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“I love luxury. And luxury lies not in richness and ornateness but in the absence of vulgarity. Vulgarity is the ugliest word in our language. I stay in the game to fight it.”
Hello beautiful jet setters! Today I’d like to talk about luxury and money. Don’t you love a good luxury hotel?
I love the anticipation of driving up to a luxury hotel that I’ve never been to before. You arrive and the bellhop comes over to offer help with your luggage.
Then you step inside the gorgeous lobby with fresh flowers and marble floors, and you’re greeted kindly by the front desk for check in.
Then our personal butler drove us over to our room in the golf cart and poured us two shots of fine, aged tequila to welcome us to our room, which was incredible, by the way.
Not only do I get excited when I step through the revolving doors into a sexy vibrant hotel lobby, but I also adore the anticipation of entering my hotel room and seeing it for the first time.
I love to hear that little click sound of the door unlocking to my suite just before I walk in.
I’m not saying this to boast or brag, but to say that it’s important that we as women learn how to infuse our lives with luxury.
And perhaps you think this is a vain or materialistic topic to be discussing but I disagree. For many of us, we are taught that luxury is a bad thing - that it’s pretentious and selfish. But to me, it’s something to be celebrated and appreciated - not something to be shunned or ashamed of.
I’m not a money coach and I certainly don’t pretend to be but what I want to discuss today is how you can still live a jet set life despite how much is in your bank account.
I want to help you access your desires and learn how to follow your purpose.
I want to help you live from the inside out and teach you how you can create an aura around you that can be sensed by others when you walk into a room.
I want you to create your jet set life in authenticity.
When you do that, the money will follow - I can promise you that from personal experience.
First, you need to learn how to think like a jet setter. What you think is what you attract. And that’s what living the Jet Set Life is all about - living every day with adventure, passion, and style. And you don’t actually need a lot of money saved to live life that way.
This is what I’ve practiced to attract and create my own jet set life. I want you to be able to do the same because I bet you too would love a weekend at One&Only with a personal butler on call. It’s not a bad thing to want some luxury in your life. In fact, I’m encouraging that you do!
Set luxury within your reach
What we must do first is to set luxury within our reach. Most of us are not going to turn into a millionaire overnight, right? So what can we do today?
We need to align our energy with luxury.
You’re probably thinking, “Brittany - what in the world does that even mean?”
It means that we need to redefine luxury so that we can set it within our reach today. If your definition of luxury means private planes and Michelin star dinners every night, you’re going to be sorely disappointed and completely out of alignment.
To align your energy with luxury, you need to redefine luxury in an attainable way - focus on high quality people, experiences and things.
Years ago, I started focusing on high quality people, experiences, and things.
I surround myself with high quality, supportive friends who genuinely care about me and check in on my well-being.
I seek out authentic, cultural experiences when I travel that will expand my perspective on the world and will create memories that I’ll cherish for a lifetime.
I purchase high quality, meaningful souvenirs from the places I visit, not a bunch of made-in-China trinkets.
Appreciate luxury
The next thing that I do is appreciate all the luxuries around me that I already have. When you demonstrate gratitude in the world and start to notice all of the luxuries in your life today, the world will give more back to you.
There are so many things that we take for granted on a regular basis that are in fact true luxuries - a smartphone, electricity, clean water, a roof over your head.
And I think that all of this quarantining has also enlightened us on even more luxuries that we’ve probably taken for granted in the past - things like being able to go out to dinner with friends, being able to travel, and being able to get a haircut and color.
I’ll tell you what - one luxury I miss so much during this quarantining period is getting my hair blown out. I can’t do my hair to save my life and it takes me so much time just to get it looking decent. But a good blow out can do wonders for my confidence and my overall joy in the day - I absolutely can’t wait to go get a blow out again when this is all past us.
When we actually slow down and stop to think, we start to see all the luxury in our life that we already do have. Then we start living in a mindset of abundance and not in a mindset of lack.
Seek out quality
As I said before, we need to redefine the way we see luxury as high quality people, experiences, and things.
When we start to focus on high quality thoughts, our outcomes reflect that of high quality as well.
Similarly, when we surround ourselves with high quality people, experiences, and things, our energy becomes aligned with luxury.
So I want to share with you some things that I physically started to do when I first set out to create a jet set life. And I received luxury in return as a direct result of doing these things.
25 Ways to Live a Jet Set Life on a Budget
I started celebrating the small wins. A jet set life is all about celebrating life and living it to the fullest, so I made sure that I was regularly checking in and giving myself pats on the back for small achievements. It can be something as simple as handling a tough conversation particularly well or maintaining good posture for the whole day. It may not be so significant as to warrant popping open a bottle of champagne but you can best believe that I could hear that luxurious little popping sound in my head!
Not only did I start celebrating luxury in my own life, I started celebrating the luxury in other people’s lives. Thoughts of judgment and jealousy have no place in the world of luxury, so I had to let go of those negative feelings and replace them with thoughts of good-will. Now when I see a woman drive by in a nice car or walk by wearing a beautiful designer dress, I think, “Yas queen, slay!”
