This as-told-to essay relies on a dialog with Jim Tobin, a 57-year-old entrepreneur. Tobin relies in Raleigh, North Carolina and has run a social media advertising company for 17 years.

^{Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Jim Tobin. Tobin and his spouse in entrance of the Taj Mahal.}

I first realized about Safrans du Monde, the posh French tour operator and journey company, from an article in Journey + Leisure that got here out final spring. Once I first noticed that article, I despatched it to my spouse, type of alongside the strains of That is ridiculous, who might do that. That is epic however so excessive. We laughed about it and thought how cool it sounded, then type of forgot about it. Then, about six months later, I spotted our thirtieth marriage ceremony anniversary was developing, and possibly we must always do one thing huge as a result of 30 years is a very long time she’s been struggling with me, and that article got here again to thoughts.

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^{Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Safrans du Monde}

I used to be drawn to it as a result of it is such an attention-grabbing and painless strategy to cross off so many objects in your bucket checklist without delay. The journey we went on was the Grands Classiques, so we noticed Machu Picchu, Easter Island, the Taj Mahal and so many different iconic locations. At one level just a few years in the past, we appeared into attending to Easter Island, and simply getting there is no such thing as a small feat. And that was simply one of many stops that you might do on this 22-day tour. We had been to Sydney twice earlier than as a result of my brother lived in Australia for 15 years, however in any other case all the locations have been new. Seeing the Taj Mahal was simply so spectacular and slightly surreal to immediately be there, notably once we had been in Cambodia the day earlier than, and witnessing that because the solar rose was unimaginable. It is one thing I will always remember. From a vacation spot standpoint, I used to be additionally struck by Bora Bora and simply how lovely it was.

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^{Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Safrans du Monde}

Tickets for our journey price $75,000. There have been 52 passengers complete on our trip, and there was a French-speaking group and an English-speaking group. Our type of subgroup was about 15 English-speaking individuals, and we had our personal information who stayed with us your entire time. She was on the aircraft from day one till the top and took care of every little thing — from visas and amassing passports earlier than we went to sure locations to letting us know what was occurring subsequent. We had a neighborhood information for simply our group who met us at every vacation spot and stayed with us from the time we arrived till they dropped us again on the airport. The flexibility to have all of those experiences with no planning on our half and little or no interested by what we would have liked to do — motels, transportation, meals — was outstanding and stress-free.

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^{Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Safrans du Monde}

The aircraft itself had loads of room; you might have your individual seat for your entire 22 days. You’ve got the identical flight attendants, the identical pilots, the identical chef. It was slightly inverse of a traditional journey the place the aircraft flight might be type of taxing. Attending to the vacation spot was very enjoyable, however you probably did should hustle slightly bit to see issues on the bottom. My spouse and I joked slightly bit that it was just like the Superb Race: One morning, we’re trying on the Easter Island statues, and that afternoon, we’re touchdown in Tahiti. However they did have a pleasant break scheduled in French Polynesia. We have been there for 4 days, and it was a lot much less deliberate, so we might chill out slightly bit extra. There’s a lot packed into that journey in a reasonably quick time period, and I used to be grateful that we did it at a degree the place we nonetheless had the vitality and mobility to do issues like that.

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^{Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Safrans du Monde}

It isn’t an affordable journey, however if you have a look at the worth offered, it is utterly value it. The logistics of getting to those locations are very tough if you fly on business airways and should make numerous connections. So logistically, it was a lot simpler. It was a lot extra nice not having to consider all the planning and simply be properly taken care of your entire time. It made it each extra cost-efficient and extra gratifying if you add up all of the stuff you bought to see.