Do Rich People Take Vacations?

I love this question, and so appropriate for this time of year. But are you kidding me? From my point of view rich people are on vacation 24/7, three-hundred-sixty-five days a year.

For most of us we get a miserable week or two off once a year, right? And we use the time to rest and wind down, maybe make some improvements around the house, or perhaps take a family trip to the beach, Disney World or the Grand Canyon - depending on our energy and available cash. And we call this a vacation.

In most European countries everyone from corporation CEO's to dishwashers and garbage collectors get a full month off every year! To rest, recover and re-energize themselves for the work year ahead. But for some dastardly reason here in America we're not that nice or generous to each other in our work places - which is thinly described by our government and corporate executives as our highly-productive work ethics here in the USA.

Work until you drop is what they really mean. But hey, just before you drop, go ahead and take a week or two off. Gee thanks, corporate America. If it weren't for Labor Unions we wouldn't even get that, would we? Or holiday pay either.
  
But getting back to the original question the answer is no, rich people do not take vacations - at least as we understand them. Vacation from what would be the first question! Sleeping 'til noon every day?

They travel throughout the year both for business and pleasure. They take journeys when they visit several countries in a row. They take sojourns to the deep jungles of Africa or a climb up Machu Picchu. And they may take a  pilgrimage to their holy sites at the Vatican in Rome, or Nepal, Mecca, or Jerusalem. And they definitely take respites to their favorite rehab clinics in Switzerland to drop a few pounds or have a little nip and tuck here and there.

But do rich people take vacations? No. That's what we do - the rabble, the drones, the workers. Even in a high-paying corporate job your Employee Handbook will tell you how many months or years you have to work to get just one week off, and how many more years to get two.

I didn't mean for this to come across as negative about American productivity and our so-called work ethics. But honestly, why can't Americans have a whole month off like Europeans? It doesn't make any sense.

Andrew

Patek Philippe: Watches for the Rich!

The first time I ever heard of Patek Philippe was quite a few years back when my friend Ray in New York told me he was going to sell his father's hand-me-down watch to help raise cash for a new business venture - a film he and his colleagues were trying to put together.

I tagged along that day, expecting to schlep around to all the high-end pawn shops in Midtown Manhattan and to the jewelry exchanges in the diamond district. But instead, we took  a taxi to York Avenue on the Upper East Side where he turned the watch over to Sotheby's Auction House.

And a few months later my friend Ray received a check from Sotheby's for $33,500! Whoa! That's some kind of hand-me-down, right? Then a few years after that, while staying with friends in Switzerland, I used to walk past the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva almost every day of the week for the entire summer - and never went in! What was I thinking?

Horologists to European royalty and rich people all over the globe, Patek Philippe has been around since the early 1800's, and if I'm not mistaken they hold the record for the world's most expensive watches, at over a million dollars! But not to panic; they're not all million-dollar watches, of course. They do have a middle range - anywhere from $100,000 to $500,000 - to accommodate both the billionaires and the lowly millionaires. 

In addition (and here's the good news) they also have a low-end line for those just getting started in their upward climb into the world of the UHNW. With no trouble at all you can find a nice little watch in the $10,000 to $50,000 range. 

The reason this all came up is because the Missus had a birthday this week. And Ester the Upstairs Maid reports there's an open, empty watch box in the boudoir with the label Patek Philippe. Of course I can't wait to see it and figure out if it's low end or high. (It's the diamonds surrounding the face of the watch that jacks the price of a lady's watch sky high.)

Anyhow, I'm really kicking myself tonight for not having gone into that museum in Geneva. How dumb can you be? I think it was Aristophanes who said, "Ignorance can be educated, but stupid is forever."

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Andrew