How to be a 12 Month Snow Bird

Vacation Rental in Mexico

I live around snowbirds 6 months of the year. I have heard those people say that they all want to live the "snowbird" lifestyle when they go home. But it just is not possible. They are isolated and cold. Social activities with friends and beautiful weather are greatly missed when they return to the realities of their "real" life.

One couple I visited with lately returned to Florida this morning where they own a home. The woman is a nurse and works in the summer. They are not going home until May this year. It is too cold in Michigan in the spring so they are hoping to extend their good weather season by simply staying away. Besides that they love their Florida lifestyle a lot.

Last week I visited with a woman that lives the snowbird lifestyle year around. No going home to the Midwest in the spring. They essentially vacation 12 month out of the year. And I thought their solution for avoiding unpleasant weather and keeping their lifestyle interesting was genius.

This couple has no family commitments. They do not own a home anywhere. They do not own a RV or trailer. They keep only what they can travel with and what they actually need to live from day to day.

What do they do? They live year around in vacation rentals. Using a website like Vacation Rentals by Owners, they are living in beautiful places in some of the most desirable locations in the USA 12 months out of the year. It is so simple I wondered why more people were not following the path they have chosen.

Here in desert Southwest they chose a location near River Road on Campbell Avenue in Tucson Arizona. The condo they are renting is very near to some of the best restaurants in the city, University of Arizona and good shopping. They have hiking and biking trails nearby. It is probably real estate that most people cannot afford nor would want to maintain. But as a vacation rental it is perfect.

Later in the year they will move to Central Oregon near Bend where they will benefit from all that beautiful vacation destination has to offer. There will be time spent on the Puget Sound in the state of Washington later and their summer will be spent in Northern California on the coast near Santa Rosa.

Next winter they will return to Tucson and that wonderful condo they are enjoying this year.

They drive a van and pull a small trailer behind. The trailer in parked in the garage of the rental they are staying in at the time. I was told that the trailer is essential because before anything else even in the rental, they needed to always be comfortable. Some vacation rentals are not.

All of the rentals come with every amenity included. Internet, TV, gas, water, heating and on and on. She loved that the windows were always sparkling clean. She didn't have to worry about maintaining a home.

No house = no mortgage, insurance, heating bill, Internet, water bill, etc. No second house = no house payment and all that that requires. Traveling on the shoulder of the season both north and south makes rent cheaper. I don't know how it works out financially but it would be wonderful to try it out for a little while! And living in a desirable vacation location provides more than enough activities to keep anyone happy. In could be perfect for just the right people.

What do you think? Would you even consider doing this?  Very interesting I think!

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Mexico: Costs for Grande Mayan Resort Vacation!

I am living the life here on the Grand Mayan Resort on the Riviera Maya area of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. I have a pile of yellow receipts on the couch beside me. I am making myself pay attention to this so I can share with you. Honestly, money does not interest me much so I don't spend very much ever.

How young people Save Money!
We sat next to a young couple on the bus into Playa del Carmen the other day. They live in South Carolina and had left their children behind with grandparents. The husband was a mechanical engineer for BMW and the wife worked for Progressive Insurance as an adjuster. They were making trade offs in luxury so they could take advantage of a rented car and the mobility that it gave them. Well let me see...was that a luxury? Maybe not.

If you refuse to attend the Grand Mayan sales pitch, you will pay full price for all the tours. If you attend, the cost of the tours are cut drastically. A trip to a ruin site can cost you a $100 or more per person. They rented their car for $180 for three days. They traveled all over the area avoiding the toll roads and the taxes attached to those highways. I suppose they did manage to save money in the long run.

What did they do?

• They cooked all their meals in their room.
• They took a shuttle ($8.00 per person) to guy groceries at WalMart.
• They used melted ice from the vending machine to replace bottled water. 
• They took the back roads back to the resort after a day trip because the tolls and taxes were too much. 
• They paid for a shuttle trip to Playa del Carmen to buy gifts for their children. Note: The same stuff is available here on the resort but I suppose they compared prices. That may have saved them money even after factoring the shuttle costs in. I don't know.

Cost for Our Day on the Resort
Food here at the resort is on a par with what it would cost us to eat in the states. We do not go to fast food restaurants EVER!!! We make coffee in our room because I don't like their coffee anyway. I buy a bottle of wine at the deli for around $10. We don't have drinks out very often.

Blue Fish Kitchen

Dinners cost us around $20 per person and that does not include a glass of wine or even the tip. We have not eaten in the up-scale places or at the big buffet. Those will be considerably more.  We like the outdoor restaurants and the atmosphere. That is why we come to the tropics.

Happy hour runs from 11:00 am 1:00 pm. Drinks are half price during that time. If you think you need alcohol you can drink early. If you don't drink before 5:00 pm, you can buy a bottle and mix in the deli and make mixed drinks in your room.

So here would be the tally for food:

• Breakfast: $17.00 (approx.)
• Drinks: $17.00 (pool side)
• Snack: `$8.00 (guacamole and chips)
• Dinner: $36.94 (pad thai for both of us, no drinks)

They charge you by the cup for coffee. The first cup is $2.50 and the second is $1.25. A glass of wine is around $7.50. A gin and tonic tall will cost you $14.00.  Be careful what you drink! It can sneak up on you in more ways than one.

Cooking in the room can be costly too. Remember a shuttle taxi trip to Playa del Carmen to make a grocery run is $16 for two of us round trip. It is convenient though because we are dropped at WalMart and Mega Mart is very close to the shuttle stop too. Buying just the right amount is a trick. Small quantities cost more and waste can cost a lot. We have not done this yet but we will probably do it today.  

Laundry

We used the self-service laundry yesterday. The cost for that was $7.50 to both wash and dry our clothes. We bought a card at the desk that takes care of both the wash and dryer. Washing was necessary since we are spending an extra week. There is an laundry room on each floor here at the Grand Bliss building. It is very convenient. 

Conclusion

So there you have it...the real story of what a day will look like for two couples. I am not unhappy with the costs. I would not want to try to do this on the extreme cheap and be aware of every penny I spent. That would not work for me. That is why I needed the pile of yellow paper with numbers all over them to write this for you. I don't change my life when I go on vacation. 

Have a wonderful day.

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