Skiing on the snowiest mountains in the Alps; summer holidays in St Barth’s; surmounting the mighty Mount Everest; sweating it out with the Big 5 on different luxury African safaris; binging on the headiest wines in France; getting fat on culinary delights in Italy; snorkelling in the Mediterranean; luxury road trips across North America: at this point, you’ve literally run out of ideas and while you’re in dire need of a vacation, no destination or activity appeals to you.

Unless you’re trying Kalmar Beyond Adventure Trans-Africa Porsche expedition.

When Jan Kalmar started Beyond Adventure back in 2007, his goal was simple: get passionate petrolheads together and embark on daring adventures fueled by camaraderie and an intense love for racing, powered by Porsche autos specially re-engineered by Kalmar for the most extreme off-road situations.

15+ years and dozens of trips after, Kalmar is ready to take on southern Africa. The Kalmar Beyond Adventure Trans-Africa is a 19-day, 5,500km ride that would see drivers race through five African countries in the south, from Namibia to Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe before finally stopping in Botswana. The itinerary also includes shorter trips to places like Lapland and Morocco.

Like all Kalmar Beyond Adventure ‘Trans’ drives, participants can expect this to be an experience like no other. Driving through southern Africa would mean some safari, especially as the ‘rally’ is scheduled to take place in June, which is the month when the wildebeest migration takes place. (However, this only happens in Tanzania and Kenya, countries not included in the 2025 Trans-Africa adventure. The wildebeest migration also takes place in Zambia but in mid-July.)

It would also mean running into tricky situations, like encountering difficult terrains, unexpected stops and unplanned detours. Still, all these are exactly what an adventure is about, and, as stated on their website, “rest assured, the entire Beyond Adventure team will always be there from start to finish.”

Kalmar says guests will rest in “superb accommodation,” including some of southern Africa’s finest lodges and villas. Drivers will also get to choose from the Kalmar range of Porsches, or bring their own which would have to be inspected first. Halfway into the journey, participants who want to can swap their vehicles for another, making for an even more interesting and unpredictable experience.

The Trans-Africa adventure starts from €66,900 (roughly $71,600) plus taxes, but here’s the kicker: participation is by invitation only. Want to know if you’d qualify for a vacation experience like no other? Visit Kalmar Beyond Adventure for more information.

The post Kalmar Beyond Adventure wants You to Experience South Africa In a Porsche first appeared on Aspire Luxury Magazine.

The post Kalmar Beyond Adventure wants You to Experience South Africa In a Porsche appeared first on Aspire Luxury Magazine.

Before you say, ‘Oh, I’ve been!’, you may want to consider that this isn’t like anything you’ve done before. Or, have you ever gone on a women-only, themed trip? If your answer is no, and this is something you’ve always wanted to do, then it is time you learned of Tuscan Break.

Tuscan Break is the brainchild of Liz Bomben, an international makeup artist who fell in love in Italy when she first visited back in 1987. After several trips, Bomben decided that she wanted other women like her to explore the region in relative comfort and safety, and thus, the idea was born.

Crafted for women over 35, the all-inclusive, week-long homestay experience caters to just five to six guests at a time and can be customised to accommodate special occasions such as birthdays or reunions. Guests will enjoy a truly immersive Tuscan holiday instead of a non-personal, touristy experience. Each homestay will expose visitors to the intricacies of local food, culture, leisure and landscapes, and will comprise authentic Italian experiences, from sipping drinks in the Piazza or people-watching on market day, to sunset rounds of bocce, wine tastings and cooking classes. A stroll through the picturesque villages with gelato in hand is also on the itinerary.

Other perks include transfers from the Florence train station to the homestead and back; daily breakfast and five lunches (for a seven-night stay); cooking classes; wine and olive oil tastings at local wineries, and, village tours. Guests who will be staying at Tuscan Break from September 2 to 9, 2024 can choose to participate in the annual wine festival in Greve, Chianti, while food writer and photographer Emma Bickley will also be joining several homestays throughout 2024 to provide insights into the culinary arts.

If a very local Tuscan holiday in the company of other women sounds like your idea of fun, then you should head over to Tuscan Break’s website to make an enquiry.

Source: Signature Luxury Travel & Style

The post Tuscan Break is Promising A True Italian Vacation for Women Only first appeared on Aspire Luxury Magazine.

The post Tuscan Break is Promising A True Italian Vacation for Women Only appeared first on Aspire Luxury Magazine.

