One of the reasons so many people enjoy timeshare vacations is because they know that the timeshares within their exchange are all first class, pleasurable and relaxing places for vacationing. When vacation days roll around, timeshare owners don’t have to hunt for a hotel deal because as timeshare owners, they have already locked in their good deal for a lifetime. Timeshare ownership means that one more time-consuming detail of vacation planning is taken care of.

But have you ever felt so tense that your usual vacation plans weren’t enough to help you unwind and relax? Sadly, that feeling is all too common in our overworked, over-worried world. And demand is growing for even higher levels of relaxation and stress relief.

Forbes online says that the trend to wellness vacations is being driven in part by retiring Baby Boomers concerned about their health. It’s also driven by the fact that most people feel that their jobs and their personal lives create more stress than they can handle.

In the article “Yoga Vacations Banking on Wellness Trend”, which looks at the rise of the yoga and wellness vacation, Forbes quoted Tiffanie Archie, a senior project manager at an online financial services firm in Washington, DC. Archie said she was looking for, “An opportunity to go somewhere and be quiet and focus on myself and let the stress melt away for a bit”. Her comments reflect the way many vacationers feel.

People like the beach for surfing, parasailing and snorkeling. They love a timeshare golf vacation or a chance to horseback ride along mountain trails. But more and more, people are turning to yoga, massage, hypnosis, and other relaxation and stress-relief techniques as part of their vacation plan.

Here is a link to a very interesting article by Brooks B. Gump, PhD, MPH, and Karen A. Matthews, PhD, which appears in Psychosomatic Medicine, titled, “Vacations May Improve Your Health“.

Dr. Gump says that research done at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh over a nine-year period, looked at 12,000 men who were at high risk for coronary heart disease.

Now here’s the part that is critical to understand: “Those with regular annual vacations had a lower risk of death during the study period relative to those skipping vacations”. Gump’s research goes on to explain that in addition to removing stress, vacations “…may work their magic by providing opportunities to engage in restorative behaviors such as interactions with family and friends and exercise.”

Okay, you’ve got the word straight from Drs. Gump and Matthews who have devoted nearly a decade to their research. Take a vacation. And if owning a timeshare makes it easier for you to schedule that vacation, then by all means buy timeshare or timeshare resales and make it happen. Don’t work your life away – literally!

If you are looking for timeshare resales at timeshare resorts known for their spa facilities, here are a few suggestions:

• Casa Dorada At Medano Beach Timeshare Resales
• Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa
• David Walley’s Resort, Hot Springs and Spa Timeshare Resales
• Dreams Tulum Resort and Spa Timeshare Resales
• El Dorado Royale Timeshare Resales



• Hacienda Encantada Resort and Spa Timeshare Resales
• Grand Baja Resort And Spa Timeshare Resales
• Mallorca Marriott Son Antem Golf Resort and Spa Timeshare Resales
• Marriott’s Villas At Doral Timeshare Resales
• Sunset Fishermen Spa and Resort Timeshare Resales
• Westgate Lakes Resort and Spa Phase I Timeshare
• Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort & Spa Timeshare Resales

With college football season now officially underway, fans of the sport are already pursuing the part of the game they rank second only to first downs and touchdowns—the tailgate party.

Across America, enthusiastic football fans are grilling, chilling, and gearing up for game day with plenty of good food and an abundance of school spirit and team pride. How To: Throw A Tailgate Party, which you can read on the website, AskMen.com, offers excellent suggestions for planning your own winning tailgate event.

On the highway, tailgaters are usually easy to spot, driving cars and vans decked out with school logos on the windows and pennants snapping in the wind. And while some tailgaters still drive their gas guzzling motor homes and rv’s, many fans have discovered that a timeshare resale or timeshare rental affords them a much more comfortable and spacious place to enjoy the weekend. Even if you fail to land those 50-yard line tickets, watching the game from a two or three-bedroom timeshare gives you and your friends plenty of room to enjoy a luxurious resort, prepare your burgers and nachos in a real kitchen, and win or lose, still enjoy a great weekend.

Here’s a list of a few of the outstanding timeshare resales available at destinations that are perfect for the college sports fan:

• Premiere Vacation Club at Varsity Clubs of America – South Bend Chapter (Indiana)
• Marriott Villas at Doral (Miami, Florida)
• Texas Timeshare in Lakeway (Austin, Texas)
• Wyndham Smoky Mountains (Sevierville, TN, just outside of Knoxville, Tennessee)

No discussion of college football would be complete without mentioning the new, life size sculpture of the legendary Ara Parseghian that Notre Dame University has commissioned from sculptor, Jerry McKenna. Thank you to the Jaunt blog for bringing this to our attention. During his illustrious coaching career at Notre Dame, Parseghian won 2 National Championship titles, 3 bowl games, and contributed greatly to collegiate football.

And finally, just to get you in the football spirit, here’s a You-Tube video that will make Florida Gator football fans proud.

