April 4, 2026 • 53 mins
The Wishing Well's Terrie Dean and Harry Reif explore the major shift redefining high‑end travel right now.
This episode breaks down the five trends transforming what luxury means today: The Villa Era and the rise of ultra‑private stays, Yachting as the new frontier of bespoke exploration, Wellness Elevated with transformative mind‑body experiences, Set‑Jetting inspired by film and TV worlds, and Legacy Travel focused on meaning, memory, and multigenerational connection.
We unpack why these trends matter, how they’re reshaping traveler expectations, and what they reveal about the future of luxury experiences. Perfect for travelers, industry pros, and anyone curious about where upscale travel is headed next.
This episode breaks down the five trends transforming what luxury means today: The Villa Era and the rise of ultra‑private stays, Yachting as the new frontier of bespoke exploration, Wellness Elevated with transformative mind‑body experiences, Set‑Jetting inspired by film and TV worlds, and Legacy Travel focused on meaning, memory, and multigenerational connection.
We unpack why these trends matter, how they’re reshaping traveler expectations, and what they reveal about the future of luxury experiences. Perfect for travelers, industry pros, and anyone curious about where upscale travel is headed next.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a Lifeless Ordinary, the travel show and podcasts
from your friends at the wishing Well two forty three,
f Avenue and Harsemberg and online at the wishing Well
dot biz. The wishing Well is your ultimate luxury concierge
travel agency and A Lifeless Ordinary is a travel show
and podcast hosted by Terry Dean, bringing her over forty
years of experience in the travel industry to help guide
(00:21):
you to great experiences in your travel, whether it be
around the block, around the country, or around the world.
Let's bring in Terry Dean and say hello.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Hello, Chris, how are you excellent?
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Happy Easter weekend.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, this is a great weekend. It's been a great
week for people who celebrate Easter and all that goes
with it. Really a holy week, I would say, and
for those who celebrate that to everybody, Happy Easter.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Yeah you got anything a special plan for the holiday?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I actually do. I have lots of friends and family
coming over. We're going to be doing some entertaining. I'm
going to be doing a lot of cooking. And it's
one of my favorite times of year because hopefully, hopefully,
fingers crossed, we might just get a little bit of
a reprieve with the weather over what they've been saying
we might get.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Well, I'm lost what it's supposed to do tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
A little bit of rain. I don't want rain on
Easter Sunday. I'd like for it to be beautiful because
we wanted to play cornhole and croquet, and that's kind sad.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Then I guess I'm thinking I'm going to go through
some grassy when we're done, So well, you go right ahead,
we will resurrect my yard.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
It's a good thing. I want to bring in Harry
as well and say hello.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Well, thank you, thank you, Hello to everybody in happy Easter,
to everybody for me too.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Do you have plans?
Speaker 3 (01:43):
My plans should go eat at Terry's and win it
croquet and cornhole.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
You've got it all planned out, Harry.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Said, plans.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Well, my plan is where I think we're going over
to a friend's house tomorrow, and other than that, I
don't think doing much. I've got a lot of things
I need to get done around.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
It's unusual. You usually cook.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
If nobody invites us. Oh, if we get an invite somewhere,
you're all over it. We all be there and then
they make delicious food. So I'm really excited to go
go to their house. When when we cook, we usually
make lamb okay, where we go other places, usually it's ham.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
I'm doing a fancy dinner this year, Chris, what are
you doing? I even did place cards?
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Oh my mom does that.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
I've got so many people come and don't don't get
you got to do it, You got to do it. Yeah,
it's it's a mixed crowds. I really have to do it.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I hope my mom listens to this show, but I
hope she won't be hurt when she hears me say this.
We used to mock her because she put out place
cards that are.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
I don't usually do it, but it really is unusual
collection of friends and family this year, so I want
to collect. I want people to be comfortable with where
they're seated. So that's the choice I made to make
sure that people had that option.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Well, Terry, if you want to do place cars, I
promise I won't mock you. Okay, today, if Harry doesn't,
that's a different story.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
After the show, it's a whole different story.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
We'll see where it all leads.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Well.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Speaking of our show today, it is entitled the Continuous
Evolution Luxury Travel.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, absolutely, speaking of evolution, you know, dinners can evolve,
and so does luxury travel. This is a topic, Chris,
that we cover a lot here on a lifeless Ordinary.
It's one that people remain interested in. But in fact,
there's a really really important shift happening in travel right now,
(03:43):
and it's one that those of us inside the industry
have been watching really carefully, i'd say for at least
the last eighteen to twenty four months. But more than that,
I also want our listeners to know I listen to
you and you who often ask some very insightful questions
(04:04):
about this very subject pertaining to luxury travel and how
you fit into that transition that we're seeing every year,
every month, and sometimes even every day. So this I
thought was pretty topical right now because we are seeing
quite a bit of evolution. And before we really go
(04:25):
any further, I want to make it my mission every
Saturday here, every time that you join us, to thank
you for doing that. I think it's really important that
we know you take your time, and time is valuable,
and you come and you sit down and you listen
to us, and hopefully we impart some wisdom to you
in the travel industry. We're happy and we're proud to
(04:46):
do that and we love that you join us.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeah, people that invest time in our show make me
very very happy. It's nice to feel, you know, that
people value the things that we have to share. We
bring in for from a lot of sources. I'm always
impressed when people say you are so smart. The smartest
thing we do is we use a lot of sources
and our connections into the Virtuoso network. They're continuously doing
(05:13):
market research. They're serving people and asking about you know,
what's going on. They ask the suppliers, they ask the travelers,
and then the valuable kinds of questions that we get.
Terry was referring to some questions earlier. People call us
Chris and ask us questions based upon what they hear,
you know, each Saturday, and that also makes me very
(05:36):
very happy.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
And if you do have questions when you listen to
the show, you can give Harry or Terry a call
and you ask them directly the numbers five, four, nine
to eight, twenty three thirty three. You can also find
them on their website, the Wishingwell dot biz, and you
can drop them any email.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Thank you so much for that, Chris, and I've actually
for today's show, I not only have a nair on
the what regarding the evolution within the travel industry, but
I also want to share some of your questions.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Now.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
These are the ones that actually sparked today's show and
were the jumping off point for a Lifeless Ordinary today.
So we're going to incorporate some of those questions in
because they seamlessly roll into our subject matter for it today.
Because here's what we know, and we've been talking about
this I said almost every episode of A Lifeless Ordinary,
and that is luxury is no longer being defined by
(06:33):
access alone or a single definition. We've said that over
and over and over again. Luxury is different things to
different people, but it's being defined by a single word
I like to use, which is intention. And what I
mean by this is travelers today aren't just simply asking
where can I go? I mean, we do still get
(06:54):
that question, yes, but they're asking why am I going?
How do I want to feel when I get there?
If you remember, just a couple of weeks ago, we
did an entire episode on that feeling that you get
when you go somewhere, that reflective feeling, that almost forever
feeling after you take a trip that tells you that
(07:17):
you made some memories. You didn't just spend money on
a vacation, you actually bought some priceless memories. And I
think that's the key to luxury traveling. From my perspective,
somebody who's been designing travel experiences for over four decades now,
this is one of the most meaningful evolutions I have
(07:37):
ever seen in our industry because it tells me that
travelers are no longer chasing destinations, they're pursuing the experiences
that matter. And today, Chris, we're going to have five
categories that we're going to take a little bit closer
look at. We're going to put that under the microscope,
and those categories are what I'm going to end title
(08:00):
the Villa Era. We're going to talk about yachting. We're
going to talk about the wellness that's been elevated that
we've seen. We're going to talk about jet setting, which
is a whole new thing, and we are also going
to talk about legacy travel. So it's okay with you,
I'm going to jump right in. We're going to head
(08:21):
into the Villa era and This is one of the
most significant shifts that we're seeing in our Virtuoso network
and our preferred partners. And this is what I like
to refer to as the privatization of luxury travel, and
that is showing up most clearly in the rise of
these private villas. But I want to be very clear
(08:43):
about something, because not all villas are created equal. When
we work, especially with a partner like Villas of Distinction,
we're not just simply booking a home. When we book
a villa, we are securing professionally vetted properties. These are
on the ground, concierge supported properties. We have those staff
(09:06):
experiences that people desire, like chefs and drivers and private GUIDs.
Because the difference between a nice rental or what some
people refer to as a VRBO or maybe an Airbnb
and a true luxury villa experience is the infrastructure behind it.
And that's important. If you don't know that difference, I
(09:28):
hope you don't learn that the hard way because and
I actually I want to stop here for just a
minute and let our listeners know that on one of
our upcoming episodes, we're going to be talking once again
with the vice president of Villas of Distinction Steve Lassman,
who's a very good friend of mine, and he is
going to be joining us again. We had a very
(09:50):
popular show that we did with him about a year
ago on Villas of Distinction, and this mode of travel
is growing at such a fast pace that I thought
that would be a good idea for us to invite
him back and talk about some of the things that
are new and again, yes, evolving in the villa industry
when it comes to luxury travel. Now here's where this
(10:13):
becomes very interesting for travelers. By the way, Let's just
imagine that you're looking at a say, a two bedroom
villa in Tuscany, something I would confidently recommend to my clients,
especially through a company like Villas of Distinction. Typically, the
ranging price for a two bedroom villa in Tuscany is
going to be about four hundred and ninety five to
(10:35):
five hundred and thirty five dollars per night right now,
depending on the number of bedrooms and amenities that you have.
This is starting at the lower end, So you know,
for a couple or two couples, that would be a
price that you would split between you, Okay, and right now,
if you're booking that there's up to a seven hundred
and fifty dollars concierge credit that you can use for
(10:58):
some prepaid personalized services like chef prepared services in suite,
SPA treatments, airport transfers, grocery pre stocking of the villa.
So that's seven hundred and fifty dollars. That's not just
something that they write on paper, you know, like a heart.
They draw the paper to say thank you so much. Now,
(11:19):
that's real money. That's real money that you can use.
