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

[BeccaG]

Pretty Awesome way to kick of retirement! I am inspired by your plan!!

Thank you to you and your family for the sacrifice of your military service!

 

[OhioDVC]

WOW what a year This is the kind of thing people dream about doing or say they would love to do someday. Kuddo's to you for actually doing it!

Just a silly curious question... Did you eat in your villa's most of the time?

Seriously - we eat out whenever my wife says so. It works out about 5-7 times a week. breakfast 1-2, lunch 1-2, and dinner about 3-4 per week. Quite often we will grill out and make several meals at once. We'll grill steaks for tonight's meal, put on hamburgers and hot dogs for tomorrow's lunch and BBQ chicken for tomorrow's dinner. Everyplace has a microwave to heat things up and 90% have a grill.

Wow, and quite jealous of your lifestyle. So are you saying you need about 10-12K per month to cover everything (fees, transportation, food....)? Do you generally drive or fly?
Please keep us up to date, it's so interesting to hear this is possible.

Generally we drive. I have a F-150 with a cap on top so we have lots of room for luggage. We carry about 700 lbs of "stuff" with us so we rarely go without.

When we do fly we try and combine trips. Like going out west we will visit Disneyland, go to Hawaii and then come back through Mexico. In Jan/Feb we go to San Diego, then Hawaii and come home through Cabo San Lucas MX.

10-12K covers every expense we having - travel, food, entertainment, clothes, insurance, shoes etc. ... We do not have any installment payments like car payments or mortgages.

Love your story! What was the longest you stayed in one place without moving? While it sounds like an awesome adventure, just thinking of the packing and unpacking had me tired.

The longest in one resort has been 3 weeks, the longest in one location has been 6 weeks. We find that 2 weeks is a nice amount of time at one resort.

Packing is not a big deal, especially when we are driving. My wife would take packing over cleaning bathrooms. She hasn't cleaned a bathroom (or house) in over a year. Not a bad trade-off for packing/unpacking suitcases.

 

[LSchrow]

Packing is not a big deal, especially when we are driving. My wife would take packing over cleaning bathrooms. She hasn't cleaned a bathroom (or house) in over a year. Not a bad trade-off for packing/unpacking suitcases.

loving how you put packing/unpacking in context - i was wondering the same
congrats on actually living the dream!!!

 

[bbn1122]

Wow....congratulations....first for being retired by 55 and second for being able to this ....

Enjoy all your trips and experiences.....

A little jealous, DH 53 and me 51... Our youngest is 13, so we are no where near retirement....wow.....we just bought into DVC 3 years ago....
We are lucky to be retired in 20 years....oh well...we started later..

Again, all the best with future trips. And I enjoy reading about your experiences.

 

[MrsDuck]

What an awesome year! Thanks so much for the reviews and inspiration!

 

[lugnut33]

Do I understand you correctly, that you have $40,000 a year in annual dues, and spend $10-12,000 per month on top of that for traveling expenses? Or is that 40K included in your monthly estimate?

 

[OhioDVC]

Do I understand you correctly, that you have $40,000 a year in annual dues, and spend $10-12,000 per month on top of that for traveling expenses? Or is that 40K included in your monthly estimate?

MX fees included in 10-12K per month

 

[d3boyz]

You are truly an inspiration! When talking of retirement with my husband, I suggested something like this and he thinks I'm NUTS! I know he'd enjoy the pampering and the continuously changing scenery ... so now I have a 'real life' example to show him. It IS possible to live the dream!

Thank you so much for your stories, facts, and insight!

Deb

 

[tomandrobin]

Congrats and thanks for sharing your interesting journey with us!

I noticed you only had one stay in the Hotel Brand timeshares. Is that by choice or lack of trades available?

When you do the Caribbean part of your adventure, are you going to stay longer per island (3 weeks at a time) to save on travel costs?

Lastly.....When your done your three year timeshare tour, do you have plans to live in any particular place?

 

[GAGirlInVA]

What a dream!

Another board I am on has a couple that does this. Unless it you as well!

