That Traveling Couple (Part 1)

"How are you guys able to travel so much???"

In our nearly 7 years of marriage, that is one of the most frequently asked questions we get. Usually it's from those happy to hear that we've been able to do it but then there are of course some who are not happy with how we've managed to do it so it can be a sensitive subject for us. :)

Michelle recently me for tips about the trips we have been blessed to take. I can't do the tips or my trips justice in one post so I will be doing a little series...posting at least one/day, if not a couple! :)

I'll be covering why we travel, how we travel, where we travel, when we travel, tips on booking/planning, tips on saving money once we're there, favorite travel websites, etc. (Don't worry, I'll mix them up so we get to the applicable tips while talking about the big picture!)

Leave me a comment if there's an area I haven't mentioned that you'd like to know specifically more about.

Many of you know that I have a background in hospitality...over 10 years...both in Omaha and a brief period in Dallas. These jobs gave me discounts and more importantly knowledge for traveling that helps me now that I'm in the boat of a regular consumer like yourselves! :)

My first tip is timeshare presentations are a great money-making endeavor to make traveling affordable SOMETIMES.

We have been to several timeshare presentations in our married life and now we only attend them when we wouldn't otherwise be doing something great. In my opinion, there is NEVER a good time to do a timeshare in Hawaii...it's too beautiful there!

But when we went to Vegas in the summer for a wedding, it was blazing hot (we were still midwesterners at the time so it was brutal) so we did one during the hottest part of the day when we would have been indoors...got some nice A/C, snacks and refreshments plus made $100 in 60 min which helped pay for our food for the trip.

We did one in Mazatlan on our cruise in October because the port was not pedestrian-friendly to go out by ourselves and the other alternative was to spend the day on the ship which we had been on for a few days and had a couple days at sea still on the agenda. We got free transportation to/from a beautiful resort and a nice touristy part, free resort credit which paid for a huge lunch that got us away from the ship food so it was a good deal!

We have also got deals to go stay at resorts for a weekend to do a presentation on one of the days

If you do decide to do one of these, the most common thing I hear the presenters say is "do you like what we offer?", "would you use it?", and "can you afford it?" It's their job to make all three of these questions YES from you! They will find all sorts of ways to get horrific financing approved to get you to do it.

We have also heard "everyone deserves a vacation." So after umpteen presentations, we have two strategies for getting our of buying a timeshare...we tell them we really don't like it which has been true on some. They really can't sell you something you don't like so sometimes we say we don't like it and we mean that we don't like the idea of spending our hard-earned money on it. The second thing was something brilliant Walt has done. He looked the person in the eyes and gently tell them, "we do not believe that everyone deserves a vacation. It's great to go on one but it's not a right." That usually stops them in their tracks and they go get our promised prize for attending.

Timeshares are expensive but even worse are the maintenance fees...we often travel for less than the annual maintenance fees and what they don't tell you when they ask how much you spend on travel is that if you tell them a certain amount for airfare (or gas), hotel, food...they try to use that on the timeshare but it's only for the timeshare...you still have to pay for travel to the timeshare, food, and often a rental car.

We have also had weekends offered in San Antonio, Sedona, Vegas, and the like to stay at a timeshare 2 nights free or drastically discounted along with a resort credit or off-site restaurant gift certificate all if we attend a timeshare presentation...sometimes it has been a good idea! It just depends.

We have also attended a couple timeshares here in Phoenix. Two hours of our time (factoring in drive time) has proven to be a good moneymaker on a Saturday afternoon.

Most importantly, remember time is money...it can be a good thing to go to one of these as long as you don't get roped in and you want to make some money/benefits on the side but it can also be a stressful thing and take away from precious daylight hours when you could be sitting on the beach enjoying the ocean. If you could get a timeshare in Hawaii after the sun goes down, then maybe it could be a good thing. :)

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Incidentally, I was googling my title for these posts (on swagbucks, of course) and found a cute website: www.thattravelingcouple.com A blog of journeys this couple has made and their decision to live in a new country each year while they're young...and baby free.