Jet Setter???

My work buddies have been questioning how I’m able to go on all of these trips and stuff.  They seem to think I’m rich.  The funny thing is…I’m NOT!  Some of them, I give the courtesy of an explanation.  The rest of them, I shine on.  

My ex-husband has always been interested in Timeshare.  He’d drag me to every timeshare presentation and try to sell me on it.  I just wasn’t interested.  I couldn’t see spending money for one place to go to at one specific time of the year.  I felt like it locked us into something. 

Then, in 1996, he convinced me to attend yet another Timeshare presentation…this one was WorldMark, then owned by Jeld Wen and managed by Trendwest.  Many things struck me differently with this presentation such as: 

1.      Once we owned it, we could pass it on to our children.  What???  Never heard of that before. 

2.      They also didn’t sell one place, but multiple places that were not locked into any particular week.

3.      Based on a point system so you could reserve something that fits your needs, i.e. Studio, 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom etc.

4.      Many of the resorts were driving distance, so we didn’t need to spend money on airfare.

5.      Points were renewable each year, and you could bank up to two years.  If you needed longer, you transfer the rest to the International RCI for an additional 3 years, etc.

Well, it turns out that the person giving the presentation went to High School with my ex and they struck up a conversation.  Some of the things he said were logical to me.  That inflation would always drive up the costs of hotel rooms and vacation resorts and wouldn’t we rather save that money to spend on the actual trip, i.e. excursions, food, etc.?  They were home away from homes with full kitchens, washer/dryers, etc. At the time, I was trying to get pregnant and the thought of always being able to take my children on a vacation really appealed to me.

When I was growing up, we were pretty poor.  I already told you about eating beans for 4 months straight, etc. Going on a vacation was a HUGE deal and something we could not afford.  As a matter of fact, my Grandma paid for our trip to Disneyland. The one trip I can remember that was far away was our trip to Seattle for a religious convention and I’m fairly certain that my Grandma foot the bill for that one too.  My first airplane ride was paid for by my job when I was in my early 20’s.  I wanted to know that our kids would vacation and have fun (while still understanding how fortunate they are to do so).

So my ex’s friend cut us a deal.  We purchased 6,000 credits (which equates to a week in a 2-3 bedroom condo) every other year. We also got access to bonus time (pay cash for a weekend instead of using credits) and a free RCI certificate for a week anywhere we wanted to go.  At the time of purchase we paid $.93 a credit?  Something like that.  Credits now go for almost $3.00 per credit.  We used the certificate to go to Puerto Vallarta Mexico, and after that trip, I was sold.  I loved traveling. We gradually increased the amount of credits we owned.  I set it up so that the payment was made out of my bank account every month. When we joined, WorldMark had maybe 30 different resorts.  Now they have 160. 

When we divorced, we were at the Diamond Elite status (3.5 weeks a year for a 2-3 bedroom), and I wanted the timeshare in the divorce.  While the ex wasn’t happy about that, I used logic that he couldn’t deny.  I had always been the one that planned the vacations, he is a notorious procrastinator, so I knew that the timeshare would sit and rot before he planned something, and I agreed in the divorce decree that if he wanted to use a week every year, he’d just have to pay the maintenance fee.  Being that we’re friends, I told him that if he needed longer, it wasn’t’ going to be an issue.  And, of course, in the event of my death, it would get passed on to the kid(s).

So, after taking ownership, I upped the status (which I’m still paying off) to Platinum Elite (5.5 weeks a year for a 2-3 bedroom).  The reason I did this, is because at this status, I can use my credits, not only for the timeshare itself, but for excursions and airfare, which means no money out of pocket (other than what I’m paying off and maintenance dues).  When I’m retired, I won’t have to worry about being able to travel, etc.  I call it my 501V retirement fund.  Which is why I can travel right now and it looks like I’m rich…..