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Simple Pleasures: Vacations, Part One

© Mari Brodersen

I admit it -- I like luxuries like hot running water, restaurants, and a reading light, as well as a place to plug in my laptop computer. Given this predisposition, I'm glad that living simply doesn't necessarily mean living austerely. In fact, the whole idea about living simply is to be true to your priorities.

Fortunately, I married a man who likes to travel. Travel is a priority for both of us. While we were in our acquire-more-stuff phase, we bought a timeshare. This was mostly my idea. I had detected workaholic tendencies in my husband and I knew that, if we spent the money to buy a timeshare, then he would definitely find time to get his money's worth out of it. So we bought it, paying it off entirely in under a year.

I don't necessarily advocate that everyone run out and buy a timeshare. But I can tell you what our experience has taught us about owning one. First of all, don't buy a brand new one. Buy a resell -- you will pay almost 50% less this way. Secondly, don't buy more than one week. Since our unit includes a studio and a lock-out, we "split" it into two, thus getting two weeks for the price of one. The timeshare has more than paid for itself. We have vacationed in Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, and Hawaii to name a few of our destinations. Each time, we have stayed at a 5-star resort, which we could not afford otherwise.

When we travel, our biggest expense is airfare. To help alleviate this, we have a credit card -- one credit card -- that gives us a Frequent Flyer Mile for every dollar we charge. So we buy everything, even small purchases, with the credit card. Because we don't overspend and are able to pay the bill in full each month, we avoid paying interest charges. In addition, we earn Frequent Flyer Miles.

We are often able to stay in timeshare unit with a kitchen, so we prepare many of our own meals from fresh foods bought at local farmers markets. This decreases the amount of money we spend at restaurants, and it's probably healthier! We do, however, budget for one or two gourmet meals during the week we're on vacation.

I've found that photographs or postcards make good souvenirs. They cost very little money, they don't gather dust or break or take up a lot of room, and you can look at them any time you want.

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