Travel and social class

[Anonymous]

43 countries in 4 years is either a lie (more likely) or someone spending almost no time in any one place. It’s sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. My Dad is a 5%'er and he has global access and a pass that allows you to just board and pay for first class upgrades. He literally walks to an airport be it private or commercial, and boards. He has been to 43 countries in 4 years As I speak, he is heading to Quito, and then to the Galapagos Islands to explore and take a private cruise on a yacht. I am his daughter and cannot do such things. I know he is of a different class.

Not really that impressive honestly. Many of us have done more than 43 countries in 4 years!

I myself have been to 274 countries already. Half work and half play or so.

Troll. There aren’t 274 countries anyone would legitimately want to go to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Couldn’t you tell someone’s social class just by where you met them, what they do, etc etc? I mean, to whom am I giving this test? And what would I do with the results?

Well in the book it’s a college student hearing that her new roommate grew up going to Christmas markets in Europe, skiing out west every spring break, and vacations on Sea Island every summer.

Tipped her off immediately to the roommate being from a high class family.

This could be rich person stuff - do they own the Sea Colony house? Do they fly first class to Europe and stay in the nicest hotels? Do they go to Aspen instead of slumming it at a less lux resort? - or it could be middle class if it is coach and rentals.

Skiing out west doesn’t have to be expensive. It really depends on where you go. And most middle class families can afford to rent a house for a beach vacation for a week or even two.

middle class families can't afford the time off for multiple long vacations a year.

2 is normal though or I should say, common.

I doubt people are going to a Christmas market every single year.

We do. More to ski, but of course we go to the markets while there. Christmas in Austria or southern Germany every year (except last year) for the last 15 yrs or so. Sometimes we go in spring, sometimes out West or to Canada for skiing instead. Fall to Carribean. Summer is usually more all over the place, although leans more towards Europe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Couldn’t you tell someone’s social class just by where you met them, what they do, etc etc? I mean, to whom am I giving this test? And what would I do with the results?

Well in the book it’s a college student hearing that her new roommate grew up going to Christmas markets in Europe, skiing out west every spring break, and vacations on Sea Island every summer.

Tipped her off immediately to the roommate being from a high class family.

This could be rich person stuff - do they own the Sea Colony house? Do they fly first class to Europe and stay in the nicest hotels? Do they go to Aspen instead of slumming it at a less lux resort? - or it could be middle class if it is coach and rentals.

Skiing out west doesn’t have to be expensive. It really depends on where you go. And most middle class families can afford to rent a house for a beach vacation for a week or even two.

middle class families can't afford the time off for multiple long vacations a year.

2 is normal though or I should say, common.

I doubt people are going to a Christmas market every single year.

We do. More to ski, but of course we go to the markets while there. Christmas in Austria or southern Germany every year (except last year) for the last 15 yrs or so. Sometimes we go in spring, sometimes out West or to Canada for skiing instead. Fall to Carribean. Summer is usually more all over the place, although leans more towards Europe.

Sounds really repetitive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. My Dad is a 5%'er and he has global access and a pass that allows you to just board and pay for first class upgrades. He literally walks to an airport be it private or commercial, and boards. He has been to 43 countries in 4 years As I speak, he is heading to Quito, and then to the Galapagos Islands to explore and take a private cruise on a yacht. I am his daughter and cannot do such things. I know he is of a different class.

Not really that impressive honestly. Many of us have done more than 43 countries in 4 years!

I myself have been to 274 countries already. Half work and half play or so.

Interesting, since there are only 195 countries in existence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Couldn’t you tell someone’s social class just by where you met them, what they do, etc etc? I mean, to whom am I giving this test? And what would I do with the results?

Well in the book it’s a college student hearing that her new roommate grew up going to Christmas markets in Europe, skiing out west every spring break, and vacations on Sea Island every summer.

Tipped her off immediately to the roommate being from a high class family.

This could be rich person stuff - do they own the Sea Colony house? Do they fly first class to Europe and stay in the nicest hotels? Do they go to Aspen instead of slumming it at a less lux resort? - or it could be middle class if it is coach and rentals.

Skiing out west doesn’t have to be expensive. It really depends on where you go. And most middle class families can afford to rent a house for a beach vacation for a week or even two.

middle class families can't afford the time off for multiple long vacations a year.

2 is normal though or I should say, common.

I doubt people are going to a Christmas market every single year.

We do. More to ski, but of course we go to the markets while there. Christmas in Austria or southern Germany every year (except last year) for the last 15 yrs or so. Sometimes we go in spring, sometimes out West or to Canada for skiing instead. Fall to Carribean. Summer is usually more all over the place, although leans more towards Europe.

Sounds really repetitive.

It is. We like to ski (obviously), and the kids like repitition. I know you're trying to be a DCUM b1tch, but that's fine. We meet friends over the Christmas vacation. We all speak German (not just from travelling there) so it's good to keep up the language skills. They get exposure to other countries on the summer vacation for the "non-repetitive" part. Everyone likes a beach vacation, and their fall school break isn't long enough to go too far away, so Caribbean is close. There have been other locations over the years, but we've now narrowed it down to two personal favorites. More repetition. Or as we like to think of it, tradition. Which is the culmination of repetition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. My Dad is a 5%'er and he has global access and a pass that allows you to just board and pay for first class upgrades. He literally walks to an airport be it private or commercial, and boards. He has been to 43 countries in 4 years As I speak, he is heading to Quito, and then to the Galapagos Islands to explore and take a private cruise on a yacht. I am his daughter and cannot do such things. I know he is of a different class.

Not really that impressive honestly. Many of us have done more than 43 countries in 4 years!

I myself have been to 274 countries already. Half work and half play or so.

Interesting, since there are only 195 countries in existence.

