mtngal
TUG Member
I'm planning on retiring in a year and have started planning/thinking about it. My plans are to take at least 1 long road trip, probably more since all of the places I want to go would most likely take at least a year or 2 to do in a relatively leisurely manner, and I don't want to be a full-time RVer. So I imagine I'll take a number of trips, being gone for several months at a time. I would be traveling alone for the most part, maybe with a dog.
If I were to get the travel trailer, it would give me the freedom to go wherever I wanted, such as Moab Utah - one of the first places I want to visit. I'd have my own bathroom and small kitchen, otherwise I'd stay in a motel and have to eat alone at restaurants, which I hate doing and which is a lot more expensive than fixing my own.
If I went with another timeshare, I'd either buy more WorldMark points or else buy a Wyndham points account, both of which would give me the flexibility I would want.
Both a timeshare and a trailer would require a certain amount of up-front cost, more than just doing the motel bit completely. The timeshare would most likely have a lower acquisition cost, and potentially (but not guaranteed) a greater resale value.
Both would require additional annual maintenance fees - the trailer (if not allowed to sit for an extended time) would be cheaper than the timeshare.
If I were to stay primarily at private campgrounds there would be additional nightly fees, though I imagine I would overnight/dry camp on a fairly regular basis. If I were to stay at timeshares I would have to stay at motels fairly often, while going from one place to another and when I want to visit places like Moab. So I suspect that the overall nightly cost would be cheaper with the travel trailer, at least at first since I am planning on some long road trips where there aren't any/many timeshares.
Cost of gas would be higher with the trailer, and whether towing a trailer would bother me or not is something I don't really know (it's been years since I towed a horse trailer, and then I didn't do it often - either a friend or my husband drove mostly). I don't remember it being a burden or a problem, just something that had different rules and things that required attention. I'm looking at a trailer that's 20 feet or under, something I can tow with the same vehicle I'd be driving to timeshares (a Grand Cherokee).
If it were your decision, which way would you go and why? Is there something I haven't considered that might make the decision more obvious? There's always intangibles, are there any others someone might have that I haven't thought of?
Any ideas, thoughts and experiences with such things would be much appreciated!
If I were to get the travel trailer, it would give me the freedom to go wherever I wanted, such as Moab Utah - one of the first places I want to visit. I'd have my own bathroom and small kitchen, otherwise I'd stay in a motel and have to eat alone at restaurants, which I hate doing and which is a lot more expensive than fixing my own.
If I went with another timeshare, I'd either buy more WorldMark points or else buy a Wyndham points account, both of which would give me the flexibility I would want.
Both a timeshare and a trailer would require a certain amount of up-front cost, more than just doing the motel bit completely. The timeshare would most likely have a lower acquisition cost, and potentially (but not guaranteed) a greater resale value.
Both would require additional annual maintenance fees - the trailer (if not allowed to sit for an extended time) would be cheaper than the timeshare.
If I were to stay primarily at private campgrounds there would be additional nightly fees, though I imagine I would overnight/dry camp on a fairly regular basis. If I were to stay at timeshares I would have to stay at motels fairly often, while going from one place to another and when I want to visit places like Moab. So I suspect that the overall nightly cost would be cheaper with the travel trailer, at least at first since I am planning on some long road trips where there aren't any/many timeshares.
Cost of gas would be higher with the trailer, and whether towing a trailer would bother me or not is something I don't really know (it's been years since I towed a horse trailer, and then I didn't do it often - either a friend or my husband drove mostly). I don't remember it being a burden or a problem, just something that had different rules and things that required attention. I'm looking at a trailer that's 20 feet or under, something I can tow with the same vehicle I'd be driving to timeshares (a Grand Cherokee).
If it were your decision, which way would you go and why? Is there something I haven't considered that might make the decision more obvious? There's always intangibles, are there any others someone might have that I haven't thought of?
Any ideas, thoughts and experiences with such things would be much appreciated!