And when you thoughtfully select that, it delivers a level
of privacy and comfort and personalization that even the finest
hotel simply can't replicate. So this is not about replacing hotels,
though I want to be clear about that. It's about
(11:41):
choosing the right environment for the right traveler. And when
I say that here and I go to great pains
when people come into the Wishing Well and make an
appointment with us to sit down and seriously want to
be counseled about a trip. They want to be matched,
if you will, to the right kind of product and purchase,
(12:03):
because it shouldn't be something that you do just very flippantly,
you know, Oh yeah, I'm going to go on vacation
and you just put me somewhere I don't care. Yeah,
you do care. People do care, and so it's very
important that we go through that thoughtful matching vetting process
with our customer, learn about them, build that relationship with
them so that matching becomes easier.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
You talk about that a lot here on a Lifeless Stordinary,
about how much it is about getting to know your client,
having them close their eyes and describe what they imagine
for their type of get away, their luxury experience. You
don't get that if you're just doing a decision on
(12:44):
the fly, like hey, let's go on vacation Monday. You
need someone a travel advisor, a travel professional like you
and Harry at the Wishing Well that can make these
kind of things come true.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Yeah, and it's true. I mean, would I recommend end
across the board a villa for every client that came in.
Absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
And why would you recommend something other than a villa
as we're talking about villas specifically Now.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Again it's about that matching process because they're not right
for necessarily everybody, because there are some people who still
want services, they want full service amenities at their fingertips.
That's what they're going to get in more of a
luxury type hotel resort kind of experience. But for people
(13:32):
who want more space, they want more privacy and a
lot more personalized experiences, that's what that's for. And interestingly enough, Chris,
your question, the one that you just asked me, is
one that I received from our listeners, which was, are
a villa's then really a better value than luxury hotels?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
And as we talk about the personalities, what I wanted
to put what I wanted to point out to both
of you, all the people listening. I know enough about
your personality. When you're done at the end of the day,
you've gone and seen the sights you want to see,
You've had an experience you wanted to experience. You're the
kind of guy who I would imagine wants to come
back and not be bothered by people. You had a
(14:15):
day full of people. You want to be, you know,
with your wife and you'd just like to look out
the window and own the scenery, just you and her.
You would be the kind of person that i'd say
might fit well into a villa as opposed to someone
more my personality. I'd like to go down, have dinner,
(14:36):
meet some new people, talk about what I did versus
what they did during the day. I might be better
off in a hotel. Does that start to paint the
picture that we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Yeah, And the issue with villas is that the value
becomes really very compelling. But again, this is where goddance matters.
So it's not necessarily something that I would think people
would sit down in their and go, you know, I
think I want to try a villa.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
So my only experience in anything like that, I've never
done an Airbnb or one of the verbos or anything
like that was when I was a kid. We used
to go to the beach and we'd all rent a
big house somewhere on the ocean front to step right,
but we brought our own toilet paper or own paper towels,
everything to cook. And is that what staying in a
(15:24):
villa is like? Or are they Is it like staying
in a luxury hotel without having the people right there?
Speaker 2 (15:30):
So I love that question. I absolutely love that question, Chris.
And so this show is called a lifeless ordinary. I
dare say that probably zero percent of our listening audience
wants to go any place where they have to take
their own toilet paper. True, exactly, so is a villa
experience that we would deliver through one of our vetted
(15:51):
partners that kind of experience. No, and I started out
by saying that this is not like a VRBO or
like an air B and B experience. This is something
that is more inclusive. This is something where you can
relax and have someone take care of you. You're just
not surrounded by a lot of other people you don't know.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
So I'm trying to close my eyes and imagine what
you're describing. And in a previous show we talked about
some of these locations. There was one where you just
visited a couple of months ago, Yes, where there were
cottages that were all, you know, on a hillside. I
think the way you described it is that what we're
describing here somewhat.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yes, I mean that was a Ritz Carlton property in
a beautiful area of Puntumita, Mexico that is relatively brand new,
and if there were such a thing as a six
star resort, that certainly would qualify. But you're right, Chris,
that's exactly the kind of experience we're talking about. And
by the way, for those of you listening. I did
(16:58):
post those pics on the wishing Wells Facebook and social
media pages, so if you're interested in seeing what Chris
is talking to me about, you can go there, look
up those pictures and see what a fabulous experience and
accommodations I had. I was a spoiled girl friend week,
let me tell you. But yes though I had you know,
we had butler service, we had our chef services, we
(17:23):
had private guides. Those are the kind of things that
come with what we call an inclusive luxury villa experience,
and the.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Lines are blurred. I think your question points out to
me in person and personally gets me thinking about a
lot of the luxury hotels, like the Ritz Carlton that
Terry's talking about, are trying to create within their whole
hotel brands many different types of experiences, and this is
(17:55):
a great example. I think Terry of a brand trying
to create of luxury villa like experience. They're selling it
under the Ritz Carlton brand and name, but they are
diversifying because they too, like Terry is explaining to everybody today,
they too are seeing these same trends going on where
a lot of people are saying ditch the hotel experience
(18:19):
once in a while at least and try the villa experience.
I wonder if it's also we travel a lot more
now than we ever have, and so we stay in
hotels a lot more than we ever have. So now
when we're not traveling for business or we're a layover somewhere,
we want that stay to not feel like those times.
(18:40):
We want something a little higher level.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yeah, you're right, and I think you know because we
are talking again. The subject of our today show is
the constant evolution of what's happening in luxury travel. What
you just said, Chris is exactly why we're having that conversation,
is because we are evolving as travelers. I mean, I've
(19:05):
been in this industry again, like I said, for four decades,
and the way I travel now is not the way
I traveled forty some years ago. You know, today I
have learned that there are things out there availed to
me as a traveler that I want to experience, and
a large part of that comes in the accommodations that
(19:27):
I'm able to experience.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
And neither one of you are saying it explicitly, but
what I am seeing. Also, think if this doesn't resonate listeners.
And Chris san Terry many of us, as we're traveling,
as we're vacationing, we want to have a diverse set
of experiences. Sometimes I like a luxury hotel. Sometimes I
like a luxury yacht. Sometimes I like, you know, a
(19:52):
river cruise ship. You know, I like all of these
different options that I move back and forth between them,
and it depends on on whom I'm traveling with. Also,
when I'm traveling, I'm looking at a vacation for my
family for this coming year. I'm looking at a villa
experience because we get the whole place. I don't have
to knock on the door to come visit somebody. All
(20:13):
the doors are open, the villa is ours. Harry says
he likes us. Sometimes I like them all the time.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Yeah, well, you're listening to a life less Ordinary today.
I'm Terry Dean, my business partner here. Harry Rife is
joining me, and our faithful sidekick, Chris Carmichael is here
leading us through this journey through luxury travel and the
continuous evolution of travel. Chris, we're going to talk about
our number two item on this list, which is yacht cruising.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
And we'll talk more about that next here on a
Lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Why do you recharge your cell phone? Maybe because, just
like you, it functions much better with a little revitalization.
The wishing Well helps people refresh and revitalize with individually designed,
customized vacation planning. We'll send you anywhere in the world,
plus offer advice on packing, navigating customs, and more. Wishes
really do come true. At the wishing Well, visit us
(21:08):
at two forty three and af Avenue, call us at
five four zero nine zero eight two three three three,
or on the web at Dowishingwell dot biz.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Ye, welcome back to a life less Ordinary. This is
your travel show and podcasts from your friends at the
Wishing Well. You'll find them on ne f Avenue in Harrisonburg.
They're also online at the Wishingwell dot biz. In the
upper right hand corner. There's a menu. You click there
and you'll see a link for a flus Ordinary. That's
where you'll find all the past episodes and you can
search by whatever category or topic that you're interested in,
(21:39):
and you can sit down with a cup of coffee
and enjoy that show as much as I hope you're
enjoying today's show, you can also call Terry or Harry
their phone number five four oh nine oh eight twenty
three thirty three. Our show today is the Continuous Evolution
Luxury Travel and we were just talking about villa experiences
(21:59):
in ripe Wink to break. You mentioned that our second
topic is has to do with.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yachts absolutely and this is a exploding segment of our
travel industry right now, and this is where I spend
a lot of my time educating people about what it
is very important distinction to be made today between what
I call pedestrian cruises the industry refers to it as
(22:26):
mass marketing cruises, and what we classify as ultra luxury
yacht style exploration cruises. That's a mouthful, I know, but
everybody kind of knows what I mean when I say
pedestrian cruises or mass market cruises. You know who they are.
They advertise all the time you see them. There's a
fun cruises, you know, and you know within that umbrella
(22:50):
you've got Carnival, Norwegian, You've got Royal Caribbean. Those are
three of the three big ones, I would say. But
with brands like the luxury ultra luxury yacht style exploration.
You've got the Ritz Carlton Yacht collection, four seasoned yachts,
and we're seeing a complete redefinition of what it means
(23:10):
to cruise. And why Well, these are smaller vessels for
one thing. So people are tired of crowds, Chris, I
mean people who want to get away from these mass
market cruises. That's their number one complaint. They're really crowded.
You know, I didn't have enough of my personal space.
I need my bubble, you know, that's what we're hearing this. Yeah,
(23:33):
and these are also highly curated itineraries, so as opposed
to one size fits all in the shore excursion category,
do you want to go to Dun River Falls or
do you want to go to Dun River Falls? I mean,
these are really more curated experiences and perhaps most importantly access,
(23:53):
that's the issue with a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Now we're saying yachting. So this is not the same
as river cruising.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
It is not. No, river cruising is yet a whole
other category. These are if you will take a mass
market cruise, one that you're familiar with, one that you
can kind of put a picture of in your mind
and downsize that to about a fourth.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Okay, okay in some cases.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Yeah, So these aren't much smaller cruises, and so the
access that I'm referring to means that you're going to
be able to get right into those ports much like
you would a river cruise. Those anchorages are simply not
available to larger ships. They are available to the yachts
and to your point, river cruising now, from a pricing standpoint,
(24:41):
you're looking at approximately fourteen hundred to twenty one hundred
dollars per person per night, and right now, some of
them are even offering some specials like two hundred dollars
spot credits. That's through our Virtuoso connection, and for a
lot of people that's going to sound significant. But what
I'm always reminding my clients of Chris is this, You're
(25:03):
not just simply paying for a cabin on a yacht
type cruise. You are investing in this vacation. You're investing
in your space. You're getting your space back, you're getting
your bubble back. The service ratios that are nearly one
to one, and what do I mean by that, there's
usually like a crew to passenger ratio on all cruise
(25:24):
ships with these yachts. It's like one to one, so
you know what that means, personalized service. You're going to
get somebody who's dedicated to your every need, and itineries
that are extraordinarily different to replicate independently. This is not
a volume experience. This is not about the cost co principle.
