Our vacation with friends at their timeshare in Puerto Vallarta clouded over the second day. After we lay on the beach for 15 minutes, Karen said, “OK, I want you to know that I’d love to lie on the beach under the sun and hear the ocean roar the first two weeks of every March.”
   Suddenly my vacation veered towards one of those marital collisions of competing interests, in this case her passion for sun-baked ocean frontage versus my passion for spring ski slopes. We investigated buying a timeshare and found the process more congenial than we expected and complex because our interests are complex.
   We hear about mixed experiences. Our hosts have enjoyed their two timeshares for 15 years. Another owns a timeshare at Wapato Point he’s never seen because he trades for ones in California during the winter. Others find themselves unable to escape rising maintenance costs as property values and sales drop. Still another retiree returned his ownership to the timeshare company because they changed their activities for younger people.  
   Rather than submit to high-pressure sales tactics, I searched websites that offer timeshare resales. There are 180 resales in Puerto Vallarta and plenty for rent, which worries me about being stuck with one. The different options and point systems were confusing, so we startled Raintree Vacation Representatives by asking for a presentation regarding the timeshare we were in.
   Our representative had us sign a sheet acknowledging she would offer us incentives available only if we purchased that day, because Raintree knows impulse buying is a key factor in sales. We told her we were unlikely to purchase today and wondered if that was fair to her. She told us not to worry and ran through interview questions about our recent vacations.
   Unfortunately for her, she asked if we trusted timeshare companies. Of course not, I unloaded. We wouldn’t control the Mexican trust deed required for foreigners. And companies like Raintree control the points, expenses, maintenance fees, reservations, and assessments. Finally, Raintree is a private company that provides minimal about corporate finances.
   Nonplussed she presented a plan at 25 percent discount for one floating week anytime each year for 36 years, or two weeks for 18 years. We rejected it as too expensive, and three others at ever-increasing complexity and decreasing price.
   As we discussed those options, we realized we weren’t sure what we wanted or whether renting would be better. Would our children be able to join us? What weeks could Karen and I agree on? Would we swap to other sites?
   Afterward, I was surprised at how relieved I felt because we resisted. And my attitude toward their sales tactics softened when they graciously accepted our rejection. Raintree has a reputation as a premier company caring for its 50,000 members since it’s beginning in 1997, although angry members have posted a website complaining about a recent special assessment.
   And we realized the presentation offered complex options because we, like other timeshare owners, we have complicated, shifting vacation interests.
   Meanwhile Karen’s urge to lie under the sun near an ocean roar for two weeks every year is still simmering, so we’ll keep looking.  We enjoyed our time there, and will spend more time there, in our, or somebody’s, timeshare.