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When I was a kid, and our family would take a road trip, my dad would tell us to stay in the car while he checked us into a motel. That’s because, to save money, he would get a motel room with 2 single beds—for a family of 6. Then, once he got the key, we would quietly go into the room, avoiding the lobby.
When we got up there, my dad would make “the phone call.”
“Hi, this is room 324,” he would say. “Could you bring some more towels to our room?”
“Yes, sir. How many do you need? 1? 2?”
“How about 4? And if you can send 2 cots, that would be great.”
“Sir, this room is booked for double occupancy only. We cannot—”
Dad: “Thank you!”
As a child, I thought this was normal. Only later did we realize how hilarious it was to squeeze 6 people into a room for 2. But without things like this (and little Ramit sleeping on a couch) it gets pretty expensive to take a big family on a trip.
Our family vacations were fun but simple: road trips to visit our family in LA. That was it!
Fast forward about 30 years. My wife, Cass, and I visited Mexico and stayed at one of my favorite hotels. We had an amazing time.
While we were there, we said, “This would be a great place to come back to with our friends.” So a few years later, we picked a date, and I emailed a few friends.
Here’s what the email said:
We want to spend time together! Here’s our plan:
We’re going for 5 days on these dates to Rosewood Mayakoba.
My vision is: 3 dinners together; the rest is total free time. You might lounge by the pool, you might work out, you might rent a boat—whatever you want.
I’ll handle planning the dinners. You just come!
–Ramit
And guess what? They did!
We had incredible dinners, laughed all night, and made memories that Cass and I will never forget. It was wonderful to be in this magical place with good friends.
What do you notice about these two vacations?
Growing up, price was the main factor when planning vacations.
For our Mexico trip? Price had nothing to do with it. We built it around the things that are important to us:
- Beautiful locations
- Lasting memories with friends
- Delicious food
These things are part of our Rich Life. We wanted to do it. Price was an afterthought.
There are many things like this that I spend extravagantly on. Some of my favorites:
- Tailored clothing
- Treating my parents to special experiences
- Travel to amazing places like Rosewood Mayakoba
But there are plenty of things I don’t spend any money on at all. For example, you’ll never see me wearing an expensive watch. Why? Because it’s not important to me.
Same goes for sports, organic meat, and cars. I’m not joking. I regularly enjoy tacos on the trunk of my 4-door Honda Accord, which I’ve had for 15+ years.
I talked about how having this car fits into my version of a Rich Life in this article with CNBC. You may feel the same—or not.
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