I kept my car clean. I didn’t necessarily take it through the car wash all the time, but I kept the inside tidy. Just as you take pride in your appearance, you should take pride in your vehicle.
I slept in (when I could). I love to sleep, and I actually think I need more hours of sleep than the average human being. I started to listen to my body when I was feeling overworked or frazzled and took time out to really rest and relax when I knew I needed it.
I stopped purchasing cheap pieces of statement jewelry and opted instead for high quality, delicate gold jewelry that I could wear for a lifetime. It didn’t all have to be real gold but I wanted delicate and tasteful jewelry to enhance my look. Silver or rose gold is great too - I’ve just decided that gold is my color.
I stopped surrounding myself with negative people who were constantly focused on and talking about not having enough money. I didn’t need or want that type of energy around me.
I started caring better for my skin. I’ve always had issues with dry skin and eczema so this one has been particularly challenging for me. As much as I like those inexpensive Korean face masks from Amazon, I had to stop using ingredients that irritated my skin. Now, I only use high quality, hypoallergenic lotions and cleansers on my skin. Another great way that I started caring for my skin was to drink more water. I especially love drinking water with lemon or lime. And drinking lemon water out of wine glass also helps! Fancy drinkware makes everything taste better.
I stopped telling myself thoughts like, “Why am I so poor?” and “I’ll never have enough money to do that.” Instead, I started asking myself questions like, “How can I create more wealth for myself?”
I stopped wearing a lot of prints and trendy items and focused on wearing more timeless and classic, monochrome looks. It’s such a sophisticated look.
I slowed down. I actually sat down and took the time to enjoy my meals. And I practiced having more relaxed and genuine conversations with friends and family.
I embellished my meals with enhancements like herbs and creme fraiche. Your meal instantly becomes more luxurious when you add a drizzle of creme fraiche to your soup or a sprig of rosemary or thyme to your steak.
I signed up to attend luxury events, like art gallery openings and nights at the museum. This was an opportunity to not only have a lovely culture-filled night out, but also to dress up and socialize with friends and meet new people.
I followed my passion and learned about wine. I started taking a real interest in wine while in college. When I was studying in Scotland, I took a course on the side and got a Level 2 certificate from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust. I’m not a sommelier but I love the opportunity to pick the perfect bottle of wine for dinner when out at a nice restaurant.
I spoke with my family more. They have always been my biggest cheerleaders, and they make me feel like a queen.
I cleared my closet of ill-fitting and low quality pieces of clothing and sent them off to ThredUp. Gone were the days when I’d buy something that I half-liked just because it was on clearance. Instead, I started dressing like a lady of luxury. I invested in high quality and more expensive items that last longer and fit me properly. I’ve invested in clothing that makes me feel like the woman I want to show up in the world as.
I sat in high-end hotel lobbies and observed luxury in action. Sometimes I’d do work there and other times, I’d come in for a cocktail and just enjoy the ambiance.
I began educating myself on luxury travel by subscribing to Condé Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure.
I aligned myself with high quality friends and formed relationships with people who were familiar with the niceties of luxury. I learned how jet setters approached life.
I started caring more for my body. I stopped binging on fast foods and started incorporating more fruits and vegetables into my diet. I also learned how to cook and started cooking more at home instead of ordering in all the time.
I truly believed in living a luxurious life. I didn’t mentally beat myself up over spending money on myself. I didn’t want to live a life full of denial and self-punishment. I sincerely believe that I deserve a luxurious life and so does every member of the Jet Set Society.
I became more cultured. I didn’t get bogged down in politics necessarily but I spent time learning about what’s going on in the world instead of binge-watching trashy T.V. shows on E. Don’t get me wrong - I still love binging a trashy show now and then (Tiger King, anyone? It’s insane!!) But I monitored the amount of time and energy that I was mindlessly putting into this. On a side note - I really like getting my news from Philip DeFranco on YouTube - he presents facts in a very unbiased way and summarizes stories really well.
I had fresh flowers in the house. Flowers make any ordinary day brighter, so why wouldn’t you have flower arrangements?
I followed successful people on social media and curated my feed to only include people that promoted positivity and abundance. If it was negative or not serving me, I either unfollowed or hid that person’s posts.
I got outdoors more and spent more time hiking around nature reserves and forests.
I stopped comparing myself and my situation to others. Nothing good comes from comparing yourself to others. It doesn’t do you any favors, and it’s a waste of your time and energy.
The definition of luxury is the state of great comfort and extravagant living. You choose what great comfort and extravagant living looks like for you. It may be designer clothes and handbags or it may be a great deal at Nordstrom Rack. It may look like staying at the presidential suite or a cozy night in by the fire. It’s yours to decide. And when you get clear on what that looks like for you, you can start adding more of it in your life. Just remember to set luxury within your reach, seek out quality and appreciate it.
So, I’d love to know, what does your jet set life look like?
Cheers my dears,
author bio
Known as The Jet Set Blonde, Brittany Ryan inspires others to add more adventure to their childfree travel experiences. Brittany has visited 23 countries (and counting!) Connect with her to get access to detailed childfree travel itineraries, travel guides for weekend getaways, and updates on adult-only hotels, resorts, cruises, and other travel amenities.
