Splurge on a vacation

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For people stuck in the rat-race of life, no matter which part of the corporate ladder you are on, a break in the routine is always welcome and is almost mandatory. And if you have got the resources to pull out all the stops, you can travel the world in the lap of luxury, and return to your regular life, albeit reluctantly, recharged.

Like travel consultant at Bliss Holidays, Suja Thomas says, “When budget is not a constraint, it becomes all the more easy for us to plan a holiday. A wide variety of options open up. But it also creates a new challenge — what else can we give them?”
But what really is luxury? “Privacy and exclusivity,” feels Juhi Chheba, co-founder of Custom Holidays in Mumbai. “Everyone has a different idea of luxury and it can be created practically anywhere,” she says. “Recently, ‘glamping’ is catching on among our elite holidayers. It’s nothing but glamorous camping. For example, you can be put up in the middle of nowhere in the Thar desert, but in a luxurious Swiss tent that can cost anywhere upto `40,000 a night. This is basically a 5-star tent with all the associated services but in spectacular, untamed views right at your doorstep. So when we are asked to customise a luxury holiday, we look for off-beat opportunities that can really let you experience the destination you are visiting.”
For Suja, luxury can simply mean ‘completely hassle-free’. “Options are always important. You should be able to provide the best of what’s available to fit into any constraints they might have — time, distance, etc. But it’s more important to make sure the execution itself goes smoothly. That’s the true sign of luxury. My worst nightmare is a client calling me up in the middle of his holiday to tell me something isn’t going right. As far as I am concerned, no news is good news,” she smiles.
Mridhula Sridharan, a mechanical engineer recently received a generous graduation present from her folks — an all-expense-paid, no-holds-barred trip to Japan. “I am a huge fan of anime and manga and it was a dream come true for me,” she beams. She sat down and charted out a great holiday plan. “Basically I wanted to check out all the places I read about in my favourite mangas. So I planned my trip around the Oda Nobunaga period (a time when Japan was at its violent best), basically touching historically significant cities like Osaka, Hokkaido (which sees snow throughout the year and is famous for bear meat). In Tokyo itself, the tour was centered in and around he Akihabara district which is the epicentre of Japan’s anime and gadget culture.” How much did it cost? Even she doesn’t know. But who cares when you have memories that will last a lifetime.