 

[jekjones1558]

I am so happy to read of your adventure. It is heartwarming to know that your retirement is such a happy one. While we could never afford to do what you are doing, it is okay because I like having a home base and just traveling sometimes. Isn't it grand that life has worked out well for you---and me, too!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Maybe a stupid question, but what do you do about mail? Do you have a "home address" for things like driver's license and residency etc? You would still need that for tax purposes too.

My dad used to spend winters traveling in an RV. He used to have his mail forwarded from a place called "escapes" or something like that.

 

[OhioDVC]

What a dream!

Another board I am on has a couple that does this. Unless it you as well!

Back in 2010 I started a thread about doing this and asked for advice/ideas, but I haven't posted anyplace else.

Maybe a stupid question, but what do you do about mail? Do you have a "home address" for things like driver's license and residency etc? You would still need that for tax purposes too.

My dad used to spend winters traveling in an RV. He used to have his mail forwarded from a place called "escapes" or something like that.

We spend the majority of our time in Florida and over 50% of my timeshares are deeded or have a property in FL. So I decided that Florida made the most sense since we do not "legally" have a permanent residence. Plus, the no state income tax made the choice easier.

I got a mail forwarding service that has a Pompano Beach FL address. They will forwarded my mail or open, scan and email it to me at my direction. 95% of what we do, we do on-line, banking, credit cards, etc.

Congrats and thanks for sharing your interesting journey with us!

I noticed you only had one stay in the Hotel Brand timeshares. Is that by choice or lack of trades available?

When you do the Caribbean part of your adventure, are you going to stay longer per island (3 weeks at a time) to save on travel costs?

Lastly.....When your done your three year timeshare tour, do you have plans to live in any particular place?

Some of the places we go to I've never been there before. We stayed at timeshares mostly just to check them out. We've learned a lot this first year. There are soooooooo many options it would make you head hurt. Plus after vacationing in timeshares I don't think I could ever go back to hotels. Not enough room.

My Caribbean plans have changed. DCL came out with a 7-day cruise out of Puerto Rico that hits 5 islands plus PR. I want to do this cruise before I check out any more of the Caribbean to see what we like the best. In Feb 2104 we have 10 days at St Thomas and St Johns. Jan/Feb/Mar will be Hawaii/St Thomas/St Johns/DCL. Would you believe I cut Hawaii short 10 days so my wife could run the Disney Dopey challenge (5K Thursday 10K Friday, half-marathon Sat, marathon Sun - in Jan) and then come back for the Princess half marathon weekend in Feb. Like a good husband I changed our reservations so she could do the races.

After we are done being gypsies, I think we will settle in Florida. I need to be someplace warm with lots of beaches. Since my income now is investments and pension, FL has no income tax. State income tax will be a big bite. This all goes out the window if my daughter marries and has a couple of grand-kids, then maybe Kentucky (with lots of traveling).


As I am typing this from the balcony at the Wyndham Royal Garden in Waikiki HI - the Hilton Hawaiian Resort fireworks just went off. Nice touch to end the day. If you are in town I believe they have fireworks every Friday - 7:45 for now but later depending on sunset.

 

[momoflizandains]

All I can say is...WOW! I am envious.

 

[sajetto]

This is awesome!!! I've got a looooong way before retirement, but I can see myself talking the hubby into it one day

 

[rentayenta]

This is amazing OP! What an incredible journey.


What are you thoughts on Club Intrawest and Zihua, Mexico?

 

[a742246]

Good for you, I have been folowing your posts for a couple of years now. All I can say is I am happy for you and your wife.

 

[OurDogCisco]

Great report... Do you have blog by chance? There are two people on another board doing this. One isn't reporting costs. The other's goal is to live off $2500 per month. They are doing mostly last calls and so far haven't travelled anywhere where a plane is involved. I'm not sure how realistic $2,500 per month is especially for my current lifestyle.

 

[littlestar]

Great thread. Interesting to read about.

 

[Cinderpamela]

Thanks for posting this info....great to read about this!! What a fun way to spend your retirement!

Have you thought about doing a blog on your travels? I for one would love to follow it!!