Champagne sabering – which is the act of opening a champagne bottle by dramatically ripping off its top with the aid of a specially-made sabre sword – is an art that dates back some 200 years and is thought to have been invented by Napoleon during the French Revolution. At St. Regis, this art enjoys an equally longstanding history. It is said that the hotel group’s founder, John Jacob Astor IV, was so enamoured by the outlandish glamour and sense of occasion of the act that he sabered a bottle of champagne nightly to celebrate the close of day.

Since then, the undeniably ostentatious act (in the best way possible) has been ingrained into the identity of the St. Regis portfolio, with hotels and resorts around the world continuing the tradition of night sabrage rituals.

Now, the luxury establishment is looking to export this skill to people looking to introduce more drama to their private soirées. “Honouring our heritage as a house of celebration, we are delighted to offer guests the opportunity to take part in this sparkling ritual [of champagne sabering] and master the most glamorous of all cocktail party tricks at our hotels & resorts across North America,” says George Fleck, vice president and global brand leader, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts.

At the private masterclass, which accommodates a maximum of just four guests, participants would receive expert training from a St. Regis butler who would share invaluable knowledge on not only how to sabre a bottle safely and effectively, but also how to do so in a manner so dramatic as to make the entire process truly captivating and memorable.

Currently, the experience is available on request across the St. Regis North America portfolio, including hotels in Deer Valley, Aspen Toronto, New York and San Francisco, among others, and is priced at around $500 per group.

Source: Elite Traveler

The post This Year, learn how to Perfectly Sabre a Champagne Bottle as a Guest at St. Regis first appeared on Aspire Luxury Magazine.

The post This Year, learn how to Perfectly Sabre a Champagne Bottle as a Guest at St. Regis appeared first on Aspire Luxury Magazine.

Ok, that is a bit of a reach. Companies are still working on making flying taxis a reality, and regulatory bodies are still trying to figure out how to make the airspace safe for daily commute. Delivery drones however are already a reality, even though they are only really used for specific purposes, as in the case of Rwanda where Zipline drones are used to deliver blood and other crucial medical supplies. Companies like Amazon are looking to increase their use though.

Commercial space flights are here too, even though they are not so mainstream due to the cost. Last year, Space Perspective said it will start flying civilians to space by 2024 for a whopping $125,000 per passenger.

Commercial space vacations seemed open only to the likes of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and anyone else they chose to carry along. Until now.

World View, an Arizona-based company, is now offering you the chance to travel to the “edge of space” for $50,000 per seat. The first test flight is slated to launch in 2023 from Spaceport Grand Canyon and commercial flights will begin in 2024.

What to expect

World View will eschew traditional jet fuel for a more natural resource, and as such will take off using a giant helium-filled balloon. The capsule is designed to slowly lift passengers at 10-12 miles per hour, so they will not experience G-force or turbulence. This should take 2 hours after which the ‘spacecraft’ floats at an altitude of roughly 100,000 feet for 3-4 hours before it then returns to Earth using a parasail, which can be deployed in the stratosphere and allow for a smooth descent.

During the float in space, passengers will be able to stand and move around the craft, which features a pressurised, climate-controlled cabin, oversized windows for 360-degree viewing and ergonomic fully reclining seats as well as custom dining options and full beverage service.

World View has created a Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Stratospheric Edition to give passengers a truly unique experience that goes beyond just floating in space. All flights will depart from state-of-the-art spaceports located in various iconic places. For example, in 2024, passengers can fly to space from either the Grand Canyon in the US or the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Then from 2025 onwards, passengers can also choose to depart from Serengeti in Kenya, Norway’s Aurora Borealis, Amazonia in Brazil, Egypt’s Giza Pyramids, or the Great Wall of China in Mongolia.

According to World View President and CEO Ryan Hartman, the goal is to allow people to see things like the animal migrations in the Serengeti or the aurora lights from the edge of space. “It has to be something of wonder, it has to be something where people can connect to the Earth,” Hartman had said.

If you have ‘travel to space’ on your bucket list, you may want to consider World View’s $50000 space flight. Especially considering that there are financing options available and you can now reserve a ticket with a deposit of just US$500.

Source: DMarge

The post You just may be able to afford a Flight to Space come 2024 first appeared on Aspire Luxury Magazine.

The post You just may be able to afford a Flight to Space come 2024 appeared first on Aspire Luxury Magazine.