What’s the most luxurious place you’ve ever traveled – or want to visit?
The Buttontapper Challenge is back! This month’s challenge is Seussily titled “Oh, the Places We’ll Go!” and will feature a new destination, daily, with inspiration from film and literature.
Today we’re not traveling to a specific destination. Since it’s Sunday, a day of rest, I’m challenging you to think about the World’s Most Luxurious Destinations. What’s the most luxurious place you’ve ever visited – or the one that’s at the top of your Bucket List?
Luxury travel is not something I’m well acquainted with, given my status as a freelance writer. Although my parents were able to take us kids on family vacations growing up, many of our destinations involved staying with family members or camping out in the family pop-up. Our idea of “luxury” was a night or two spent at a Holiday Inn with a pool!
That being said, I have been on a few rather luxurious vacations in my lifetime, and can certainly appreciate the extra expense. As noted in my Extreme Travel post, my parents did take my sister and me along with them to Hawaii, back when we were in grade school, and our trip seemed quite decadent to me. I can still remember how impressed I was by the concept of the Murphy bed – a queen-sized bed that folded out of the wall – at our hotel on the Big Island.
Equally impressive was the time I went on a European adventure by myself, just after graduating from high school. I had joined a concert and marching band that was slated to tour from the UK to France and the Netherlands, ending with a trip to a European marching band competition. As a member of the concert band, I got to avoid the hassles of attempting to memorize music that I’d have to play and march to at the same time (never my forte), and instead got to sit down to play in various gardens and other symphonic settings in Europe. One of the most memorable performances was at Euro Disney, aka Disneyland Paris, where we got out performance over with early in the day and got to spend the rest of the time enjoying the park and its various rides. It was quite interesting to see how different the European take on Disney culture was, compared with Disney World in Florida or Disneyland in California (both of which I had previously visited, Stateside), particularly when my fellow musicians and I discovered that Space Mountain was actually a real roller coaster! I also noted that there were no Parisians at the park, suggesting they just weren’t that into Mickey… although since the park has celebrated its 25th anniversary (in 2017), perhaps they’ve changed their tune?
I’d like to say that Paris is the most luxurious place I’ve ever visited, since it was high on my bucket list for the longest time. And I certainly enjoyed my visits, no matter how unassuming my accommodations. But so far I haven’t stayed in any hotels in that city that would conjure up the ultimate dream destination. (Blame my trips and traveling companions, as we had to pick lesser lodgings in order to afford the rest of our splurges, or simply had to share otherwise decent rooms with enough people to make the semi-fancy rooms affordable.)
Instead, some of the hotels I’ve found the most luxurious over the years have been true escapes from the everyday. When my husband and I moved from Austin to San Diego, for instance, our hotel room in Las Cruces, New Mexico was the ultimate in luxury as far as we were concerned. It had a comfortable king-sized bed, a mini fridge, a desk with free wifi, and reliable climate control – all of which we were in desperate need of after nearly 10 hours of driving in a U-Haul with no AC! We both managed to catch some kind of cold that night, which meant staying an extra day in order to fight off the crud, and there was a delightful pizzeria nearby that happily accommodated our odd request for “as much garlic as you can pile on” to our pie. (My cat, Ned, was also suitably impressed with the room’s second-story views, as he explored our temporary digs.)
So, all in all, my idea of luxury is not a hotel room whose nightly reservation costs as much as my monthly rent, nor is it really about the grandeur of the destination – although the word “all expenses paid” certainly makes any destination seem a whole lot more luxurious by default! In the end, my idea of luxury is much more about the truly important things in life: time well spent with people I love. In that regard, all of my family vacations have been quite luxurious, despite the bugs, bad weather, and any mishaps that may have occurred.
It really is about the journey, and not the destination, don’t you think?
What about you?
What are some of your most luxurious travel memories, experiences, or locations?
2 Comments
Jamie
Stopping by from the #AtoZChallenge Road Trip!
Your W post was great (wouldn’t let me comment though.)
Atlantic City’s Caesars Palace was the most luxurious hotel I’ve stayed in. (Long, long, long ago.) I’d love to go a bunch of cities in Europe and stuff, but my medical stuff makes travel difficult. Fun to see the pics you have here.
Deborah Weber
I like your take on what luxury really means, and I think you’re right that it’s something we each have to define for ourselves. I’m not an extensive traveler, but I’ve stayed in some very charming places that have such a happy, welcoming “vibe” that made everything seem extra wonderful. Posh doesn’t necessarily provide that.