Yeah the yearly contract thing is a huge pain when you're never in one place. Try looking for gyms that sell day passes, a lot of the bigger chains do that now. The YMCA can be good too, they often have national membership deals. It's crazy how the whole system still acts like everyone lives in one town forever.
Why do they still build these places like we all have one home base? I used to get why they did contracts, but seeing friends bounce around made me realize how out of touch it is.