Views & Interviews

Q&A: Talking to people with the travel bug.

May 2018

The stories featured here have been compiled from conversations across a wide cross-section of people. These are young professionals who are inclined to go on a vacation, but don’t have plan in place. Not always easy to do at that age, when you don’t have enough time, or money. Or maybe both.

A long term vacation plan such as timeshare could come way down a “consider list” for these professionals, but the ones we spoke to are willing to stretch a bit and invest in the good times.

Over to some of the young professionals we spoke to about work, vacations and the need to prioritize on work-life balance.

123RF / using member credits

Shruti Keshav, Dance Teacher

I’m getting married soon, and was initially surprised to observe that my fiancé was an outdoorsy and fun-loving kind of person. Surprising, because he works for a firm of chartered accountants. You would expect him to be glued to financial statements and balance sheets in his free time, but Kiran I think chooses to read travel magazines.

He’s always talking about getaways from a list of exotic locations – a list of popular timeshare resorts and travel-worthy places he has drawn up. ‘My chartered accountant’ has even got down to reviewing plans, pricing and a financial analysis of the investment, over 25 years. I guess the going looks good, after we get married - things should add up in some very exciting ways.

Roopesh Kumar, Car Sales

I handle car sales for small cars, and many of my customers are first-time buyers. One of the things I notice when people come in to buy a car is a sense of fulfillment and achievement. It’s something you can see.

From a personal viewpoint, I experience the same kind of fulfillment when it comes to travel and vacations. Every year, I feel the need to take time off, only to come back refreshed. I also discovered that a good timeshare plan might help me do more of that, with friends and family.

What’s more, I can make payments on this from the commissions I make every month – no need to dip into my salary.

Preethi Kumar, Finance Professional

Right through my growing years, I could never to do what I have always wanted to do. I wanted to join the paratroopers and my parents forced me to do finance. I wanted to travel the world and my parents said, do it after you get married. I wanted to go trekking and wild-river rafting, and I never heard a YES.

I am a qualified accountant with some experience, and have just seen a recruitment ad from a really big timeshare company. Looking at their work environment, I really hope I get this job. This way, I will be close to what I always want to do - who knows, I might even get a loan to invest in a timeshare plan.

Gokul Krishna, Cable TV owner

At my office I am invariably channel surfing on our distribution console - to check on connectivity, or disruptions. And while doing that I seem to spend a lot of time on travel channels – showing exotic locations and how people having a great time with their families.

So when I saw an online ad from a timeshare resort I found the concept interesting. I would now like to learn more about timeshare to see if it can make my family happy. Especially because my working hours are long and don’t really get to spend quality time at home.

Meera Prakash, School Teacher

I am a school teacher working with 10-year-olds, who are good at telling stories. Their assignment this year was an essay on “My favourite vacation” - and the submissions that came in were very interesting. Some real, some exaggerated, and some pure fiction.

In these stories, I have seen many references to timeshare - where the fathers go on treks and mothers get a welcome break from work, or boredom at home. I must do some arithmetic on timeshare - what it costs initially, and on yearly maintenance. That’s my homework for this week - must re-read those essays once again.