But I'm digressing...

In my analysis, it was a bit cheaper to buy 4 or 5 or 6 timeshares on a cost per night basis. But rather than traveling and living in a 300 square foot box we are enjoying nice large 1 and 2 BR timeshares.

When I was considering buying a motor home I mentioned to my wife that in a motorhome that she probably wouldn't be able to take 1/2 hour hot showers and that she would probably have to use a washer - dryer at an RV campground rather than in the RV. That kind of nixed the idea for her.

So, we bought four timeshares. We split 3 or them so we get seven weeks annually. We also augment those weeks with an occasional getaway week or an accommodation cert. week. Excluding food, we average under $100 a night. So we are happy with our choice.
 
My cousin got one of those giant ones (resale- but big money) so they could go cross country from NY to California to visit their kids and grandchildren over the summers.

After the first year, they realized they really needed to have a car so they had to purchase one of those trailers to take it with them. I guess they have been enjoying it, but they have had issues from day one. First, the trailer they bought (from somewhere in North Carolina) was not right- cost them a lot of money to fix. Then they had an issue where the top of the RV hit into something at one of the campsites and they had to wait to get that fixed before they could move on. (more money). There is constant maintenance. She told me that they have to book their campsite(s) way in advance as most are already booked out.

Honestly, to me having an RV is a lot of work. And just lugging that big thing all around. UGH! Also-they have this huge thing parked in their small driveway at home most of the year.

Timeshares and rentals are the way to go for me. Fly or drive to the destination and that's it. As nice as many of these RV's are, to me- it's still camping and I don't like camping. I love to be outdoors, but then I like to come back to luxury and comfort.
 
I think timeshares and RV each have their own special quality so it is not an either/or decision, assuming you can afford both and have the time to use both. We own the equivalent of an RV timeshare at Pismo Beach. There are no maintenance fees or taxes because they rent out 50% of the spots to generate income from non-owners.

We use our fifth wheel mainly as a “beach condo” on long weekends. We occasionally stay a full week, perhaps once or twice a year. Where else can you buy a beach condo on the California coast for the cost of a share and a fifth wheel. In Pismo, beach condos sell in the millions, plus property taxes every year. We like storing our stuff in our fifth wheel so we don’t even need to pack before we leave home. It is also nice that we can take the dogs with us. We store our firth wheel in Pismo and hire a tower to move it back and forth for us.

Our fifth wheel has a king size bed, washer/dryer, dishwasher, oven and microwave, 2 TVs, full size stainless steel refrigerator, large kitchen island, big bathroom, electric reclining chairs, dining area, queen size sleeper sofa, and real wood cabinets. The park provides electric and sewer hookups, free wifi and as much hot water as we need.

We sold our motorhome and switched to a fifth wheel. We owned the motorhome for 5 years and we were tired of moving around. We had a tiny car we could flat tow behind it so it was easy to take on the road with us. It was not that much work, in my opinion, to drive the motorhome and set it up but we wanted the comfort of a fifth wheel.
 
Last edited:
Have a 2nd vacation home ... since 1977. Built it, rebuilt it and redecorated it totally at least 3 times. Used to rent it out when I first owned it (one senior manager at work rented it after his executive secretary had stayed there and was impressed. That got me auditted by him as he was TOO IMPRESSED ... above my pay grade he said. I was about 26-27yo then).

Now I go there about about 4 times a year .. but it is not a house but it is more like my roots. Know no one anymore in the area ... verses weekend cookouts and coffee down the street with the neighbors the first 10+ years. Have lived and sold at least 6 other real housesback home that I have lived in during those years.

PS My taxes are under $100 a month; electric is $75/mthly budget plan and I have no cable or internet service (saving $100/mth).
 
Last edited:
The only way I would consider getting an RV is to go to music festivals, such as the Crawfish festival in NJ (great music festival for that NOLA sound). Other than that, timeshares is our way of vacationing.
 
We now live full time in a fifth wheel RV traveling around the country. Have for 2 years so far. It’s something we had planned to do in retirement for many years. We like having our own bed, bathroom and things with us. Also we like not having to pack and unpack and lug suitcases around. We go at our own pace and decide when and where we want to go. We don’t have to depend on someone else’s availability. And with many of the new RVs, the space is as large as a one bedroom timeshare or apartment. We consider ourselves RVers not campers.

We do still like to timeshare to change things up occasionally. We spend 8-9 weeks in Grand Cayman each winter and then use our Wyndham points to vacation with our kids and grandkids or sometimes just to send them on vacations.
 
TravelTime said:
I think timeshares and RV each have their own special quality so it is not an either/or decision, assuming you can afford both and have the time to use both. We own the equivalent of an RV timeshare at Pismo Beach Village, right on what I consider to be the best beach in California.

Pismo is an up and coming town in California. Marriott is building an Autograph Collection hotel in downtown Pismo directly on the beach. It is a 5 minute walk from PCV to downtown Pismo. In the 6 years we have been going to Pismo Beach, we have seem a lot of gentrification and development. It is a jewel on the Central Coast of California.
Click to expand...

With serious apologies for going off topic, I just can't help myself....

 
heathpack said:
It’s funny this should come up. Lately I’ve been obsessed with the idea of having a small RV or Sprinter Van. We used to do lots of car camping and really liked it. But it’s too much work. I like the idea of it being a nice weather and just deciding to head off for the weekend, with the dogs and a mountain bike. We’d mostly go to Big Bear Lake, and up there you can park on the dirt forest roads and camp without a reservation. Seems more appealing than Timesharing and deciding where you want to go a year in advance.

BUT: I know it will be more work than I expect. You still have to pack, organize food, get everything together. It’s the same with the boat. And we can’t really justify having a boat, multiple timeshares AND a camping van. So we are unlikely to act upon my new obsession. I was thinking, “it sure would be nice to connect with some RV owners in nice places, trade a timeshare week for time in their RV, all set up and ready to go on the site, just show up and camp.” So maybe if Ace buys something nice, we’ll have to set up an RV exchange section in the marketplace.
Click to expand...

RVing is evolving into a Glamping industry!
 
Last edited:
shorts said:
We now live full time in a fifth wheel RV traveling around the country. Have for 2 years so far. It’s something we had planned to do in retirement for many years. We like having our own bed, bathroom and things with us. Also we like not having to pack and unpack and lug suitcases around. We go at our own pace and decide when and where we want to go. We don’t have to depend on someone else’s availability. And with many of the new RVs, the space is as large as a one bedroom timeshare or apartment. We consider ourselves RVers not campers.

We do still like to timeshare to change things up occasionally. We spend 8-9 weeks in Grand Cayman each winter and then use our Wyndham points to vacation with our kids and grandkids or sometimes just to send them on vacations.
Click to expand...

We like diversity so we have traditional timeshares (weeks and points), a sailing club, RVing with our fifth wheel, and a couple homes. We use them all every year. We work full time but we get away at least twice a month between all our vacation options.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top