Last week, the Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau released the results of a new nationwide research study conducted by Opinion Research’s Caravan. The study looked at the travel patterns and preferences of grandparents, or the segment of society many people call the Baby Boomers.

According to the study, 49 percent of grandparents have traveled with their grandchildren, as well as with one or both of the children’s parents. In 2000, when a similar study was conducted, only 37 percent reported taking this type of multi-generational vacation. On top of the 49 percent of three-generation vacationers, another 31 percent said they vacationed with their grandchildren, but without the children’s parents.

Why the increase over the past 7 years?

Part of it has to do with the fact that Boomers now represent the fastest growing demographic in America’s culture. Today’s fifty-something generation is healthier, wealthier, and better educated than so-called senior citizens of any previous era. Still vital, active, and with many of them still climbing the corporate ladder, most Boomers have yet to reach their peak earnings capacity. In short, grandparents today may be rockin’, but are not likely to be in a rocking chair!

And where are grandparents traveling with their grandchildren in tow? The top three destinations for multigenerational vacations are: Orlando, Washington DC, and New York City.

With great timeshare and timeshare resale opportunities in all three cities, you can be sure that many of these vacations are planned for timeshare resorts, where everyone in the family can enjoy spacious accommodations, full kitchens, eat-in dining, and lots of on-property activities and entertainment.

Here are only a few of the excellent timeshare resorts in these three favorite grandparent-grandchild vacation cities:

• Grand Lake Resort Orlando Timeshare
• Westgate Leisure Resorts Orlando Timeshare
• Disney’s Boardwalk Villas Timeshare
• Wyndham at Bonnet Creek Orlando Timeshare
• Wyndham Washington DC Timeshare at Old Town Alexandria Virginia
• Manhattan Club Timeshare
• Hilton Club New York Timeshare

The Timeshare Owners Blog warned readers about this scam, back in April in a post titled, Warning: Timeshare Fraud Targeting Older Investors.

At that time, the Missouri Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan, had issued cease and desist orders against four Missouri men, a business in Panama, two Mexican businesses, and a Nevada promoter who were targeting elderly Missourians with a “get rich” timeshare investment scam.

According to Bloomberg News and the Washington Post, the Securities and Exchange Commission is now cracking down on this scam and the people behind it. The list of those being charged has expanded to include Michael E. Kelly and 25 other people or companies who are being sued or are facing charges for their role in the $428 million fraud. The lawsuit, filed in Chicago federal court, is intended to not only bring justice in this particular situation, but to prove that the SEC will, in the words of Merri Jo Gillette, the SEC’s regional director in Chicago, “vigilantly pursue those who target older Americans, no matter what the obstacles.”

The fundamental nature of this timeshare scam is that individuals were led to believe that by purchasing timeshares, they would receive regular revenues from the ongoing rental of the timeshares. They were also told that anytime they wished to sell the timeshare, the leasing agency would buy it back for the full purchase amount.

This sounds incredible…which should be the first red flag. If this “investment” deal was solid and afforded this kind of guaranteed return, then lending agencies and investment firms would be jumping at the chance to be part of it; and the people behind it wouldn’t be looking for senior citizens to make it happen. As we hear all the time, when a deal sounds too good to be true—assume it is!

In fact, this timeshare scam is a “Ponzi scheme”, a type of fraud that takes its name from Charles Ponzi, an infamous turn of the century shyster. In a Ponzi scheme, early investors are paid returns from the money that subsequent investors have used to become part of the deal. These payments do not represent genuine net revenue as they should, and because of this, a Ponzi scheme will ultimately fail 100 percent of the time. Yet those who get into the deal early on, do receive the returns promised (for a while) and are often eager to vouch for the deal’s validity in living up to its promises. A Ponzi scheme can be highly tempting to others; while we may not trust the salesperson pitching the deal to us, we tend to place great faith in endorsements and testimonials of other investors like ourselves.

The saddest part of this specific deal is, according to Forbes Magazine, more than $136 million of the money invested in this timeshare scam came from individual retirement accounts, meaning that it obviously was not expendable income on the part of those who invested it.

Timeshares should never be purchased as an investment for financial return. Timeshares are a lifestyle investment—they promise no financial rewards, only the benefit of great vacation opportunities. If anyone implies to you that buying timeshare is an investment, that person is not only lying, he or she is violating Securities and Exchange Commission regulations.

Buy a timeshare because you want to enjoy vacation ownership. Buy because owning timeshare is a commitment to a lifetime of great vacations for you and your family, typically in luxurious surroundings, at high-demand venues. Likewise, you should sell your timeshare as soon as you find that you are no longer using and enjoying it. The value of timeshare is in using it, not in holding it for financial return.

Before you enter into any transactions involving timeshares, check with the Office of the Secretary of State or the Attorney General for the state in which the timeshare company or timeshare resale company is located.

If you would like to read the complete list of those named as defendants in this case, you can find it on The Bizop News blog, where Michael Webster has posted all the names and some additional information about the case.