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Are Timeshares A Good Way To Travel?

To me, timeshares have always meant black and white televisions.

Background…
When I was little, my parents went to lots of time share presentations.

Well, it probably was more like *a few* presentations, but what I remember is black and white televisions.

And I also remember one time share presentation distinctly.

It was somewhere in the mountains.

Brian (my older brother) and I played outside next to a river.

We were probably throwing rocks or something.

The air was crisp but not cold.  It was late afternoon.

Looking down at the river, there was white plastic somewhat buried by the dirt.

In my young brain, the plastic in the river looked like a skeleton.

And I remember being both scared and fascinated by it.

I wondered if it was maybe a PIRATE skeleton… and maybe there was some kind of buried treasure there.

I know… I know… pirate skeleton… in the mountains… in the river…

But I was very young.

I don’t know if it was at this particular timeshare presentation, or at another one, but my parents came home with a 13″ black and white television.

Maybe this was also the timeshare presentation where they got the original PONG console.

That looked like this:
Pong was a game played with paddles.  My parents got this at a time share.

The pong console let you play this.

It’s hard to believe that it took that whole console, to have the ability to play something that you can now download to your iPhone as a free app (but never would because you’d be bored to tears playing it).

But it was the early 80’s, and that was such a cool thing to have.

At another timeshare presentation, my parents got a *portable* black and white television.

It had a 7 inch screen, was about the size of a large computer printer, took D batteries (8 of them) to run, and also came with a cigarette lighter plug so you could watch TV while in the car.

I presume this television was thought of for camping, but it also entertained the kids (i.e. me and my brothers) in our little flat-nosed Toyota Minivan.

This was one of the early minivans, where you could smell the catalytic converter because the engine was actually INSIDE the vehicle.

(Who thought THAT was a good idea?)

The old Toyota minivans were flat nosed.

But I’m digressing.

The point is, I’ve really only ever thought of time shares as places to get free stuff, not as a way to buy a property, or buy time at a property.

While in Las Vegas especially, but also in our travels, Carrie has persuaded me to avoid time share presentations.

Presumably she has done this because (when lured by the mystique of a black and white television or some other *equally awesome* freebie,) I’d be likely to say yes to the high pressure, hard-close environment often associated with a time share presentation.

I don’t know if I ever thought owning a time share would be for me, but for where I’m at now in life, being interested in traveling to lots of different places in the world and knowing how to use the Internet really well to do comparison shopping, I haven’t really understood the appeal of a time share (outside of the free black and white television) for me personally.

But lots of people in my family have bought time shares, and many people I know have considered buying them.

Are time shares a good way to travel, or save money on travel, or a good way to invest your money?

I wanted to know.

So I decided to ask people with some experience (i.e. not me), what they think about their time share purchases past and present.

I also, in the middle of writing this article, had the opportunity to spend a week at my parents’ time share at the El Cid resort in the Riviera Maya, near Puerto Morelos, Cancun, Mexico.

So this article became three parts.

You’ve just ended Part 1: Are Time Shares A Good Way To Travel?
Part 2: What My Friends and Family Think of Timeshares
Part 3: El Cid Vacation Club: Returning to El Cid, Cancun

4 thoughts on “Are Timeshares A Good Way To Travel?

  1. Lisa

    Fun times! You forgot to mention all the places we stayed at for free as long as we’d listen to their time share presentation. 90 minutes seemed like a bargain for a family of 5 (then) for 3 days and 2 nights, oftentimes with a swimming pool and other amenities, like horseback riding at one time share in Frasier. We were always looking for an inexpensive reason to pack up the family in the good old minivan and take on a new adventure! Good times and it’s so fun to hear what you actually remember from those days!! The good news is that we’re still finding ways to vacation together!! Still making incredible memories together!! Life is so good and I am so thankful!

    1. strive4impact Post author

      I don’t remember all of those having come via timeshares. But I do remember the horseback riding. I got the donkey… or at least an old grey horse that didn’t want to move no matter how hard I kicked. Was the green swimming pool also a time share deal?

      Thank-you for creating spaces, places, and times for us to be together as a family. We have an amazing family.

  2. Brian

    Ha… I totally remember that skeleton. It was in the mountains for sure and I can picture the building, but don’t remember the location. Crazy you remember that too… good times. Great post by the way!

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