(25:44):
And I use those terms here on our show, a
lifeless ordinary, not in any way to be derogatory to
the name brands that I'm mentioning. They have their niche, okay,
but this is an experience that is a whole now
level of luxury. It's a precision designed travel experience. And
(26:06):
let's take a look together at what it really means
to sail on a Ritz Carlton yacht. That'll be fun
cruising with the Ritz Carlton collection. It kind of feels
like a stay in a floating ultra luxury boutique hotel,
kind of blending that high end service. And first of all,
(26:27):
it's an all suite accommodation on border Ritz. You don't
get like interior rooms and oh, I'm sorry that you
had to pay for that. No, these are all sweets.
And then you have that relaxed yacht casual atmosphere, guests
actually experience more of the intimate, uncrowded surroundings. I was
(26:47):
talking about exceptional dining, So we're talking fewer people to
feed better food, you know what I mean. If you
don't have to have that cafeteria style delivery with food,
and you've got personalized service again with nearly one crew
member for every guest, some of those experiences are again
(27:08):
like only two hundred and ninety eight guests on any
one of these yachts. That compares nicely with the river cruises,
which are about one hundred and ninety to one hundred
and fifty people. So you've got more of a private
club like situation than a cruise ship. They've got that
casual atmosphere. It is sort of country club, but it's
(27:30):
yacht casual. So the dress code there is no formal nights,
so even Ritz Carlton has no formal nights. Social atmosphere again,
it's like country club where it's the common areas on
board of Ritz cruise are like the living room or
the observation area in your own home, you know, where
(27:51):
you can get guests together, sit down, have a drink
and just talk and be lively. But enjoy that privacy,
enjoy your bubble, and then those dining experiences especially, you know,
if you're going to the Mediterranean Southeast Asia, you've got
dedicated sushi bars, private quality food. In many cases, some
(28:14):
of these chefs Chris are Michelin starred chefs on some
of these yacht type cruises, And why wouldn't they be
you know, you're paying what most people would consider top
dollar for this type of vacation experience. Why shouldn't they
be afforded the best type cuisine that's out there to
be had, and then they've got the all inclusive minities. Now,
(28:36):
this is what I love about Ritz Carlton, and I'll
say this is where the line is drawn between Ritz
Carlton and Four Seasons. Okay, I love the Four Seasons
brand as well, But unlike Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons is
not all inclusive. Ritz is. And when I say that,
everything on Ritz is included, all of your meals twenty
four hour in sweet dining if you want to do that,
(28:58):
all of your beverages, including your top tier spirits, and
your gratuities, so all of that is included, and then
your shore excursions are curated for you. So what you
do on a Ritz Carlton cruise is set to reflect
what you want to do, and it's really where you
get to customize this experience. Now you also get personalized service,
(29:22):
and that's a personal assistant to handle reservations and requests
all of that, and then the onboard experience. You've got
a marina platform and if you can imagine this, the
whole back end of the vessel drops down in and
it anchors and a water sports marina opens up for
(29:43):
activities to make it accessible for you to go kayaking,
paddle boating, diving right off of that, right down into
the ocean. And they have something that they call a
caviaart on the water where the butlers all dress and
get in the water and serve you caviar on a
silver platter. Not too shabby.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Yeah, I'm on board.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
That's the way my mama brought me up to live.
It's a it's a magnificent experience. You can see pictures
of the things that Terry's talking about online. It's a
it's a very unique, personalized experience. One of the things
that I would point out though these cruises Chris are
really they're focused on senior travelers. They're focused on couples.
(30:30):
This is not the place that I'm going to take,
you know, my grandkids on one of these cruises.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
I was just going to ask you about that. The
clientele for these types of cruises do they do? They
have activities like the spa and shows and things like
that included as well.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
There are there are not the big show stages that
you'll find on the on the mega cruises, the big
production companies. H very likely you'll find uh, maybe a
trio playing at dinner of you know, violinists or a
pianist or somebody like that playing with a couple other
musicians are perhaps a singer. But there are no kids clubs.
(31:08):
You know, there's not a daycare center. These are luxury
cruises and it's got that ambiance and atmosphere that says
that piece and quiet that adults like sometimes all by themselves.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
So one of the big questions that we do get
asked about yachting and yacht style cruising is Chris, is
it worth the price?
Speaker 1 (31:32):
It sounds like what you've described, Yes, I.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Know, I mean you get kind of excited to hear
about an experience like that. And I really love this
question because it gets right to the heart of what
luxury means, at least to me. So if you're comparing
it to a traditional cruise, it's going to feel expensive.
But if you compare it to say, a luxury hotel, stay,
find dining every evening, private guided experiences, seamless transportation between
(31:59):
all of these destinies, then the value begins to make
a whole lot more sense. What you're really paying for again,
is ease access and a highly curated experience. So for
the right traveler, yes, yes, yes, it is absolutely worth it.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
It's a unique experience, and people that have gone on
these cruises sometimes will go back, you know, on another
cruise another year, and they'll find that crew member. And
how special is it when a crew member comes up
to you and says, hey, you know, Chris, this is
it's great to see you again. Do you still enjoy
(32:38):
you know, this meal?
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Do you still enjoy.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
This adult beverage? Because these people are trained to remember
that much about you.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
How do I get that experience everywhere I go?
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Well, you know, you have to stay at the right
places because training is really, to Harry's point, that's very important.
And not every hotel is the same, not every hotel
brand is the same. However, there are some many of
which we work with on a daily basis, that are
trained in that type of personalization when it comes to
(33:11):
your experience, and I absolutely love that. Now, speaking of
having what you want and what's going to make you
feel good, the next area that we want to go
into is the wellness area, which is also evolving and
continuously evolving in the travel industry. And this is where
(33:33):
I think travelers really need some guidance because the word
wellness is really being used very broadly right now. And
if you're just joining us and you're wondering, what in
the world is she talking about? This is a life
less ordinary. We actually come to you every Saturday with
information about luxury travel experiences that occur at our business,
(33:55):
which is called the Wishing Well. We're located in Harsonburg,
Virginia at two forty three Avenue in the Valley Center,
and we love Saturdays because it's our opportunity to sit
down and candidly talk to you about the things that
are going to make your life better when you travel.
And today we're talking about the continuous evolution of travel.
(34:16):
We're right now talking about wellness, and I just said
that it's being used very broadly right now, and that's
true everything from weekend spa getaways. People kind of throw
that word wellness at that. But then there's those highly clinical,
really medically supervised programs. Those are being marketed also, Chris
under the same umbrella, and they're not the same experience.
(34:40):
They just are not as a SPA weekend to get away.
That's not the same. At the top end of this category,
I would say, you've got properties like Echinopalace, Vegas in Switzerland.
This is not a SPA. This is a scientifically driven
wellness program resort. They are focused on detoxification, longevity and
(35:07):
cellular health. Now, some of the key aspects of a
wellness experience are usually these. It's kind of the location
in the vibe, so they're kind of located in historic
maybe some modern lakeside facilities like Vegas with stunning views
of the Swiss Alps and Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. This
(35:30):
is a beautiful property, by the way, and I know
a lot of you out there. You follow us with
your little computers or laptops or tablets on while we're
doing things. And this is a beautiful property located in
at the base of the Swiss Alps, and their program
is actually they begin with the seven night evidence based
programs that include medical detoxification, prevention and aging wellness and
(35:56):
recovery and regenerize tailored to guests cellular health is how
they like to phrase that. And they feature a five
thousand square meter spa. They have medical consultants on staff there.
They have state of the art diagnostics and tailored treatments
that include energetic massages, hydroma therapy and Fio mud therapy.
(36:23):
Now I confess I don't know what the Fio mud
therapy is, but I know what mud is, and I'm
guessing it has something to do with that. But there's
actually healing properties in mud. I learned that as I
went to Saint Lucia one time and experienced what it
was like to have the mud baths there in some
of their volcano areas and the pool type areas that
(36:48):
surround that the hot springs. But anyway, this is something
that's done at this particular facility. They have a strict
plant based and nutritious localorie Chino diet that's central to
the detox process, and then they have daily routines that
they involve you in if you are a customer they're
(37:08):
at their facility. Days typically revolve around treatments, with guests
often walking around in bathrobes. I could get into that,
complemented by activities like yoga and hiking and fitness center sessions,
and those are all in a dedicated theogem that they
call it, Jim, I'm sorry, technogym area. And their amenities
(37:33):
there include a private lakefront beach. They've got an indoor pool, sauna,
wellness lounge. So the overall atmosphere there is just tranquil,
highly structured, often described as life changing or deep kind
of body reset for guests seeking to optimize their health
(37:53):
in a serene environment.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
What do you think, Chris, I've been looking at pictures
as you talk talk about it, and I'm thinking yes.
And I also looked up with the on Feto or
Fido mud. It's a therapeutic nutrient rich compound combining clay
with botanical extracts, essential oils, and marine algae.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Yeah, and you could expect to pay somewhere between five
to eight thousand dollars a week for an experience here.
It is a commitment. It's not for somebody looking to
just relax, pulside. That's not what this is about. Again,
remember the name of today's show. This is the evolution
(38:35):
of luxury travel. So even though we have talked many
times on this show about spake retreats and resorts, this
is something completely different, and this is evolving into the
wellness arena when it comes to travel. This is actually Chris.
This would be for somebody looking for some measurable transformations.
(39:00):
And on the other end of the spectrum, you've got
a place like Six Senses in Thailand. I often recommend
this for clients who want sort of a balanced kind
of wellness and escape though they have villas there. So
we harken back to villas again, and those range anywhere
from nine hundred to eighteen hundred dollars a night. And
(39:20):
what you gain there is something equally valuable, which is
that fabulous space to disconnect and then reconnect with where
you actually want to be. So imagine, you know, I
remember years ago people would go on vacation. You'd ask
them how is the vacation and what would they always
say in kind of a joking, tongue in cheek way,
(39:41):
They'd go, I need a vacation from my vacation. You
know that. I mean, have you ever been one of
those people or even done that yourself? This is not
one of those vacations. As a matter of fact, I've
heard a lot about wellness travel that people say this
to me all the time, but I don't know if
it's right for me.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
And you have to look at that. That's a very
very important question because when you talk about wellness, it
means very very different things to people, and it's very
very different properties focused on that. So if you look
at the different kinds of wellness retreats that Terry's been
talking about, some of them are designed for relaxation and restoration,
it's a little bit slower pace. There are others that
(40:25):
are designed for that deep structured transformation. They're going to
teach you how to eat healthy, They're going to teach
you how to exercise. They're going to teach you, you know,
all the things you need to know to live that
life that you say that you want to live. So
when I talk to clients and they're talking to me
about these kinds of sites, I ask them what do
(40:45):
you need most? What do you want to do? Do
you need some rest, do you need to get away.
