Photo Credit: Fabio Achilli https://goo.gl/zqckYc
While many of us have to do busking or house/pet-sitting to see places, the select 1% rich and famous of this world splurge a common folk’s annual salary for one ostentatious dinner. They don’t plan their travel the way we do because they don’t pick the cheapest season or look for bargains. They just decide and impulsively take off on the next flight or charter a plane to some over-the top hotels or resorts where valets, butlers, PAs and hordes of services await at their beck and call.
Of course, it’s not their fault if there are rich or can afford to spend that much money for a dinner. We are just saying how it is with the rich.
Imagining the Fancy Life
Paula Froelich of Yahoo Travel! puts your mind into hyper drive as you read her opening in the blog Rich People, They’re Not Just Like Us: How the 1% Travel
“If you haven’t figured it out by now, the ultra rich don’t like to associate with the hoi polloi. They don’t like to wait in line with the great unwashed, they don’t like to have to chitty chat with those of us who don’t know (or care) about the difference between Moët or malt liquor and they really don’t like to vacation with us. Which usually suits us just fine, as frankly, nothing will ruin a perfectly awesome trip than the snob sitting next to you at the bar complaining about thread counts or that lack of foie gras.”
You may feel guilty for envying them or for wishing you were in their shoes and enjoying insane pleasures that money can buy.
A Glimpse Inside this Elite World
Katie Amey is also awed by such wanton display of ostentatious luxuries. In her blog got MailOnline, she writes, “$100,000 dinners with celebrities, world tours by private jet… and the world’s only Tiffany blue Bentley: The Outrageous Travel Demands of the Super-rich Revealed.”
Amey enumerated several real-life flamboyant lifestyles; here are a few
“We once provided access to Coco Chanel’s apartment and private jewellery collection,’ Hoffman tells MailOnline Travel”
“In one case, my client wanted to relive the 18th century, so we had period costumes and horse-drawn carriages for the day.”
“Once, somebody was on a post-wedding shoot and they wanted a white horse at sunset,’ she remembers. Finding a white horse at sunset, it is possible and it did happen, but for a few hours it was quite touch and go. And it turns out that white horses are actually grey, not white.”
What are Tours for the Rich Like?
Amey’s blog features a list of the “Unusual Tours” for these clienteles
- Travel around the world by private jet: Hurlingham Travel offers the service for a price computed at the current rate upon application
- Watch the Monaco Grand Prix from the comfort of a private luxury yacht: Bon Vivant tags this from base price of £3,000. The final cost depends on the yacht position, excluding the flights to get there.
- Take part in a rickshaw race across India: This starts from about £15,000. Driving a rickshaw in India can be a spine-tingling experience and colorful as well.
- Visit every UNESCO World Heritage Site in one holiday: Hurlingham Travel estimates it will start from £1million. There are 922 sites and it will take about two years to cover them all.
The 1% Hotels, Adventure, Jets and Cruises
Froelich, on the other hand, lets dreamy travellers in on the 1% select hotels, adventures and jets that these people .
The 1% Hotel list included Ritz-Carlton Reserve Dorado Beach in Puerto Rico. Rooms facing the ocean average at $1,800 a night. A four-bedroom villa costs $25,000 a night.) The cost of one visit for these exclusive clienteles can average $500, 000 per visit.
The 1% Adventure example cited is an Epic 22-Day Journey in Africa – Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa. This includes sleeping in exclusive safari lodges and accommodations and being flown by private planes. The cost is said to be about “a mere $42,000 per person.”
The 1% Jet cited the Abercrombie & Kent Private Jet Tours. For around $83,000 per person, you can check out Ethiopia, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, South Africa, and Zambia in one jaunt. Or for $103,000 hit the Amazon and Easter Island. But remember: money won’t protect you from the mosquitos. Four Seasons also offer around the world, private jet service for $119,00 per person for a jaunt through London, Istanbul, Mumbai, Los Angeles, Sydney, Tokyo, the Serengeti, Marrakesh, and Beijing.
The 1% Cruise can mean sailing into the sunset to see the world by ship. Buying into the Residences at Sea means paying $208,000 for a small 304 square-foot cabin, or over $10 million for a suite.
Who can deny them all these luxuries and flamboyances when they can afford them? For the lesser mortals, these will remain to be just dreams, and inspirations to work harder. Who knows, life, after all can be very unpredictable.
