Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I were rich. Imagine the freedom to be able to do what you want without worrying about money? Wouldn't that be nice, huh? One can dream, right?
I also wonder what do rich people do with their time? How do they spend it? What kind of hobbies do they have? Well, that's exactly what one person asked on Reddit, and the answers they got were quite interesting. Get a load of this.
"Flying with executive bulk tickets. I was gifted a pair of these once. They come with a 24/7 direct-line concierge accessible from any country and can do the wildest things you've ever even thought about for a plane ride. The tickets are good for any seat on any flight, anywhere, any time.
Say you flew round-trip from New York City to London but you suddenly wanted to grab some paella in Barcelona and bring it to Boston to have a seafood face-off. You can do that — one call and it's all taken care of. You get private security lines, and I mean private. You don't have to wait for TSA and customs is a breeze. Flight crews are also much nicer. When you have an exec bulk ticket, they assume you are an executive of an airline, or directly related to one. Therefore, they put extra effort into things. It's weird and hard to describe, but the niceness is almost overwhelming."
Wow, that sounds nice.
"For the first time in my life, I went to a Michelin star-rated tasting menu restaurant in New York City. It was about $200 per person and lasted about two to three hours, serving 18 dishes. This one guy next to us was a regular and was getting the wine flight. He was hanging out there like some dude in a sports bar. My jaw kinda dropped. Apparently, he literally goes there every week and does the wine flight option with his wife. His assistant makes reservations for him. He spends more money on weekly dinners per year than I've ever made."
Okay, I had to look up what that even was, ha, ha. Must be nice!
"Legally watching current theatrical films in the privacy of their own home theaters."
Oh, I would love that, being that I'm a huge movie buff. I don't even like to go to the movies anymore. I prefer to watch them at home, so this would be perfect, ha, ha.
"Old money in my part of the world have a thing for fully restored private railcars, with all the modern amenities of a high-end RV. They pay to have a track branched to their personal storage shed and then take them out maybe once every other year. Of course, the process of taking them out involves paying a company such as Amtrak to haul the thing to their mainline, hook it up to a commercial passenger train, and then lug them around the country to their destination. Get a handful of private railcar owners together and they hitch up, rent an engine, and tour the country with close friends the old fashion way on an entirely private luxury train."
Ah, I love traveling on old trains like that.
"Polo. Poor people don't know how it works."
"It's like bumper cars but with horses and if you manage to hit the ball with your mallet instead of hitting your horse's legs with it that's good."
Ha, ha!
"Seasonal furniture. 'Well, it's getting on into April so we better get the spring couches and chaise lounges out of storage, and swap out the winter dining table and china for the spring set. Better get out all the matching drapes, too.'"
I don't know about you but I don't care for that too much.
"A girl I know is a nanny for a very rich family and they flew her to the other side of the world to take care of one of their three kids. Just one. The other two have their own separate nannies."
As much as I would love to have help with raising kids I wouldn't want them to be closer to the nannies than me.
"Having house managers at all of their properties. These people coordinate all the domestic staff, and manage the properties so that they are instantly liveable at a moment's notice (down to the flowers of choice in every room) even if the owners only come in for a week or two in a year.
Their secretaries will usually call the house manager the day before saying 'oh they'll be in London for a few days' and the manager will arrange everything from the pickup from the airport in the cars he knows each member prefers, coordinate with the secretaries to figure out any appointments they may have, instruct the chef to make their favorite menus.... all of this is done without any input from the owner. That's what they pay for."
Yup, that's right.
"Buying fully furnished houses. This is for people who already own a house (or two, or three...) and want another one. Say you already own a house in Malibu and another in Vail, but you'd like to add another little pied-à-terre in New York so you can fly there for an occasional Broadway play or gallery opening. You can afford to buy anything you want, but you want it to be ready to use; you don't want to spend all the time it would take to shop for furniture, linens, dishes, etc."
And I can't even afford one regular house. Oh, my!
"I had a roommate from Paraguay like this in college. Her 'helpers' moved her into the dorm and set everything up for her. I was still unpacking when she arrived and she was so excited about seeing what it was like to have a 'real' college experience. She was actually pretty cool and a maid cleaned our room and bathroom for that year so I can't complain. She also let me wear any of her designer dresses I wanted when we'd go out."
What a nice life, huh?
"Having 'afternoon tea.' Imagine drinking tea and eating little sandwiches and scones off fancy cups and plates while in an extremely elaborate, ornate room with a view. Now imagine spending between $2,000 to $5,000 on each of these teas. Some people do it every. Single. Day."
Holy, moly!
"I used to work for a traveling performing arts company. We had a performance in Boston and while we were there, a board member wanted to take the entire company (about 20 people) to her favorite Italian restaurant. At the same time, there was a boil order on the local water because of a broken water main. Even though the pasta would have been cooked in boiling water and therefore been safe, that was not good enough. Instead, all of the pasta was boiled in Perrier water. Let me tell you, that was some of the best damn pasta I've ever tasted!"
Oh, yum!
"I dated a guy who had a place at Ocean Reef (super exclusive, extremely wealthy community in the upper Florida Keys). We sat with five other couples, going back and forth about whose mega yacht we should take out that evening: 'Bob and Cindy's is the closest to the canal.' 'But, Jim and Donna's is bigger!' 'But, Mark and Tina's jacuzzi is already heated!' 'But Dale and Ira's has a full staff tonight!'"
Rich people problems, right?
"I work in landscaping and we have customers who have very wealthy clients who get seasonal landscaping. They spend thousands of dollars on brightly colored annual and perennial beds, all to tear them out in just a couple of months. We once had a customer who installed spruce trees in a big planter just for the summer — they probably spent over $10,000 on them."
Yikes!
"Watching the weather report for multiple cities with ski resorts. If a lot of snow drops someplace, a group of about a dozen people will meet up at the private jet and go skiing for a couple of days at a moment's notice. During the trip, they might even jet over to see a nearby sporting event. Then, they'll go back to work as if nothing special just happened."
My friend who loves to ski would adore that.
"They buy fine art — museum-quality pieces — when it becomes for sale. Then, they hold on to it until it appreciates to a point where it's worth more to collectors than they originally paid for it. That way, not only do they make a tidy profit, but they also get to enjoy the artwork in their homes as it increases in value."
I'd love to do that.
"Going abroad for dinner. I hear of wealthy Londoners (or people who live nearby) who simply jump in their helicopter and fly to Paris for an evening meal, then come home again."
Oh my goodness, I think this would be my favorite one. I would love to just jet over to Italy for a fabulous pasta dinner and then maybe stop somewhere else for dessert.
"The CEO for a company I used to work for put a giant tank (pool) with a submerged 'sunken ship' inside of it in his backyard so that he could scuba dive around in it."
Wow! And all I want is just a pool. Period.
Like I said, sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be rich. And now I envy these people even more. Well, not about everything. I wouldn't want anybody else raising my kids, but I could get used to flying somewhere at a moment's notice just for dinner. Which one of these privileges would you love the most?