Omg. People. She was obviously kidding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. My Dad is a 5%'er and he has global access and a pass that allows you to just board and pay for first class upgrades. He literally walks to an airport be it private or commercial, and boards. He has been to 43 countries in 4 years As I speak, he is heading to Quito, and then to the Galapagos Islands to explore and take a private cruise on a yacht. I am his daughter and cannot do such things. I know he is of a different class.

Not really that impressive honestly. Many of us have done more than 43 countries in 4 years!

I myself have been to 274 countries already. Half work and half play or so.

Interesting, since there are only 195 countries in existence.

193 UN member states and 2 observers.

[Anonymous]

I traveled a lot in my 20s. I saved up $2-4000 each year when I was making 30k/year and went on some european vacation. I was pretty poor. Now that my family makes 350k/year, we only visit family in the car. It sucks.

[Anonymous]

My only hope is that those of you rich enough to do these long haul flights all the time are doing something to combat climate change. I can't imagine living that lifestyle with zero regard to what you're doing to the planet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My only hope is that those of you rich enough to do these long haul flights all the time are doing something to combat climate change. I can't imagine living that lifestyle with zero regard to what you're doing to the planet.

We have one kid and DH has worked from home for 4 years and has no plans to commute into an office.

So I’m not too concerned. The biggest thing anyone can do to fight climate change is to have 0-1 kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. My Dad is a 5%'er and he has global access and a pass that allows you to just board and pay for first class upgrades. He literally walks to an airport be it private or commercial, and boards. He has been to 43 countries in 4 years As I speak, he is heading to Quito, and then to the Galapagos Islands to explore and take a private cruise on a yacht. I am his daughter and cannot do such things. I know he is of a different class.

Not really that impressive honestly. Many of us have done more than 43 countries in 4 years!

I myself have been to 274 countries already. Half work and half play or so.

Interesting, since there are only 195 countries in existence.

I assume it was sarcasm...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Couldn’t you tell someone’s social class just by where you met them, what they do, etc etc? I mean, to whom am I giving this test? And what would I do with the results?

Well in the book it’s a college student hearing that her new roommate grew up going to Christmas markets in Europe, skiing out west every spring break, and vacations on Sea Island every summer.

Tipped her off immediately to the roommate being from a high class family.

That can be my kids. Christmas markets (Riga, Tallinn, Helsinki, Stockholm, flower-mart in Amsterdam, also went to Paris) in Europe because we are from Europe. DC goes skiing withing 5 hours of DC and is prettu good finally. We travel to Europe in most years, and 5-6 times to Key West, Orlando and even Dominican Rep. We just like traveling and make it a priority. Nowhere near upper middle class. Trying to climb into middle class within next 5 years. Europeans travel a lot more it seems to me. My friends in Europe have been to South America and all over Asia. Asia is cheap for Europeans. It's just getting the ticket. None of them are upper middle class. Well, maybe one friend, but she doesn't talk about money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Couldn’t you tell someone’s social class just by where you met them, what they do, etc etc? I mean, to whom am I giving this test? And what would I do with the results?

Well in the book it’s a college student hearing that her new roommate grew up going to Christmas markets in Europe, skiing out west every spring break, and vacations on Sea Island every summer.

Tipped her off immediately to the roommate being from a high class family.

This could be rich person stuff - do they own the Sea Colony house? Do they fly first class to Europe and stay in the nicest hotels? Do they go to Aspen instead of slumming it at a less lux resort? - or it could be middle class if it is coach and rentals.

Skiing out west doesn’t have to be expensive. It really depends on where you go. And most middle class families can afford to rent a house for a beach vacation for a week or even two.

middle class families can't afford the time off for multiple long vacations a year.

2 is normal though or I should say, common.

I doubt people are going to a Christmas market every single year.

We do. More to ski, but of course we go to the markets while there. Christmas in Austria or southern Germany every year (except last year) for the last 15 yrs or so. Sometimes we go in spring, sometimes out West or to Canada for skiing instead. Fall to Carribean. Summer is usually more all over the place, although leans more towards Europe.

Are you very impressed with yourself?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Couldn’t you tell someone’s social class just by where you met them, what they do, etc etc? I mean, to whom am I giving this test? And what would I do with the results?

Well in the book it’s a college student hearing that her new roommate grew up going to Christmas markets in Europe, skiing out west every spring break, and vacations on Sea Island every summer.

Tipped her off immediately to the roommate being from a high class family.

That can be my kids. Christmas markets (Riga, Tallinn, Helsinki, Stockholm, flower-mart in Amsterdam, also went to Paris) in Europe because we are from Europe. DC goes skiing withing 5 hours of DC and is prettu good finally. We travel to Europe in most years, and 5-6 times to Key West, Orlando and even Dominican Rep. We just like traveling and make it a priority. Nowhere near upper middle class. Trying to climb into middle class within next 5 years. Europeans travel a lot more it seems to me. My friends in Europe have been to South America and all over Asia. Asia is cheap for Europeans. It's just getting the ticket. None of them are upper middle class. Well, maybe one friend, but she doesn't talk about money.

I'm sorry but unless you are an insane coupon lady you are NOT trying to "climb to middle class" in the USA. That would be what is called working class. I grew up working class with 4 European immigrant grandparents in the USA. We definitely did 1-2 trips a year but one week would be a budget friendly beach motel and the other would be something like an amusement park weekend that was budgeted for (not disney, I mean like a regional park near us with maybe an overnight at the family motel next door). Sometimes to drive to the beach down south to visit grandparents or family as vacation.

Yes you can travel more cheaply than many assume. Yes, Europeans do it better and more often (I've lived as an expat as well and seen this better quality of life!). But like you said, you still have to get the tickets. You are not working class here and doing ALL the traveling you are listing above. You just aren't. That's fine but be realistic about it.