Oh, this blog baby of mine is growing fast. Before I realised, I am now writing blog post no. 50!

It has not been easy to keep up with this habit of posting thought-out well-researched content thrice a week. But, has it been enriching and well worth it? You bet!

BEHIND THE SCENES

In this time I have surprised myself by my commitment. One of the skills I am yet to attain remains batch writing and being ready for an upcoming post at least 24 hours in advance. In my blogging experience, inspiration strikes me at the last minute for posts.

I am probably Japanese in an Indian skin with the Just-In-Time principle ingrained in me. Click To Tweet

It has given rise to some funny situations.

In November I went for a cousins’ wedding to Ludhiana. On Monday morning we were to travel by train, back to Delhi. For that Monday I decided to publish a long post about the right way to calculate life insurance. On the Sunday morning of the wedding, with the extended family socializing over breakfast and some wedding day rituals being performed for my cousin, I locked myself up in a room to finish the post. Finally, I put the draft of the post at a level of readiness where I just needed to hit “Publish” from the mobile app while on the train on Monday morning.

I still remember the weird looks and questions of “why are you not ready yet?” being floated around by my relatives while my parents were just amused and surprised (yes, it is possible to be both at the same time) to see my obsession with EM.

One Sunday night, I decided to write about the findings from the SEBI Investor Survey about the Retail Indian Investor to be published the next morning. Post-midnight I realized that it still needed a lot of work. So, I decided to use the post another time and instead wrote about my investment journey from scratch.

Just last week I went to Lucknow for some consumer research. I got back to the room at around 10 in the night with some great inspiration from the days’ session. After writing the copy, I decided to sleep off with the assumption that I would reach the airport early for a 7:40 a.m. flight which would anyway be delayed thanks to the fog. In my anxiety of not missing the alarm (set for 5 a.m. with ETD of 5:30 from the hotel), I woke up every hour and finally gave up on sleep at 4 a.m. In that one hour, I again put in the post for readiness to hit the publish button from the mobile app.

Such are the times of blogging :).

LET’S TALK LUXURY

While I and the entire personal finance community is built on the idea of frugality, today I wanted to do something different. The reason why the community talks about frugality is so that we are able to distinguish between conscious money spending and the unconscious money spills.

To break down the thought, while I am frugal and conscious about my money, it is with the aspiration of being able to afford any desired luxury someday soon. Personally, I look forward to spending money on experiences more than things.

So, I thought today I would share with you guys some of my most fun, luxurious and ambitious goals money can buy in the hope that it inspires you to work towards the same. Mind you, a lot of these are one-time experiential aspirations of mine. I do believe I will still remain the frugal old me with some extravagant exceptions.

Since a picture speaks a thousand words, with every experience on my list, you can go over to the link at the end and see just why this makes it to my list, and maybe to yours 😉

The Residence @ Etihad

The seating area of the 3-room luxury in air – The Residence @ Etihad. Image Source: Etihad official website

I just can’t get enough of this option of the ultimate luxurious air travel. I have watched the video on Youtube and the photos do their job to impress.

I love looking at those luxurious brown leather 3-room suites in the sky, served by personal butlers with meals by an on-board chef. Just imagine – a pre-departure champagne, Bose headphones for the journey, customized menu (pre-chosen by you before the flight), nice warm shower and a supremely comfortable bed. The food looked oh-my-god-awesome. I know two things that might happen on the flight – one I know I will binge and eat as much as I can, probably go hungry a few days before the flight.

Secondly, while the suite is meant to be relaxing I am not sure I will be able to even sleep thanks to the excitement. That, thought is a risk I am willing to take 😉

While figures were difficult to catch hold of, a Daily Mail article quoted a Mumbai-New York one-way flight at $38,000 (Rs. 24 Lakh). Another article though puts the price tag for the same trip at $13,000 (Rs. 8 Lakh). However when I looked up the flight on the Etihad website for 1st March, the price tag is a very affordable $5000 (Rs. 3,15,726).

For your visual binging pleasure click here

5-night residential patisserie learning course at Le Gargantua

The mouth-watering 5-day residential patisserie course at Le Gargantua, France. Image Source: Le Gargantua official website

Now, this would be a fantastic sisters holiday!

Me and my sister both love cooking, though my sister is a hands down much more accomplished cook. I have always had a fascination of learning to make pastry at Le Cordon Bleu. But, then I discovered something even more fascinating – a 5-night residential course at Le Antigua.

Imagine living in an old-style renovated French stone farmhouse next to a field full of huge sunflowers. 5-days of learning how to bake, going out in the pretty French village, visiting local patisseries and chocolatiers and eating those delicious creations every night with dinner! God help me, but I think I am already there…

The course costs $1600 (Rs. 1.1 Lakh), apart from the cost of reaching there.

For your visual pleasure: The place and the yummy creations 

Eat dinner at Gaggans

A sample of the delicacies that form a part of the tasting menu at Gaggans. Image Source: Gaggans official website

The lowest budget luxury dream from my list, Gaggans is a progressive Indian restaurant run by Gaggan Anand. Based in Bangkok, it has forever received rave reviews and is multi-winner of the best restaurant in Asia award. The restaurant has Indian fusion food prepared through molecular gastronomy.

What makes it particularly apt for me is the fact that they have a vegetarian tasting menu as well considering chicken is still the only meat I eat. I can already imagine the burst of the yoghurt explosion in my mouth and the chocolate chilli bomb. Yum!

While the $157++ (Rs. 10,000++) is not that tricky a goal to achieve, this one comes with a timeline as Gaggan Anand has announced its closure in 2020. So, the clock on this one is already ticking for me to get to Bangkok and go for that tasting menu!

For your visual bingeing click here.

A week-long retreat at Ananda Resort

One of the yoga spots nestled in nature at Ananda Resort. Image source: Ananda official website

Lately, I have realized the importance of fitness in my life. I like going to the gym and also the way yoga stretches the unexercised muscles in my body.

I have always heard and read about Ananda resort being THE top-notch fitness or yoga destination in the country. Up in the hills in Rishikesh, away from the hubbub and pollution of the city, nestled in luxury, it would be easy to relax.

I can already see a week of immense relaxation, sprinkled with yoga, meditation, active workout, delicious yet healthy food and just being at peace.

With a price tag of approx. $1000 (Rs. 65,000) a night and most good programs having a minimum duration of 7 nights, this goal will cost $7000 (Rs. 4.5 Lakh).

Regent Seven Seas Explorer

An image of the aww-inspiring pool deck on the ultra luxurious Regent Seven Seas Explorer. Image Source: Regent Seven Seas official site

I have a dream – a full family cruise holiday on my parents 50th wedding anniversary, 10 years hence. One of the cruises which I really love is the Regent Seven Seas explorer which is a cruise of the Caribbean from Miami.

The suites look very luxurious. There are a vast number of activities on-board and the stops are beautiful islands in the Caribbean. I can already imagine snuggling in their cashmere blankets, borrowing books from their extensive library, swimming in the expansive infinity pool, watching movies with the family in the theatre, lounging on the deck with the book and a glass of chilled top-of-the-line white wine.

While the quoted price is approx. $14,500 (Rs. 9.3 Lakh) for a suite for 10 nights, it is already at a price of $5,600 (Rs. 3.6 Lakh) for the trip.

Visual delights await here.

I have realized that initially, these big numbers come across as absolutely overwhelming. But the more I think about it and break it down, the more rational and easier it becomes to achieve them.

Do you have a list of currently-outrageous goals that you would love to achieve some day? Let me know in the comments or email me at aparna@elementummoney.com

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