A friend just returned from a long vaca—two whole weeks. To me that counts as a long holiday though to my chums who recently spent four laid-back months in Tuscany? Phbbt, two weeks is a blink of the eye to them.
Not only was my new-ish pal, Jason, holidaying for an entire fortnight, he was spending it at an obscenely expensive (for my bank account) spa on a hard (in my estimation) to get to island off the Irish coast. Plus, from where he lives, he had to take a four hour bus ride to reach the nearest U.S. airport. There were no direct flights to Shannon so he had a two hour layover at JFK. From Shannon he took a two hour bus ride to the port town where he caught the ferry to the island. The spa sent a driver to fetch him once he reached the island.
Considering what he was paying per night (1,400 USD!) the hotel should’ve sent a helicopter to scoop him up!
Totaled, between travel cabbage and lodging fees, Jason’s vaca cost was, conservatively $15,000. And it was a magnificent R&R too. He was all, oh you MUST come with me next year Donna. It was purely divine.
I should fucking well hope it was at least divine for that kind of green!
The entirety, front to back, everything included, for my own decampments is significantly less than what he shelled out for just one day. I can’t even dream of staying in a swank joint like that. So, I won't be joining Jason unless he's picking up the tab (and I wouldn’t ask). He knows the getaway wasn't cheap but, for him, it was possible and absolutely worth it.
Once my state of flabbergastum calmed down, I realized that yes, Jason and I really do have shedloads in common. He's not a different person now that I see he's got serious bucks. He just has a much larger financial comfort zone than me. We still love talking books, art, politics, what it’s like having Nf2, being deaf, etc. Nothing's changed.
Still, it boggles my mind that he can spend that much on an annual get away. It’s wickedly awesome that he can and I’m happy for him. And envious. OF COURSE!
Why’d the knowledge of his relative wealth throw me?
Mythically, F. Scott Fitzgerald, in a convo over drinks, said “The rich are different from you and me.”
To which Hemingway supposedly replied, “Yes, they have more money."
The in-person exchange didn’t actually happen (it’s based on things they both had written) but, nonetheless, it’s spot on all the same.
Not all wealthy-ites are alike. They’re not all Kochs or Romneys or Bushs (AKA shamelessly clueless, astoundingly warped, manipulator greedheads). Not all people with money are self absorbed, opportunistic twits. I know that. Honest, I do.
Also too—wealth is relative. Jason lives in a condo in a small-ish Midwestern city. He doesn’t own multiple homes around the world. There’s no car elevator—no car at all actually. No private jets which’d come in SO damn handy when traveling to obscure islands, half a world away.
He’s financially very comfortable and can afford an annual vaca fit for a prince. Still, there's a good bit of landscape between him and a Trump.
Another friend, in a convo about something totally different, used this apt analogy:
...it's sort of like how we look at stars in the distance. We tend to assume they are all equally far, when in reality the distance between each of them is greater than the distance between us and the very first star.Rich is relative.
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