One year living in our timeshares: 2 1/2 year update

[OhioDVC]

I hope you enjoyed the Moody Blues, it's been a few years since we've seen them in concert.

I don't know who is getting older at a Moody Blues concert - the band or the crowd!

I forget his name but the drummer said that the band had been together for 50 years. That should put them around their 70's.

We are at Old Key West right now and if there wasn't a bad thunderstorm outside, I wouldn't be posting.

 

[nemajovc]

We love Destin but make sure to spend time on30a much more quiet. The sheriff's office works hard to keep spring break as mellow as possible and it seems to be helping

 

[ACDSNY]

I don't know who is getting older at a Moody Blues concert - the band or the crowd!

I forget his name but the drummer said that the band had been together for 50 years. That should put them around their 70's.

Well at least a few of us are still younger than the band, I think drummer is in his early 70's and the other two are late 60's. It's amazing they've managed to stay together so long. You can tell they love what they do.

Enjoy your stay at OKW.

 

[Cheeky in TN]

Incredible journey! Thank you for your service and setting an example of what sacrifice and patience will get in the long run. I would love to understand more how you shopped for timeshares. We recently bought back into DVC (sold few years back when we became a family of five and did not want to buy more points to always stay in 2 bedroom). We can now stay in 1 bedroom and find that allows plenty of room for us. I would love to catch some bargain beach timeshares, almost feel clueless on how to proceed. I can navigate DVC sales pretty well, the others stump me. Hate hearing Wyndham Bonnet Creek being so bad as we like the look of it walking around the ponds. I would love to hunt down some good deals in the panhandle area and figure how to rent when we can't use them.

Enjoy your travels, it certainly is inspiring that you are following your heart.

 

[OurDogCisco]

Awesome update. You are definitely living the dream. I love your vacation style. Wish you the best in the future..

 

[MinnieGi]

Wow, thanks for the Year 2 update!! I remember being jealous of your first year in timeshares and now a whole second one too, how very cool!! Good for you!!!

Thanks for the timeshare comparisons, very interesting.

 

[CarolynMink]

Thank you for taking the time to share your travels with us. I am very happy to hear about all the health benefits that you are having.

I will be happy if I can accomplish 3 winter months out of our DVC. I really do enjoy Ohio most of the time. (We are just 5 blocks from Lake Erie and walking distance from the beach).

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Awesome! We are avid timeshare traders, and I noticed one thing...it seems like you only trade in RCI? Do you ever trade in II? We prefer II for the quality of the resorts overall, although RCI has DVC.

ETA - I just realized that you said that you spent a year living in your timeshares, so I think you didn't trade in. I wondered how you worked a full year out with trades lol.

I totally agree with your assessment of how DVC has gone downhill over the years...still laughing about you finding the lacy thong panties and Member Satisfaction not caring! We've had some stays when it seemed like housekeeping hadn't done their jobs, but nothing quite that obvious lol.

 

[WDW_Diane]

Awesome! We are avid timeshare traders, and I noticed one thing...it seems like you only trade in RCI? Do you ever trade in II? We prefer II for the quality of the resorts overall, although RCI has DVC..

I'd love to know how you are getting good trades with II. We have been "gifted" a time share that we have had with II for three years. We have never gotten one of the trades we have requested. Sometimes I put in a request 18 months in advance.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I'd love to know how you are getting good trades with II. We have been "gifted" a time share that we have had with II for three years. We have never gotten one of the trades we have requested. Sometimes I put in a request 18 months in advance.

I'll PM you so I don't clog up the thread with OT stuff.

 

[OhioDVC]

Monthly budget for full time timeshare living
[FONT=&quot]Below is a pretty good monthly average expense list. I didn't cover personal expenses like medical, clothes etc.

Entertainment covers concerts, movies, theater, renting jet skis, sailboats and tours.

Rental cars and hotels were averaged out throughout the years. Rental cars mostly in Hawaii, Mexico and St Thomas. Hotels when we went back to see our son and long road trips.


[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Monthly[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Timeshare Dues[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]$3,158.20[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Renting Additional Timeshares[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]$416.67[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Disney Cruise Line[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]$625.00[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Entertainment[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]$500[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Gasoline[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]$250[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Food- Groceries[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]$675[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Eating Out[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]$825[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Commercial Furniture Storage[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]$150[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Self Storage[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]$90[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Hotels[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]$175[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Rental Cars[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]$200[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Airline Tickets[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]$500[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Disneyworld Annual Passes[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]$75[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Mail Forwarding[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]$70[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Pocket Money[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]$500[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Monthly Total[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] $8,210[/FONT]

 

[WDW_Diane]

I'll PM you so I don't clog up the thread with OT stuff.

Good idea, thanks!

 

[OhioDVC]

I was getting all my reservations into My Disney Experience website when I notice over the next 9 months I have 11 reservations at Disneyworld for 49 nights. A couple are just for a night before a DCL cruise (3).

It brought a BIG smile to my face.

Plus we are going out to Disneyland for 5 nights for the Tinker Bell race weekend.

Retired life, with timeshares, is great!