Do you need a reset, you know, physically, mentally, Maybe
you need some results, Maybe you want to come back
in a week and be a changed person, change the
way you eat, change the way you look at life.
Some of them go deep, not just into your physical wellbeing,
(41:08):
but into your mental wellbeing as well. That's not for everybody,
but based on that answer, that's what we use to
match you to the right experience.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
Chris, I mean, I've been again. I'm following along online
as you're talking. I landed in Six Senses, Thailand. It
looks like they have two locations there, so I'm not
sure which one I'm supposed to be going to, but
they both look fabulous. There's a video playing right now,
people hanging upside down. Yeah, it's like, do you compress
(41:38):
my spine?
Speaker 2 (41:39):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (41:39):
Please? And then exactly if if you get nothing else
out of it, you're gonna get beautiful views. Yeah, and
it looks like they're literally what you just describe, going
to take care of every ounce of my body and
can get me prepared for the next year of my life.
Speaker 2 (41:57):
And when a vacation actually feels like a vacation and
when it actually does what we've always intended them to
do for years and years, but didn't know how to achieve.
You're going to be more inclined to want to go
back and have that experience again because now you actually
have the magic wand to vacationing, you know how to
(42:19):
do it correctly, which is what's going to make me
feel better a vacation like that.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
Terry, you are the magic wand You're how I can
make all this happen. I call you or I visit you,
and I have a conversation with you, and you get
to know me, and then you design an amazing experience.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
Well, thank you, Chris, And actually, again for those of
you all listening today, we are not actually on a
special retreat somewhere on the globe. This is a life
less ordinary. We are a travel and lifestyle concierge in Harsonburg, Virginia,
and we are here to serve your every travel need.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
We are going to continue this conversation. Our show today
is the continuous evolution luxury travel. We'll talk more next
here on a lifeless Ordinary. Why do you recharge your
cell phone?
Speaker 3 (43:10):
Maybe because, just like you, it functions much better with
a little revitalization. The wishing well helps people refresh and
revitalize With individually designed customize vacation planning. We'll send you
anywhere in the world, plus offer advice on packing, navigating
customs and more. Wishes really do come true at the
wishing Well Visit us at two forty three and f Avenue.
(43:31):
Call us at five four zero nine zero eight two
three three three, or on the web at Thwishingwell dot
biz and welcome back to a lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 1 (43:40):
If you would like to ask Terry or Harry any
questions about our show today entitled The Continuous Evolution Luxury Travel,
you can give them a call at five four nine
oh eight twenty three thirty three. You can stop buy
It's two forty three f Avenue in Harrisonburg, or you
can stop by the website though Wishingwell dot biz and
(44:00):
that there's a link there as well. If you've stumbled
upon something that interests you on the website, you can
click on the email and email Terry or Harry and
they will get right back with you. Our show today,
i mentioned is the Continuous Evolution Luxury Travel. We've talked
about villa travel, We've talked about yachting, and we just
(44:21):
talked about wellness travel. I believe you said to our
five of these, so we've got to there are We've.
Speaker 2 (44:25):
Got two more. And this one was actually one that
I actually misspoke in the very beginning of the show.
I called this jet setting. I was wrong. This is
called set jetting. Cool, yep. And this is something that
actually I was watching after the news the other evening
on Extra, that TV show that comes on that talks
about all those interesting things in Hollywood that you never
(44:47):
wanted to know.
Speaker 1 (44:48):
Are you saying that Extra is the news you were watching?
Or it was on after the news?
Speaker 2 (44:52):
Okay, it was on after the news, Yeah, And they
talked about this. They talked about set jetting, and they
talked about this this being set jetting. And I don't
want to spend a whole lot of time on this, Chris,
but it is a thing, you know, and it's a
thing for people who follow let me give you an example,
celebrities like Taylor Swift or Jennifer Lopez or you know,
(45:16):
pick somebody else. It's going to be something that they
pick up because of work that they've done, a movie
that they've seen. They want to go where that is.
We see that a lot with like that new show
that came out that really started that trend, which was
White Lotus. Oh okay, yep, So people want to go
where those sets are seen.
Speaker 1 (45:39):
When I was a kid, everyone wanted to go to
San Francisco to see the full House House, right, that
was a big thing. People would travel and I was like, Oh.
Speaker 3 (45:48):
The Brady Bunch downtown Amby.
Speaker 1 (45:50):
I actually went to Chicago so I could see the
water fountain that was in the beginning of Married with Children.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
Yes, that's me. So that's set jetting. Okay, that's what
that is. And people respond to the emotional connection that
they have with that show, whatever that is. And apparently
White Lotus, who I confess I've not watched the show.
I hear a lot about it, but it has this
(46:16):
absolutely overwhelming drawl for a lot of people who when
they see it, they want to go where that's taking place,
and they see a destination portrayed beautifully. It creates a
sense of familiarity before they ever arrived. They feel like, oh,
I've been there. It's like a deja vous when you
get to where you're going. Perfect example of this is
(46:37):
the San Domenico Palace in Taramina, which is in Italy.
Rates for this property run about two thousand to four
thousand per night in peak season. It's a lot less
than that in lower shoulder season. And here's what I
would tell a client. Yes, it is extraordinary, but timing
your room category and expectation management are critical because with popularity,
(47:03):
as in anything that you're seeing on TV, there comes demand,
so the prices can be driven up because of that,
and with demand comes complexity. So this is where thoughtful
planning becomes essential. But I wanted our listeners to know
that set jetting is another one of the evolutions in
luxury travel. Next on our list is something that a
(47:24):
lot of us listening and even here in this studio
room know a lot about, and that is legacy travel.
This is the final trend. This one might be the
most meaningful of all for me. I know, definitely Harry
him and his family. And that's what we're seeing, particularly
among more seasoned travelers, is a desire to invest not
(47:46):
just in travel, but in shared experiences that carry forward.
Absolutely what drove me from my last family vacation. I
wasn't that concerned about the destination.
Speaker 3 (47:57):
I was concerned about who is going to be there
with me and the things that we were going to do,
and the kind of experiences that we were going to have.
We were going to be on the water, we were
going to do some diving, we were going to eat well,
and we were going to spend lots and lots of
time together. And I found a place that did those things.
But it wasn't the place that drove the things. It
was the things that drove me and ended up at
(48:20):
a place I like. The shared experience that you know,
the carry forward of the villa that we had in
Turks and Caicos is something that you know, it's just magnificent.
I was, you know, looking at villas down there, they
run from about ten thousand up to twenty five thousand
dollars a week. But when you think about that being
(48:41):
for an entire family, you're talking about you know, fifteen people,
perhaps maybe more. It becomes more than just a place
to stay. It is your headquarters. It's the setting for
sitting together and enjoying meals as a family. It's the
setting for stories, experiences, for traditions. Maybe talk about the
grandmas and grandpas that aren't there with you, the connections
(49:04):
across the generations and just spending that time with each
other you know, continuously all day long, quite honestly, are
the experiences that clients come back and tell me about
this was the trip that mattered. I've done this with
river cruises, I've done this with villas. You can do
it with all the different kinds of venues that Terry's
(49:25):
been talking about, Chris. But the focus in this case
is legacy travel and being there together with the people
that matter to you.
Speaker 2 (49:35):
Now here's the question that you guys have asked me
about this particular kind of adventure or vacation experience, and
that is are these kinds of trips only for hot budgets?
And I'm glad somebody asked me that because there's a
misconception that luxury travel is only for a very small
(49:55):
group of people. And luxury today, Chris, is not just
about spending more. It's about spending intentionally. For example, a
villa shared with family members, Like Harry was describing traveling
in shoulder season, choosing destinations where your dollar stretches further.
All of that can bring these experiences within your reach
(50:18):
in ways that people don't even expect. So no, it's
not just for the ultra wealthy. It's for travelers who
want to travel. Well, I think that's a better way
to say it. And what's the biggest mistake travelers make
right now when it comes to travel. This one's easy
waiting too long. And I say that with great care
(50:38):
because I understand life is busy. But the extraordinary experiences
we've discussed with you today, they're the first ones to
be reserved. Interestingly enough, they go fast. So when travelers wait,
they don't lose the trip entirely, but they lose the
best version of that trip, and that's the important piece there.
(50:59):
So that's what we're really after. So as you think
about travel for this summer or even into next year,
I would encourage you to shift your questions not just
where do I want to go, but what kind of
experience am I truly seeking? Because when you start there,
everything else starts to align.
Speaker 3 (51:20):
And you're going to put yourself together with the people
that you want to be in that place with. It
might be family, very important for me. It might be friends,
it might be people that you went to school with.
Whatever it is. I think Terry, you made an excellent
point when you said, don't put it off. We've had
so many vacations, so many luxury experiences where people want
to do something special, but then somebody becomes sick, somebody
(51:44):
starts to have to walk with, you know, with assistance,
somebody can't do all of those things that you've been
planning and wanting and waiting to do. Don't wait. The
planning is easy, and that's where the travel advisor comes in.
As well.
Speaker 1 (52:00):
As I listen to all these five trends, the one
that I keep sort of falling back to, maybe because
I was watching the videos as you were talking about it.
I don't know if the wellness trend is necessarily my thing,
but I would love to do a villa in Thailand
or somewhere where I'm able to experience everything except for maybe.
(52:24):
I don't like thee I don't like the idea of
being touched, so going to a spa might not be
my favorite place. But everything else except for that sounds fabulous.
What I love the most is we talk about, you know,
all these different trends, is that there are people at
the wishing well that are experts at figuring out exactly
(52:46):
what I need and want and can make it happen. Absolutely,
And it's as simple as reaching out talking to you
Terry or Harry and staring that conversation to figure out
exactly what that luxury experience is. And I love anytime
we mentioned luxury, you always say luxury is what you
(53:07):
define luxury as, absolutely what somebody else does. A few
seconds left, How do we reach out so we can
start that conversation.
Speaker 2 (53:14):
We are easy to find, Chris. We're located in here. Somber, Virginia.
