Source: ezinearticles.com
My husband grew up taking the same vacation for years. His father would drive up to the family property, which consisted of a rustic cabin on a lake. The family would fish for two weeks. There was no running water, a fuel burning furnace in the middle of the house which supplied the heat for all the rooms, and no air conditioning. There was electricity. He swore to himself when he grew up he was going to visit different places and see museums, amusement parks, national monuments and local attractions when he vacationed.
I grew up vacationing in a recreational travel trailer. We went from campground to campground crisscrossing the continental United States twice. While we did see museums, amusement parks, national monuments and local attractions, we also spent a lot of time just hanging out in the campgrounds. These facilities usually had pools or lakes, arcades or mini-golf courses, playgrounds, family friendly activities and social activities to engage all the campers.
We married late in life so we were pretty set in our ideas of vacations. First, I was exhausted by the end of "his" idea of a vacation. We were up and on the road everyday by 7:00 a.m. and doing activities until we dropped into the bed late at night. One night I burst into tears and told him this schedule was my normal schedule so this was not a vacation for me. My idea of a vacation was sleeping in until at least 8:00 a.m, hanging out at the poolside and reading a book. My husband hated this because unless the kids are engaged at least part of the day, they were fighting. On top of our own issues, we discovered our middle son was autistic and he does not like leaving the familiarity of our home. His meltdowns made us wonder why we bothered vacationing at all.
After a couple of years of no one being happy, we agreed we had to come up with something different. We happened to visit a family friend, travel trailer insurance , that summer. Their vacation had become a 20 year tradition of renting a condo at the same beach. It started out with just a husband, wife and five children. Now the family tradition includes spouses, children and grandchildren. They developed a regular schedule of activities the family does during their two weeks on the beach. They have Spaghetti Night, Family Picture Night, French Fries a the beach, scavenger hunts, and making of the annual vacation t-shirt, among many other traditions.
A few days after we returned, we received the call which changed the way we vacation. We were invited to come listen to a timeshare presentation in exchange for a few free nights near a major amusement park. My husband and I listened to the presentation. We felt the organization had many of the things we were interested in having. Many of their properties were within a reasonable day's drive from our home. The properties were also near amusement parks, national parks, major tourist attractions and historic sites, which attracted my husband's interest. The properties offered swimming pools, lakes, playgrounds, and family friendly activities which appealed to me. Finally, the properties were basically laid out and furnished the same, which gave our autistic son a sense of security.
Although timeshares are not a good option for everyone, they do provide many benefits for families of all sizes, backgrounds and seasons of life. In fact, I am often amazed at how diverse the timeshare "owners" are within each resort.
Before you buy, you will want to research whether or not this is the right option for you. When you do buy into the program, you will become a property owner with a property deed. You will be responsible for a share of the monthly maintenance, insurance and taxes even though you will only be using the property one or more weeks of the year. I think of it as if I owned a real vacation home. I would be responsible for maintenance, insurance and taxes on the second home. This way, I am sharing the cost with many other people.
Also, different timeshare organizations work on different systems. In some you will purchase a fixed unit and a fixed week. You will only be able to use your timeshare at that time unless you are able to trade with someone else. Other organizations allow you to purchase "points" which entitles you to use any timeshare property anytime during the year, as long as there is availability and points. Check into whether your timeshare organization has agreements with other organizations to further expand your potential vacation options.
If you have never considered timeshares or only heard horror stories about them, I hope this will give you a little bit of information as to why this might be the ideal vacation option for you.
Corrin Howe
http://www.justbecausemypickletalks.blogspot.com
I'm currently a stay at home mother of three children. My middle child is diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome, ADHD and Anxiety Disorder. My other two are "typical." Before getting married, I was a reporter for a small daily paper, an automobile insurance claims adjuster and change manager. Since having children, I've earned an executive coaching certificate, become a church health consultant, volunteered in my children's schools, and become a special education advocate. More recently, I've returned to my original love...writing. I have two blogs I keep for fun and have started writing articles and a romance novel (also just for my own amusement).
