Western culture is pretty driven compared to some others.  Nose to the grindstone.  Make something of yourself.  More is better.  Reach for the stars.  The point being that we’re supposed to work our buns off so that at some point in the future we’ll have time to relax and enjoy what we’ve accumulated.  But it doesn’t always work out that way.  We become so used to “doing something” that relaxation seems wrong…. laziness, a waste of time.  And sometimes sickness or death robs of us the Golden Years we thought we’d have.

It’s still principally a “you get what you pay for” world and there’s often a simple explanation for why a vacation deal seems so awesome.  Unfortunately you won’t find out what it is until you arrive to find the pictures you saw on-line are 18 years old, the Executive Suite you rented is simply a hotel room with a towel folded into the shape of a swan on your sagging bed and although it is a balmy 28 degrees outside, it’s also 99% humidity and the bugs and lizards know their way to your Executive Suite better than you do.

But all that aside, there’s one huge benefit to fractional ownership that is too often not considered.  A decision was made.  Not a decision to take a vacation this year, but a decision to go every year.  And the decision to own an affordable vacation home means you’re going to use it… every year.  I’ve found that some people do not make a decision at all… they just let it slide until it slowly fades from memory.  It may also mean you have the pleasure of inviting family and friends to spend some time with you at your vacation home.  It could mean you’re able to look like a hero by giving newly wed family members a honeymoon.  It could mean falling in love all over again while you’re spending time with your spouse of 30 odd years outside of the routine that’s become your life.