Two forty three nef Avenue is our physical location. You
can call us at five four h nine oh eight
two three three three or look us up on the web.
We are at the Wishingwell dot biz.
Speaker 1 (53:30):
This has been a life Less Ordinary, the travel show
from your friends at the wishing Well at two forty
three nef Avenue in Harrisonburg. If you have any questions
on topics discussed today, please reach out to the wishing
Well online at the wishing Well dop biz or five
four oh nine oh eight twenty three thirty three. Eight.
Past episodes are available on the iHeartRadio app. And we'll
see again next Saturday morning at ten for a Life
(53:52):
Less Ordinary from the wishing Well
This is a Lifeless Ordinary, the travel show and podcasts
from your friends at the wishing Well two forty three,
f Avenue and Harsemberg and online at the wishing Well
dot biz. The wishing Well is your ultimate luxury concierge
travel agency and A Lifeless Ordinary is a travel show
and podcast hosted by Terry Dean, bringing her over forty
years of experience in the travel industry to help guide
(00:21):
you to great experiences in your travel, whether it be
around the block, around the country, or around the world.
Let's bring in Terry Dean and say hello.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Hello, Chris, how are you excellent?
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Happy Easter weekend.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, this is a great weekend. It's been a great
week for people who celebrate Easter and all that goes
with it. Really a holy week, I would say, and
for those who celebrate that to everybody, Happy Easter.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Yeah you got anything a special plan for the holiday?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I actually do. I have lots of friends and family
coming over. We're going to be doing some entertaining. I'm
going to be doing a lot of cooking. And it's
one of my favorite times of year because hopefully, hopefully,
fingers crossed, we might just get a little bit of
a reprieve with the weather over what they've been saying
we might get.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Well, I'm lost what it's supposed to do tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
A little bit of rain. I don't want rain on
Easter Sunday. I'd like for it to be beautiful because
we wanted to play cornhole and croquet, and that's kind sad.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Then I guess I'm thinking I'm going to go through
some grassy when we're done, So well, you go right ahead,
we will resurrect my yard.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
It's a good thing. I want to bring in Harry
as well and say hello.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Well, thank you, thank you, Hello to everybody in happy Easter,
to everybody for me too.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Do you have plans?
Speaker 3 (01:43):
My plans should go eat at Terry's and win it
croquet and cornhole.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
You've got it all planned out, Harry.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Said, plans.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Well, my plan is where I think we're going over
to a friend's house tomorrow, and other than that, I
don't think doing much. I've got a lot of things
I need to get done around.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
It's unusual. You usually cook.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
If nobody invites us. Oh, if we get an invite somewhere,
you're all over it. We all be there and then
they make delicious food. So I'm really excited to go
go to their house. When when we cook, we usually
make lamb okay, where we go other places, usually it's ham.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
I'm doing a fancy dinner this year, Chris, what are
you doing? I even did place cards?
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Oh my mom does that.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
I've got so many people come and don't don't get
you got to do it, You got to do it. Yeah,
it's it's a mixed crowds. I really have to do it.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I hope my mom listens to this show, but I
hope she won't be hurt when she hears me say this.
We used to mock her because she put out place
cards that are.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
I don't usually do it, but it really is unusual
collection of friends and family this year, so I want
to collect. I want people to be comfortable with where
they're seated. So that's the choice I made to make
sure that people had that option.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Well, Terry, if you want to do place cars, I
promise I won't mock you. Okay, today, if Harry doesn't,
that's a different story.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
After the show, it's a whole different story.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
We'll see where it all leads.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Well.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Speaking of our show today, it is entitled the Continuous
Evolution Luxury Travel.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, absolutely, speaking of evolution, you know, dinners can evolve,
and so does luxury travel. This is a topic, Chris,
that we cover a lot here on a lifeless Ordinary.
It's one that people remain interested in. But in fact,
there's a really really important shift happening in travel right now,
(03:43):
and it's one that those of us inside the industry
have been watching really carefully, i'd say for at least
the last eighteen to twenty four months. But more than that,
I also want our listeners to know I listen to
you and you who often ask some very insightful questions
(04:04):
about this very subject pertaining to luxury travel and how
you fit into that transition that we're seeing every year,
every month, and sometimes even every day. So this I
thought was pretty topical right now because we are seeing
quite a bit of evolution. And before we really go
(04:25):
any further, I want to make it my mission every
Saturday here, every time that you join us, to thank
you for doing that. I think it's really important that
we know you take your time, and time is valuable,
and you come and you sit down and you listen
to us, and hopefully we impart some wisdom to you
in the travel industry. We're happy and we're proud to
(04:46):
do that and we love that you join us.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeah, people that invest time in our show make me
very very happy. It's nice to feel, you know, that
people value the things that we have to share. We
bring in for from a lot of sources. I'm always
impressed when people say you are so smart. The smartest
thing we do is we use a lot of sources
and our connections into the Virtuoso network. They're continuously doing
(05:13):
market research. They're serving people and asking about you know,
what's going on. They ask the suppliers, they ask the travelers,
and then the valuable kinds of questions that we get.
Terry was referring to some questions earlier. People call us
Chris and ask us questions based upon what they hear,
you know, each Saturday, and that also makes me very
(05:36):
very happy.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
And if you do have questions when you listen to
the show, you can give Harry or Terry a call
and you ask them directly the numbers five, four, nine
to eight, twenty three thirty three. You can also find
them on their website, the Wishingwell dot biz, and you
can drop them any email.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Thank you so much for that, Chris, and I've actually
for today's show, I not only have a nair on
the what regarding the evolution within the travel industry, but
I also want to share some of your questions.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Now.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
These are the ones that actually sparked today's show and
were the jumping off point for a Lifeless Ordinary today.
So we're going to incorporate some of those questions in
because they seamlessly roll into our subject matter for it today.
Because here's what we know, and we've been talking about
this I said almost every episode of A Lifeless Ordinary,
and that is luxury is no longer being defined by
(06:33):
access alone or a single definition. We've said that over
and over and over again. Luxury is different things to
different people, but it's being defined by a single word
I like to use, which is intention. And what I
mean by this is travelers today aren't just simply asking
where can I go? I mean, we do still get
(06:54):
that question, yes, but they're asking why am I going?
How do I want to feel when I get there?
If you remember, just a couple of weeks ago, we
did an entire episode on that feeling that you get
when you go somewhere, that reflective feeling, that almost forever
feeling after you take a trip that tells you that
(07:17):
you made some memories. You didn't just spend money on
a vacation, you actually bought some priceless memories. And I
think that's the key to luxury traveling. From my perspective,
somebody who's been designing travel experiences for over four decades now,
this is one of the most meaningful evolutions I have
(07:37):
ever seen in our industry because it tells me that
travelers are no longer chasing destinations, they're pursuing the experiences
that matter. And today, Chris, we're going to have five
categories that we're going to take a little bit closer
look at. We're going to put that under the microscope,
and those categories are what I'm going to end title
(08:00):
the Villa Era. We're going to talk about yachting. We're
going to talk about the wellness that's been elevated that
we've seen. We're going to talk about jet setting, which
is a whole new thing, and we are also going
to talk about legacy travel. So it's okay with you,
I'm going to jump right in. We're going to head
(08:21):
into the Villa era and This is one of the
most significant shifts that we're seeing in our Virtuoso network
and our preferred partners. And this is what I like
to refer to as the privatization of luxury travel, and
that is showing up most clearly in the rise of
these private villas. But I want to be very clear
(08:43):
about something, because not all villas are created equal. When
we work, especially with a partner like Villas of Distinction,
we're not just simply booking a home. When we book
a villa, we are securing professionally vetted properties. These are
on the ground, concierge supported properties. We have those staff
(09:06):
experiences that people desire, like chefs and drivers and private GUIDs.
Because the difference between a nice rental or what some
people refer to as a VRBO or maybe an Airbnb
and a true luxury villa experience is the infrastructure behind it.
And that's important. If you don't know that difference, I
(09:28):
hope you don't learn that the hard way because and
I actually I want to stop here for just a
minute and let our listeners know that on one of
our upcoming episodes, we're going to be talking once again
with the vice president of Villas of Distinction Steve Lassman,
who's a very good friend of mine, and he is
going to be joining us again. We had a very
(09:50):
popular show that we did with him about a year
ago on Villas of Distinction, and this mode of travel
is growing at such a fast pace that I thought
that would be a good idea for us to invite
him back and talk about some of the things that
are new and again, yes, evolving in the villa industry
when it comes to luxury travel. Now here's where this
(10:13):
becomes very interesting for travelers. By the way, Let's just
imagine that you're looking at a say, a two bedroom
villa in Tuscany, something I would confidently recommend to my clients,
especially through a company like Villas of Distinction. Typically, the
ranging price for a two bedroom villa in Tuscany is
going to be about four hundred and ninety five to
(10:35):
five hundred and thirty five dollars per night right now,
depending on the number of bedrooms and amenities that you have.
This is starting at the lower end, So you know,
for a couple or two couples, that would be a
price that you would split between you, Okay, and right now,
if you're booking that there's up to a seven hundred
and fifty dollars concierge credit that you can use for
(10:58):
some prepaid personalized services like chef prepared services in suite,
SPA treatments, airport transfers, grocery pre stocking of the villa.
So that's seven hundred and fifty dollars. That's not just
something that they write on paper, you know, like a heart.
They draw the paper to say thank you so much. Now,
(11:19):
that's real money. That's real money that you can use.
And when you thoughtfully select that, it delivers a level
of privacy and comfort and personalization that even the finest
hotel simply can't replicate. So this is not about replacing hotels,
though I want to be clear about that. It's about
(11:41):
choosing the right environment for the right traveler. And when
I say that here and I go to great pains
when people come into the Wishing Well and make an
appointment with us to sit down and seriously want to
be counseled about a trip. They want to be matched,
if you will, to the right kind of product and purchase,
(12:03):
because it shouldn't be something that you do just very flippantly,
you know, Oh yeah, I'm going to go on vacation
and you just put me somewhere I don't care. Yeah,
you do care. People do care, and so it's very
important that we go through that thoughtful matching vetting process
with our customer, learn about them, build that relationship with
them so that matching becomes easier.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
You talk about that a lot here on a Lifeless Stordinary,
about how much it is about getting to know your client,
having them close their eyes and describe what they imagine
for their type of get away, their luxury experience. You
don't get that if you're just doing a decision on
(12:44):
the fly, like hey, let's go on vacation Monday. You
need someone a travel advisor, a travel professional like you
and Harry at the Wishing Well that can make these
kind of things come true.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Yeah, and it's true. I mean, would I recommend end
across the board a villa for every client that came in.
Absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
And why would you recommend something other than a villa
as we're talking about villas specifically Now.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Again it's about that matching process because they're not right
for necessarily everybody, because there are some people who still
want services, they want full service amenities at their fingertips.
That's what they're going to get in more of a
luxury type hotel resort kind of experience. But for people
(13:32):
who want more space, they want more privacy and a
lot more personalized experiences, that's what that's for. And interestingly enough, Chris,
your question, the one that you just asked me, is
one that I received from our listeners, which was, are
a villa's then really a better value than luxury hotels?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
And as we talk about the personalities, what I wanted
to put what I wanted to point out to both
of you, all the people listening. I know enough about
your personality. When you're done at the end of the day,
you've gone and seen the sights you want to see,
You've had an experience you wanted to experience. You're the
kind of guy who I would imagine wants to come
back and not be bothered by people. You had a
(14:15):
day full of people. You want to be, you know,
with your wife and you'd just like to look out
the window and own the scenery, just you and her.
You would be the kind of person that i'd say
might fit well into a villa as opposed to someone
more my personality. I'd like to go down, have dinner,
(14:36):
meet some new people, talk about what I did versus
what they did during the day. I might be better
off in a hotel. Does that start to paint the
picture that we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Yeah, And the issue with villas is that the value
becomes really very compelling. But again, this is where goddance matters.
So it's not necessarily something that I would think people
would sit down in their and go, you know, I
think I want to try a villa.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
So my only experience in anything like that, I've never
done an Airbnb or one of the verbos or anything
like that was when I was a kid. We used
to go to the beach and we'd all rent a
big house somewhere on the ocean front to step right,
but we brought our own toilet paper or own paper towels,
everything to cook. And is that what staying in a
(15:24):
villa is like? Or are they Is it like staying
in a luxury hotel without having the people right there?
Speaker 2 (15:30):
So I love that question. I absolutely love that question, Chris.
And so this show is called a lifeless ordinary. I
dare say that probably zero percent of our listening audience
wants to go any place where they have to take
their own toilet paper. True, exactly, so is a villa
experience that we would deliver through one of our vetted
(15:51):
partners that kind of experience. No, and I started out
by saying that this is not like a VRBO or
like an air B and B experience. This is something
that is more inclusive. This is something where you can
relax and have someone take care of you. You're just
not surrounded by a lot of other people you don't know.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
So I'm trying to close my eyes and imagine what
you're describing. And in a previous show we talked about
some of these locations. There was one where you just
visited a couple of months ago, Yes, where there were
cottages that were all, you know, on a hillside. I
think the way you described it is that what we're
describing here somewhat.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yes, I mean that was a Ritz Carlton property in
a beautiful area of Puntumita, Mexico that is relatively brand new,
and if there were such a thing as a six
star resort, that certainly would qualify. But you're right, Chris,
that's exactly the kind of experience we're talking about. And
by the way, for those of you listening. I did
(16:58):
post those pics on the wishing Wells Facebook and social
media pages, so if you're interested in seeing what Chris
is talking to me about, you can go there, look
up those pictures and see what a fabulous experience and
accommodations I had. I was a spoiled girl friend week,
let me tell you. But yes though I had you know,
we had butler service, we had our chef services, we
(17:23):
had private guides. Those are the kind of things that
come with what we call an inclusive luxury villa experience,
and the.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Lines are blurred. I think your question points out to
me in person and personally gets me thinking about a
lot of the luxury hotels, like the Ritz Carlton that
Terry's talking about, are trying to create within their whole
hotel brands many different types of experiences, and this is
(17:55):
a great example. I think Terry of a brand trying
to create of luxury villa like experience. They're selling it
under the Ritz Carlton brand and name, but they are
diversifying because they too, like Terry is explaining to everybody today,
they too are seeing these same trends going on where
a lot of people are saying ditch the hotel experience
(18:19):
once in a while at least and try the villa experience.
I wonder if it's also we travel a lot more
now than we ever have, and so we stay in
hotels a lot more than we ever have. So now
when we're not traveling for business or we're a layover somewhere,
we want that stay to not feel like those times.
(18:40):
We want something a little higher level.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yeah, you're right, and I think you know because we
are talking again. The subject of our today show is
the constant evolution of what's happening in luxury travel. What
you just said, Chris is exactly why we're having that conversation,
is because we are evolving as travelers. I mean, I've
(19:05):
been in this industry again, like I said, for four decades,
and the way I travel now is not the way
I traveled forty some years ago. You know, today I
have learned that there are things out there availed to
me as a traveler that I want to experience, and
a large part of that comes in the accommodations that
(19:27):
I'm able to experience.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
And neither one of you are saying it explicitly, but
what I am seeing. Also, think if this doesn't resonate listeners.
And Chris san Terry many of us, as we're traveling,
as we're vacationing, we want to have a diverse set
of experiences. Sometimes I like a luxury hotel. Sometimes I
like a luxury yacht. Sometimes I like, you know, a
(19:52):
river cruise ship. You know, I like all of these
different options that I move back and forth between them,
and it depends on on whom I'm traveling with. Also,
when I'm traveling, I'm looking at a vacation for my
family for this coming year. I'm looking at a villa
experience because we get the whole place. I don't have
to knock on the door to come visit somebody. All
(20:13):
the doors are open, the villa is ours. Harry says
he likes us. Sometimes I like them all the time.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Yeah, well, you're listening to a life less Ordinary today.
I'm Terry Dean, my business partner here. Harry Rife is
joining me, and our faithful sidekick, Chris Carmichael is here
leading us through this journey through luxury travel and the
continuous evolution of travel. Chris, we're going to talk about
our number two item on this list, which is yacht cruising.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
And we'll talk more about that next here on a
Lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Why do you recharge your cell phone? Maybe because, just
like you, it functions much better with a little revitalization.
The wishing Well helps people refresh and revitalize with individually designed,
customized vacation planning. We'll send you anywhere in the world,
plus offer advice on packing, navigating customs, and more. Wishes
really do come true. At the wishing Well, visit us
(21:08):
at two forty three and af Avenue, call us at
five four zero nine zero eight two three three three,
or on the web at Dowishingwell dot biz.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Ye, welcome back to a life less Ordinary. This is
your travel show and podcasts from your friends at the
Wishing Well. You'll find them on ne f Avenue in Harrisonburg.
They're also online at the Wishingwell dot biz. In the
upper right hand corner. There's a menu. You click there
and you'll see a link for a flus Ordinary. That's
where you'll find all the past episodes and you can
search by whatever category or topic that you're interested in,
(21:39):
and you can sit down with a cup of coffee
and enjoy that show as much as I hope you're
enjoying today's show, you can also call Terry or Harry
their phone number five four oh nine oh eight twenty
three thirty three. Our show today is the Continuous Evolution
Luxury Travel and we were just talking about villa experiences
(21:59):
in ripe Wink to break. You mentioned that our second
topic is has to do with.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yachts absolutely and this is a exploding segment of our
travel industry right now, and this is where I spend
a lot of my time educating people about what it
is very important distinction to be made today between what
I call pedestrian cruises the industry refers to it as
(22:26):
mass marketing cruises, and what we classify as ultra luxury
yacht style exploration cruises. That's a mouthful, I know, but
everybody kind of knows what I mean when I say
pedestrian cruises or mass market cruises. You know who they are.
They advertise all the time you see them. There's a
fun cruises, you know, and you know within that umbrella
(22:50):
you've got Carnival, Norwegian, You've got Royal Caribbean. Those are
three of the three big ones, I would say. But
with brands like the luxury ultra luxury yacht style exploration.
You've got the Ritz Carlton Yacht collection, four seasoned yachts,
and we're seeing a complete redefinition of what it means
(23:10):
to cruise. And why Well, these are smaller vessels for
one thing. So people are tired of crowds, Chris, I
mean people who want to get away from these mass
market cruises. That's their number one complaint. They're really crowded.
You know, I didn't have enough of my personal space.
I need my bubble, you know, that's what we're hearing this. Yeah,
(23:33):
and these are also highly curated itineraries, so as opposed
to one size fits all in the shore excursion category,
do you want to go to Dun River Falls or
do you want to go to Dun River Falls? I mean,
these are really more curated experiences and perhaps most importantly access,
(23:53):
that's the issue with a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Now we're saying yachting. So this is not the same
as river cruising.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
It is not. No, river cruising is yet a whole
other category. These are if you will take a mass
market cruise, one that you're familiar with, one that you
can kind of put a picture of in your mind
and downsize that to about a fourth.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Okay, okay in some cases.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Yeah, So these aren't much smaller cruises, and so the
access that I'm referring to means that you're going to
be able to get right into those ports much like
you would a river cruise. Those anchorages are simply not
available to larger ships. They are available to the yachts
and to your point, river cruising now, from a pricing standpoint,
(24:41):
you're looking at approximately fourteen hundred to twenty one hundred
dollars per person per night, and right now, some of
them are even offering some specials like two hundred dollars
spot credits. That's through our Virtuoso connection, and for a
lot of people that's going to sound significant. But what
I'm always reminding my clients of Chris is this, You're
(25:03):
not just simply paying for a cabin on a yacht
type cruise. You are investing in this vacation. You're investing
in your space. You're getting your space back, you're getting
your bubble back. The service ratios that are nearly one
to one, and what do I mean by that, there's
usually like a crew to passenger ratio on all cruise
(25:24):
ships with these yachts. It's like one to one, so
you know what that means, personalized service. You're going to
get somebody who's dedicated to your every need, and itineries
that are extraordinarily different to replicate independently. This is not
a volume experience. This is not about the cost co principle.
(25:44):
And I use those terms here on our show, a
lifeless ordinary, not in any way to be derogatory to
the name brands that I'm mentioning. They have their niche, okay,
but this is an experience that is a whole now
level of luxury. It's a precision designed travel experience. And
(26:06):
let's take a look together at what it really means
to sail on a Ritz Carlton yacht. That'll be fun
cruising with the Ritz Carlton collection. It kind of feels
like a stay in a floating ultra luxury boutique hotel,
kind of blending that high end service. And first of all,
(26:27):
it's an all suite accommodation on border Ritz. You don't
get like interior rooms and oh, I'm sorry that you
had to pay for that. No, these are all sweets.
