Now is the age of the timeshare. Some inescapable facts have ensnared me in the last few days. Tawny and I are getting married, and we are no longer hostel booking wild animals. I know, it’s hard to swallow. It wasn’t too long ago that I was running through the streets of Cape Town at midnight, half-naked, screaming “I am A JUNGLE CAT!” (A true story I’m afraid.) In truth, we have entered the age of the young professional. We have enough expensive gear that we really don’t want to get robbed and aren’t wealthy enough yet to not be ok if we do. We are officially budget hotel and timeshare people with a strong leaning towards vacation home rentals.
As we plan our honeymoon, Europe keeps getting mentioned more and more often. What we waver more on is, how to best secure our lodging. Our first thoughts were immediately on vacation home rentals and budget hotels but then a friend of our suggested that we might register for a timeshare. Despite growing up the child of a timeshare family, I have to admit this didn’t dawn on me right away.
Lake Pend Oreille
My whole life my family has visited two different time shares that they own. One is on scenic lake Pend Oreille in Idaho. The other has been a rotating property that has ranged from a houseboat on Shuswap lake in Canada to a variety of locations in Mexico. What I like about the timeshare lifestyle is the ease of tradition. While Tawny and I love to be as free as the wind we also like to build traditions together and what better way to do that than by having a little chateau in France to call home once a year?
Our timeshare in Pend Oreille
Houseboat Timeshare
If you’re curious about, “what exactly is a timeshare?” We get it, so was Tawny. Basically you own a period of time at a certain location. This can be a house, condo, or castle. For either a fixed or rotating part of every year you are the lord of the manor and get to live there. In my family we had a week every spring. Now that Tawny and I are about to embark on the journey of our own family it looks like it might be a good idea to think about investing. We looked into a timeshare in Europe and found a few nice options.
Honeymoon? Or bachelor party?
While I might be content staying in one of the tents pictured above I think I might need to save that for the bachelor party. A timeshare is looking like it would be a nice way to see Europe and to start a tradition of our own.
What do you think? Timeshare or hotel?
Hotel, for sure!
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Yeah? Is it the freedom involved?
My family owns a timeshare with WorldMark Resorts and I absolutely love it–there are locations all over the USA, Mexico, Australia, etc. and you own a certain number of “points” that you can use anywhere on condos of various sizes–i.e. from a studio to a 3-bedroom. I definitely prefer it to a hotel because we have a kitchen, a washing machine, etc. in the unit so you save a ton of money by being able to live more like a local! We went to the one in Maui pretty regularly and it was right across the street from the beach with ocean views–you can’t beat it! Definitely one of the perks is being able to borrow their “points” for my vacations
If someone has a timeshare in Europe I woul go for that,
Hmmm… we must talk. Which is, I know, sort of turning into a standard response to everything.
Hi there,
Timeshare seems to me a more natural option, especially if you’re just starting out on life and are looking for something affordable, but still want to travel the world. There’s also the option of holiday apartments which give you the same amenities you’d get from a hotel, at half the price. Congratulations on your engagement!
Alana
I always wonder about timeshares… I feel like they limit you as a traveler. If you grew up with timeshares, what are your thoughts on this?
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I love the idea of a timeshare, but I don’t know if I feel comfortable with it not knowing where I’m going to be (physically, career-wise, income-wise, etc.) in the near future, or at any point of my future.
My husband and I just stayed in hostels for our honeymoon, but of course in private rooms. I guess it’s not that romantic, and sometimes noisy, but we spent most late nights out and about anyway. Though our honeymoon was also actually BEFORE our wedding, so clearly we are not too traditional. Haha.
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