Luxury Travel

Sumptuousness, elegance, indulgence—the words alone are enough to make you purr with pleasure.

Of course luxury, including luxury travel, is not as straightforward a concept as the covetous among us might imagine. In the 16th century the word had a negative connotation of lasciviousness and sinful self-indulgence, and though for the most part the adjective has lost its negative sense, luxury still comes in for criticism from environmentalists and local community activists.

These debates, however, cannot change another fact: While luxury has an element of exclusivity and excess, it is also subjective. Many dream of 100-foot yachts, French chateaus, Michelin-starred restaurants, and palm-fringed, white-sand beaches, but the ultimate luxury for a harried urbanite might be as simple as a tent, a sleeping bag and a sky full of stars.