And then you have that relaxed yacht casual atmosphere, guests
actually experience more of the intimate, uncrowded surroundings. I was
(26:47):
talking about exceptional dining, So we're talking fewer people to
feed better food, you know what I mean. If you
don't have to have that cafeteria style delivery with food,
and you've got personalized service again with nearly one crew
member for every guest, some of those experiences are again
(27:08):
like only two hundred and ninety eight guests on any
one of these yachts. That compares nicely with the river cruises,
which are about one hundred and ninety to one hundred
and fifty people. So you've got more of a private
club like situation than a cruise ship. They've got that
casual atmosphere. It is sort of country club, but it's
(27:30):
yacht casual. So the dress code there is no formal nights,
so even Ritz Carlton has no formal nights. Social atmosphere again,
it's like country club where it's the common areas on
board of Ritz cruise are like the living room or
the observation area in your own home, you know, where
(27:51):
you can get guests together, sit down, have a drink
and just talk and be lively. But enjoy that privacy,
enjoy your bubble, and then those dining experiences especially, you know,
if you're going to the Mediterranean Southeast Asia, you've got
dedicated sushi bars, private quality food. In many cases, some
(28:14):
of these chefs Chris are Michelin starred chefs on some
of these yacht type cruises, And why wouldn't they be
you know, you're paying what most people would consider top
dollar for this type of vacation experience. Why shouldn't they
be afforded the best type cuisine that's out there to
be had, and then they've got the all inclusive minities. Now,
(28:36):
this is what I love about Ritz Carlton, and I'll
say this is where the line is drawn between Ritz
Carlton and Four Seasons. Okay, I love the Four Seasons
brand as well, But unlike Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons is
not all inclusive. Ritz is. And when I say that,
everything on Ritz is included, all of your meals twenty
four hour in sweet dining if you want to do that,
(28:58):
all of your beverages, including your top tier spirits, and
your gratuities, so all of that is included, and then
your shore excursions are curated for you. So what you
do on a Ritz Carlton cruise is set to reflect
what you want to do, and it's really where you
get to customize this experience. Now you also get personalized service,
(29:22):
and that's a personal assistant to handle reservations and requests
all of that, and then the onboard experience. You've got
a marina platform and if you can imagine this, the
whole back end of the vessel drops down in and
it anchors and a water sports marina opens up for
(29:43):
activities to make it accessible for you to go kayaking,
paddle boating, diving right off of that, right down into
the ocean. And they have something that they call a
caviaart on the water where the butlers all dress and
get in the water and serve you caviar on a
silver platter. Not too shabby.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Yeah, I'm on board.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
That's the way my mama brought me up to live.
It's a it's a magnificent experience. You can see pictures
of the things that Terry's talking about online. It's a
it's a very unique, personalized experience. One of the things
that I would point out though these cruises Chris are
really they're focused on senior travelers. They're focused on couples.
(30:30):
This is not the place that I'm going to take,
you know, my grandkids on one of these cruises.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
I was just going to ask you about that. The
clientele for these types of cruises do they do? They
have activities like the spa and shows and things like
that included as well.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
There are there are not the big show stages that
you'll find on the on the mega cruises, the big
production companies. H very likely you'll find uh, maybe a
trio playing at dinner of you know, violinists or a
pianist or somebody like that playing with a couple other
musicians are perhaps a singer. But there are no kids clubs.
(31:08):
You know, there's not a daycare center. These are luxury
cruises and it's got that ambiance and atmosphere that says
that piece and quiet that adults like sometimes all by themselves.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
So one of the big questions that we do get
asked about yachting and yacht style cruising is Chris, is
it worth the price?
Speaker 1 (31:32):
It sounds like what you've described, Yes, I.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Know, I mean you get kind of excited to hear
about an experience like that. And I really love this
question because it gets right to the heart of what
luxury means, at least to me. So if you're comparing
it to a traditional cruise, it's going to feel expensive.
But if you compare it to say, a luxury hotel, stay,
find dining every evening, private guided experiences, seamless transportation between
(31:59):
all of these destinies, then the value begins to make
a whole lot more sense. What you're really paying for again,
is ease access and a highly curated experience. So for
the right traveler, yes, yes, yes, it is absolutely worth it.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
It's a unique experience, and people that have gone on
these cruises sometimes will go back, you know, on another
cruise another year, and they'll find that crew member. And
how special is it when a crew member comes up
to you and says, hey, you know, Chris, this is
it's great to see you again. Do you still enjoy
(32:38):
you know, this meal?
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Do you still enjoy.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
This adult beverage? Because these people are trained to remember
that much about you.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
How do I get that experience everywhere I go?
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Well, you know, you have to stay at the right
places because training is really, to Harry's point, that's very important.
And not every hotel is the same, not every hotel
brand is the same. However, there are some many of
which we work with on a daily basis, that are
trained in that type of personalization when it comes to
(33:11):
your experience, and I absolutely love that. Now, speaking of
having what you want and what's going to make you
feel good, the next area that we want to go
into is the wellness area, which is also evolving and
continuously evolving in the travel industry. And this is where
(33:33):
I think travelers really need some guidance because the word
wellness is really being used very broadly right now. And
if you're just joining us and you're wondering, what in
the world is she talking about? This is a life
less ordinary. We actually come to you every Saturday with
information about luxury travel experiences that occur at our business,
(33:55):
which is called the Wishing Well. We're located in Harsonburg,
Virginia at two forty three Avenue in the Valley Center,
and we love Saturdays because it's our opportunity to sit
down and candidly talk to you about the things that
are going to make your life better when you travel.
And today we're talking about the continuous evolution of travel.
(34:16):
We're right now talking about wellness, and I just said
that it's being used very broadly right now, and that's
true everything from weekend spa getaways. People kind of throw
that word wellness at that. But then there's those highly clinical,
really medically supervised programs. Those are being marketed also, Chris
under the same umbrella, and they're not the same experience.
(34:40):
They just are not as a SPA weekend to get away.
That's not the same. At the top end of this category,
I would say, you've got properties like Echinopalace, Vegas in Switzerland.
This is not a SPA. This is a scientifically driven
wellness program resort. They are focused on detoxification, longevity and
(35:07):
cellular health. Now, some of the key aspects of a
wellness experience are usually these. It's kind of the location
in the vibe, so they're kind of located in historic
maybe some modern lakeside facilities like Vegas with stunning views
of the Swiss Alps and Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. This
(35:30):
is a beautiful property, by the way, and I know
a lot of you out there. You follow us with
your little computers or laptops or tablets on while we're
doing things. And this is a beautiful property located in
at the base of the Swiss Alps, and their program
is actually they begin with the seven night evidence based
programs that include medical detoxification, prevention and aging wellness and
(35:56):
recovery and regenerize tailored to guests cellular health is how
they like to phrase that. And they feature a five
thousand square meter spa. They have medical consultants on staff there.
They have state of the art diagnostics and tailored treatments
that include energetic massages, hydroma therapy and Fio mud therapy.
(36:23):
Now I confess I don't know what the Fio mud
therapy is, but I know what mud is, and I'm
guessing it has something to do with that. But there's
actually healing properties in mud. I learned that as I
went to Saint Lucia one time and experienced what it
was like to have the mud baths there in some
of their volcano areas and the pool type areas that
(36:48):
surround that the hot springs. But anyway, this is something
that's done at this particular facility. They have a strict
plant based and nutritious localorie Chino diet that's central to
the detox process, and then they have daily routines that
they involve you in if you are a customer they're
(37:08):
at their facility. Days typically revolve around treatments, with guests
often walking around in bathrobes. I could get into that,
complemented by activities like yoga and hiking and fitness center sessions,
and those are all in a dedicated theogem that they
call it, Jim, I'm sorry, technogym area. And their amenities
(37:33):
there include a private lakefront beach. They've got an indoor pool, sauna,
wellness lounge. So the overall atmosphere there is just tranquil,
highly structured, often described as life changing or deep kind
of body reset for guests seeking to optimize their health
(37:53):
in a serene environment.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
What do you think, Chris, I've been looking at pictures
as you talk talk about it, and I'm thinking yes.
And I also looked up with the on Feto or
Fido mud. It's a therapeutic nutrient rich compound combining clay
with botanical extracts, essential oils, and marine algae.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Yeah, and you could expect to pay somewhere between five
to eight thousand dollars a week for an experience here.
It is a commitment. It's not for somebody looking to
just relax, pulside. That's not what this is about. Again,
remember the name of today's show. This is the evolution
(38:35):
of luxury travel. So even though we have talked many
times on this show about spake retreats and resorts, this
is something completely different, and this is evolving into the
wellness arena when it comes to travel. This is actually Chris.
This would be for somebody looking for some measurable transformations.
(39:00):
And on the other end of the spectrum, you've got
a place like Six Senses in Thailand. I often recommend
this for clients who want sort of a balanced kind
of wellness and escape though they have villas there. So
we harken back to villas again, and those range anywhere
from nine hundred to eighteen hundred dollars a night. And
(39:20):
what you gain there is something equally valuable, which is
that fabulous space to disconnect and then reconnect with where
you actually want to be. So imagine, you know, I
remember years ago people would go on vacation. You'd ask
them how is the vacation and what would they always
say in kind of a joking, tongue in cheek way,
(39:41):
They'd go, I need a vacation from my vacation. You
know that. I mean, have you ever been one of
those people or even done that yourself? This is not
one of those vacations. As a matter of fact, I've
heard a lot about wellness travel that people say this
to me all the time, but I don't know if
it's right for me.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
And you have to look at that. That's a very
very important question because when you talk about wellness, it
means very very different things to people, and it's very
very different properties focused on that. So if you look
at the different kinds of wellness retreats that Terry's been
talking about, some of them are designed for relaxation and restoration,
it's a little bit slower pace. There are others that
(40:25):
are designed for that deep structured transformation. They're going to
teach you how to eat healthy, They're going to teach
you how to exercise. They're going to teach you, you know,
all the things you need to know to live that
life that you say that you want to live. So
when I talk to clients and they're talking to me
about these kinds of sites, I ask them what do
(40:45):
you need most? What do you want to do? Do
you need some rest, do you need to get away.
Do you need a reset, you know, physically, mentally, Maybe
you need some results, Maybe you want to come back
in a week and be a changed person, change the
way you eat, change the way you look at life.