 

[carissa1970]

I was getting all my reservations into My Disney Experience website when I notice over the next 9 months I have 11 reservations at Disneyworld for 49 nights. A couple are just for a night before a DCL cruise (3). It brought a BIG smile to my face. Plus we are going out to Disneyland for 5 nights for the Tinker Bell race weekend. Retired life, with timeshares, is great!

Sure sounds great to me! Enjoy!

 

[tash4318]

Sounds amazing!!!

 

[OhioDVC]

I can't believe how much our lives revolve around Disney - World, Land, DCL, Aulani, HHI and Vero.

Getting to go to all this year.

I don't know what I would do with my retirement without Disney!

We now rent a home in Ocala, FL but still keep our doctors down in Orlando. When we go down to a doctor's appointment we always drop into one of the parks for dinner. Our local friends/neighbors think we are nuts.

I'm trying to get a group together to go down for the Food and Wine Festival, so far I'm getting nowhere. Some people just don't get Disneyworld.

 

[wdrl]

I don't know what I would do with my retirement without Disney!

Some people just don't get Disneyworld.

I know exactly what you are talking about. I retired a few years ago and wasn't really sure what I was going to do to fill my time. Then, we bought into the DVC and now Disney and DVC occupies a lot of our time. Occasionally, friends and relatives ask me what I do now that I'm retired. When I tell them we travel, they accept it and think its quite normal. If they question me further and I mention I track DVC sales and post articles on the DVCNews website, they look at me as if I'm one gray cell away from being committed for pre-senile dementia.

I feel very fortunate that I retired with a good pension from the Federal government and that I can enjoy things like Disney. But I still envy those who can spend a year in their timeshares!

 

[mopee3]

Some people have expressed the idea on these boards that this couple are not real. Well on October 14 on the Disney Dream we meet them. They are real and really are living the dream. How fitting, cruising on the Dream and living many of our dreams.

Thanks again for the dreams and your service.

Monty

 

[disfanforlife]

Some people have expressed the idea on these boards that this couple are not real. Well on October 14 on the Disney Dream we meet them. They are real and really are living the dream. How fitting, cruising on the Dream and living many of our dreams.

Thanks again for the dreams and your service.

Monty

That is great that you got to meet! Our daughter is going to be living her dream. Although not quite the same thing, she had a dream of working for Disney. She applied to the DCP and begins her 4 month program on January 26th"

 

[OhioDVC]

Back in April 2014 we starting renting a house in Stone Creek - Dell Webb 55+ community in Ocala Florida. Since then, we still travel quite a lot. About 7-8 months a year.

I finally found my only complaint about extensive timeshare traveling:

Packing for a 9 week vacation, with travel by air!

Currently, we are in week 2 of a 9 week vacation without our pickup.

Itinerary:

San Antonio TX Wyndham - wife ran SA marathon
Los Cabos MX Fiesta Americana Vacation Club 3 weeks
Los Angles, CA for 2 nights and the LA half marathon
Disneyland CA 1 week at VGC
Maui for 2 weeks - Maui Oceanfront marathon staying in a VRBO
Oahu for 2 weeks staying at Aulani and Hilton Hawaiian Village
San Diego overnight to break up the flight back from Hawaii

This trip was the most hassle to pack for. We started 3 days early and maxed out our bags. Two large checked bags at 49.5 pounds each, two carry on at 35 pounds each and two backpacks.

I bought a Brompton foldable bike to take on vacation with us. My wife is getting into triathlons so she wants the bike to keep her training up. The bike and snorkel gear took up one of the checked bags.

I miss having my pickup where we can put in about 20 suitcases and have everything we want.

Even with the hassle of packing, TSA (although this time they were very polite and professional) and airline travel, it is all worth it having breakfast every day on the lanai overlooking the Pacific Ocean at the very tip of the California Baja in MX.

If you are interested, Cabo is open for business after the hurricane. Most resorts and tourist activities are fixed up and back in business.

After renting a house since April, I can honestly say I rather live in my timeshares. Our community is great with all the resort style amenities you could wish for but it still doesn't beat living on the road.

We are seriously looking at buying a home in Clermont FL to be closer to Disneyworld or the Bradenton FL area to be closer to the beach. Still undecided. BUT one thing we both agree on is to downsize the house to have more money to keep traveling.

Buying DVC started a way of living that I or my family will never regret or change.

We are shuffling our timeshare portfolio a little. We sold most of Wyndham, Bay Lake Towers and Animal Kingdom. We're putting up for sale half of our Hilton Head timeshares and Marriott. We are now looking at buying Sanibel Island, Marco Island and maybe Key West.

Plan for next winter/Christmas is 2 months in Key West or Florida Keys in a VRBO. People laugh at me when I say most of Florida is too cold for me for the winter.

Stay warm in the states. Cabo is cooler today, only 75. Time for a soak in the hot tub. We have a 3 bedroom unit on the top floor with about a 750 sq ft lanai with a hot tub for 6 overlooking the beach. Fiesta Americana Vacation Club is our second best purchase behind DVC.