Some of them go deep, not just into your physical wellbeing,
(41:08):
but into your mental wellbeing as well. That's not for everybody,
but based on that answer, that's what we use to
match you to the right experience.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
Chris, I mean, I've been again. I'm following along online
as you're talking. I landed in Six Senses, Thailand. It
looks like they have two locations there, so I'm not
sure which one I'm supposed to be going to, but
they both look fabulous. There's a video playing right now,
people hanging upside down. Yeah, it's like, do you compress
(41:38):
my spine?
Speaker 2 (41:39):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (41:39):
Please? And then exactly if if you get nothing else
out of it, you're gonna get beautiful views. Yeah, and
it looks like they're literally what you just describe, going
to take care of every ounce of my body and
can get me prepared for the next year of my life.
Speaker 2 (41:57):
And when a vacation actually feels like a vacation and
when it actually does what we've always intended them to
do for years and years, but didn't know how to achieve.
You're going to be more inclined to want to go
back and have that experience again because now you actually
have the magic wand to vacationing, you know how to
(42:19):
do it correctly, which is what's going to make me
feel better a vacation like that.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
Terry, you are the magic wand You're how I can
make all this happen. I call you or I visit you,
and I have a conversation with you, and you get
to know me, and then you design an amazing experience.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
Well, thank you, Chris, And actually, again for those of
you all listening today, we are not actually on a
special retreat somewhere on the globe. This is a life
less ordinary. We are a travel and lifestyle concierge in Harsonburg, Virginia,
and we are here to serve your every travel need.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
We are going to continue this conversation. Our show today
is the continuous evolution luxury travel. We'll talk more next
here on a lifeless Ordinary. Why do you recharge your
cell phone?
Speaker 3 (43:10):
Maybe because, just like you, it functions much better with
a little revitalization. The wishing well helps people refresh and
revitalize With individually designed customize vacation planning. We'll send you
anywhere in the world, plus offer advice on packing, navigating
customs and more. Wishes really do come true at the
wishing Well Visit us at two forty three and f Avenue.
(43:31):
Call us at five four zero nine zero eight two
three three three, or on the web at Thwishingwell dot
biz and welcome back to a lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 1 (43:40):
If you would like to ask Terry or Harry any
questions about our show today entitled The Continuous Evolution Luxury Travel,
you can give them a call at five four nine
oh eight twenty three thirty three. You can stop buy
It's two forty three f Avenue in Harrisonburg, or you
can stop by the website though Wishingwell dot biz and
(44:00):
that there's a link there as well. If you've stumbled
upon something that interests you on the website, you can
click on the email and email Terry or Harry and
they will get right back with you. Our show today,
i mentioned is the Continuous Evolution Luxury Travel. We've talked
about villa travel, We've talked about yachting, and we just
(44:21):
talked about wellness travel. I believe you said to our
five of these, so we've got to there are We've.
Speaker 2 (44:25):
Got two more. And this one was actually one that
I actually misspoke in the very beginning of the show.
I called this jet setting. I was wrong. This is
called set jetting. Cool, yep. And this is something that
actually I was watching after the news the other evening
on Extra, that TV show that comes on that talks
about all those interesting things in Hollywood that you never
(44:47):
wanted to know.
Speaker 1 (44:48):
Are you saying that Extra is the news you were watching?
Or it was on after the news?
Speaker 2 (44:52):
Okay, it was on after the news, Yeah, And they
talked about this. They talked about set jetting, and they
talked about this this being set jetting. And I don't
want to spend a whole lot of time on this, Chris,
but it is a thing, you know, and it's a
thing for people who follow let me give you an example,
celebrities like Taylor Swift or Jennifer Lopez or you know,
(45:16):
pick somebody else. It's going to be something that they
pick up because of work that they've done, a movie
that they've seen. They want to go where that is.
We see that a lot with like that new show
that came out that really started that trend, which was
White Lotus. Oh okay, yep, So people want to go
where those sets are seen.
Speaker 1 (45:39):
When I was a kid, everyone wanted to go to
San Francisco to see the full House House, right, that
was a big thing. People would travel and I was like, Oh.
Speaker 3 (45:48):
The Brady Bunch downtown Amby.
Speaker 1 (45:50):
I actually went to Chicago so I could see the
water fountain that was in the beginning of Married with Children.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
Yes, that's me. So that's set jetting. Okay, that's what
that is. And people respond to the emotional connection that
they have with that show, whatever that is. And apparently
White Lotus, who I confess I've not watched the show.
I hear a lot about it, but it has this
(46:16):
absolutely overwhelming drawl for a lot of people who when
they see it, they want to go where that's taking place,
and they see a destination portrayed beautifully. It creates a
sense of familiarity before they ever arrived. They feel like, oh,
I've been there. It's like a deja vous when you
get to where you're going. Perfect example of this is
(46:37):
the San Domenico Palace in Taramina, which is in Italy.
Rates for this property run about two thousand to four
thousand per night in peak season. It's a lot less
than that in lower shoulder season. And here's what I
would tell a client. Yes, it is extraordinary, but timing
your room category and expectation management are critical because with popularity,
(47:03):
as in anything that you're seeing on TV, there comes demand,
so the prices can be driven up because of that,
and with demand comes complexity. So this is where thoughtful
planning becomes essential. But I wanted our listeners to know
that set jetting is another one of the evolutions in
luxury travel. Next on our list is something that a
(47:24):
lot of us listening and even here in this studio
room know a lot about, and that is legacy travel.
This is the final trend. This one might be the
most meaningful of all for me. I know, definitely Harry
him and his family. And that's what we're seeing, particularly
among more seasoned travelers, is a desire to invest not
(47:46):
just in travel, but in shared experiences that carry forward.
Absolutely what drove me from my last family vacation. I
wasn't that concerned about the destination.
Speaker 3 (47:57):
I was concerned about who is going to be there
with me and the things that we were going to do,
and the kind of experiences that we were going to have.
We were going to be on the water, we were
going to do some diving, we were going to eat well,
and we were going to spend lots and lots of
time together. And I found a place that did those things.
But it wasn't the place that drove the things. It
was the things that drove me and ended up at
(48:20):
a place I like. The shared experience that you know,
the carry forward of the villa that we had in
Turks and Caicos is something that you know, it's just magnificent.
I was, you know, looking at villas down there, they
run from about ten thousand up to twenty five thousand
dollars a week. But when you think about that being
(48:41):
for an entire family, you're talking about you know, fifteen people,
perhaps maybe more. It becomes more than just a place
to stay. It is your headquarters. It's the setting for
sitting together and enjoying meals as a family. It's the
setting for stories, experiences, for traditions. Maybe talk about the
grandmas and grandpas that aren't there with you, the connections
(49:04):
across the generations and just spending that time with each
other you know, continuously all day long, quite honestly, are
the experiences that clients come back and tell me about
this was the trip that mattered. I've done this with
river cruises, I've done this with villas. You can do
it with all the different kinds of venues that Terry's
(49:25):
been talking about, Chris. But the focus in this case
is legacy travel and being there together with the people
that matter to you.
Speaker 2 (49:35):
Now here's the question that you guys have asked me
about this particular kind of adventure or vacation experience, and
that is are these kinds of trips only for hot budgets?
And I'm glad somebody asked me that because there's a
misconception that luxury travel is only for a very small
(49:55):
group of people. And luxury today, Chris, is not just
about spending more. It's about spending intentionally. For example, a
villa shared with family members, Like Harry was describing traveling
in shoulder season, choosing destinations where your dollar stretches further.
All of that can bring these experiences within your reach
(50:18):
in ways that people don't even expect. So no, it's
not just for the ultra wealthy. It's for travelers who
want to travel. Well, I think that's a better way
to say it. And what's the biggest mistake travelers make
right now when it comes to travel. This one's easy
waiting too long. And I say that with great care
(50:38):
because I understand life is busy. But the extraordinary experiences
we've discussed with you today, they're the first ones to
be reserved. Interestingly enough, they go fast. So when travelers wait,
they don't lose the trip entirely, but they lose the
best version of that trip, and that's the important piece there.
(50:59):
So that's what we're really after. So as you think
about travel for this summer or even into next year,
I would encourage you to shift your questions not just
where do I want to go, but what kind of
experience am I truly seeking? Because when you start there,
everything else starts to align.
Speaker 3 (51:20):
And you're going to put yourself together with the people
that you want to be in that place with. It
might be family, very important for me. It might be friends,
it might be people that you went to school with.
Whatever it is. I think Terry, you made an excellent
point when you said, don't put it off. We've had
so many vacations, so many luxury experiences where people want
to do something special, but then somebody becomes sick, somebody
(51:44):
starts to have to walk with, you know, with assistance,
somebody can't do all of those things that you've been
planning and wanting and waiting to do. Don't wait. The
planning is easy, and that's where the travel advisor comes in.
As well.
Speaker 1 (52:00):
As I listen to all these five trends, the one
that I keep sort of falling back to, maybe because
I was watching the videos as you were talking about it.
I don't know if the wellness trend is necessarily my thing,
but I would love to do a villa in Thailand
or somewhere where I'm able to experience everything except for maybe.
(52:24):
I don't like thee I don't like the idea of
being touched, so going to a spa might not be
my favorite place. But everything else except for that sounds fabulous.
What I love the most is we talk about, you know,
all these different trends, is that there are people at
the wishing well that are experts at figuring out exactly
(52:46):
what I need and want and can make it happen. Absolutely,
And it's as simple as reaching out talking to you
Terry or Harry and staring that conversation to figure out
exactly what that luxury experience is. And I love anytime
we mentioned luxury, you always say luxury is what you
(53:07):
define luxury as, absolutely what somebody else does. A few
seconds left, How do we reach out so we can
start that conversation.
Speaker 2 (53:14):
We are easy to find, Chris. We're located in here. Somber, Virginia.
Two forty three nef Avenue is our physical location. You
can call us at five four h nine oh eight
two three three three or look us up on the web.
We are at the Wishingwell dot biz.
Speaker 1 (53:30):
This has been a life Less Ordinary, the travel show
from your friends at the wishing Well at two forty
three nef Avenue in Harrisonburg. If you have any questions
on topics discussed today, please reach out to the wishing
Well online at the wishing Well dop biz or five
four oh nine oh eight twenty three thirty three. Eight.
Past episodes are available on the iHeartRadio app. And we'll
see again next Saturday morning at ten for a Life
(53:52):
Less Ordinary from the wishing Well
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