These world trips promise adventure and luxury

Please tick: "Yes, I would like to reserve a space flight now." For a few months now, it has been possible to book trips to near-Earth orbit, in principle as unproblematic as a plane ticket to Malle. In February 2022, billionaire Richard Branson's company opened the sale of tickets for flights to the edge of the earth's atmosphere to private individuals.

The rush is great, there is a waiting list. If you want to fly a good 86 kilometers high into orbit with the company, you have to pay $450,000 for it. The excursion only lasts around 90 minutes, but they are uniquely spacious: you travel at three times the speed of sound, the Mach 3 boost, for a few minutes in weightlessness and have a clear view of the earth from the 17 windows of the spaceship.

Anyone registering on Virgin Galactic's website will receive an email requesting a deposit: The reservation fee is $150,000.

Here one travels well and at the same time pimps one's immune system, i.e. undertakes a trip around the world from which one ideally returns in enviable top form. You could start in the classic way in Austria, for example in the Mayr medicine houses in Maria Wörth and Altaussee.

There, Vivamayr first offers detoxification, anti-stress, anti-aging, then the body is made fit from head to toe with an immune booster program, with underwater wheel training, liver wraps, electrolysis foot baths, and even the tonsils are not forgotten : They get a lymphatic drainage, called Rödern.

Thus strengthened, it goes on to the fine-tuning in the immune retreats of the Aman resorts in Marrakech, on the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean, in the Himalayas, in Thailand and Japan. Everything is offered there that ideally rejuvenates and beautifies, with body infusions, vitamin cocktails, herbal tinctures, all guaranteed without a scalpel. Price open to the top.

You have to imagine that: within 30 minutes, the world trip to 96 destinations in 34 countries was fully booked, with prices starting at 47,000 euros for an inside cabin. We are talking about the cruise "Around the World in 180 Days" by the luxury shipping company Oceania, which will have its ship "Insignia" sailing the world's oceans in 2024.

This booking record shows that world trips by ship are in high demand. 100 alone are currently available until 2025, for example via the provider e-hoi.de. There is hardly a shipping company that does not offer such a grand tour with at least one ship.

It turns out that world trips are mainly booked by new customers or by world travel junkies. At Oceania Cruises, for example, half were new passengers, but 42 percent were those who had already taken a world trip by ship in 2022. Time doesn't matter: Even the 180-day tour was too short for many, every fifth extended it to 196 days. If so, then yes.

Astronauts have to do without sparkling things in space, such as soda, cola, beer - and unfortunately also champagne, although it would be appropriate for the occasion to toast it with a view of the earth. But in zero gravity, you can't just pour fizzy drinks into a glass. Without gravity, the liquid would get stuck in the bottle.

Researchers at the French space agency CNES have now solved this – literally – luxury problem in space on behalf of the champagne manufacturer Mumm: They have developed an aluminum bottle with a button in the bottom. At the push of a button, gas shoots the champagne called "Mumm Cordon Rouge Stellar" out of the bottle, which then floats around like soap bubbles.

The bubbles are caught with hemispherical glasses. They then tingle in the mouth as foam balls. This should ensure a relaxed atmosphere among space tourists.

The first space tourist, Dennis Tito, 82, enjoyed his orbital journey in 2001 so much that he wants to fly again, 21 years after his first trip. At that time, the US billionaire paid a good 20 million dollars for a week on the “International Space Station” (“ISS”).

In the meantime, the prices have more than doubled: The four tourists who were on the "ISS" in 2022 each paid 55 million dollars for their trip, which incidentally was extended to two and a half weeks thanks to bad weather. The mission was organized by the US space company Axiom Space in cooperation with NASA and SpaceX, a company owned by multi-billionaire Elon Musk. More missions are to follow.

NASA had long refused to bring tourists to the ISS. Now she's getting into the lucrative business after all - and has brought four entrepreneurs to the space station for a week's vacation. Space tourism is picking up speed, but the price is far from affordable.

Source: WORLD

Meanwhile, space company Voyager Space is working on a private space station called Starlab that will replace the ISS by the end of the decade. The Hilton hotel group is also involved and provides chic suites in space.

The temples of Angkor in Cambodia, the pyramids of Giseh, the Great Barrier Reef - only the most beautiful and therefore most worthy of protection places in the world are declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visiting them all in one go is next to impossible.

The monumental cultural trip would take several years. There was even a British organizer who wanted to organize such a trip for half a million euros. It failed because too many World Heritage sites were inaccessible in crisis areas. The UNESCO World Heritage List currently includes 1154 sites in 167 countries.

But there are certainly world trips that lead to the most famous World Heritage sites. In other words, a grand tour of superlatives. For example, with the provider Geoplan Reisen: A 33-day deluxe world tour "On the trail of the Unesco World Heritage Sites" goes from Germany via Istanbul to India, China, the USA, Mexico and Guatemala, from 17,500 euros.

It's a very special rail adventure - a train safari through southern Africa, and it's also sustainable. The "Pride of Africa" ​​of the South African train operator Rovos Rail has been rolling since 1993 and is one of the most luxurious nostalgic trains in the world. Only a maximum of 72 guests are on board, 20 wagons, butler service; the best suite has its own Victorian bath.

There are now also German-speaking special tours that are offered exclusively by the provider Lernidee Reisen. The classic drives through five African countries: South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Tanzania. The 19-day rail journey covers 6,000 kilometers from Cape Town to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, stopping at Victoria Falls, the Chobe National Park and the Kalahari Desert.

Another tour runs from east to west; from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic. The 20-day special train journey goes through Angola, Congo, Zambia and Tanzania. Prices start at 17,000 euros.

It's actually a pity that foreign countries are often only "discovered" through the glass panes of a rental car. Cyclists and hikers have much closer access. Such an - admittedly sporty - challenging - world trip is not yet available to book, but continent tours are.

For example, an organizer offers bike tours through Australia and New Zealand, which can be wonderfully combined if you are in good shape. At Wikinger Reisen, for example, there is a 24-day bike tour through Australia (with some domestic flights) and a 23-day New Zealand tour under the motto "Everything but ordinary", where the main focus is on cycling, hiking and paddling (both together from 15,000 Euro).

The highlights: New Zealand's Milford Track and Australia's Great Ocean Walk, along the south coast to the famous rock formations of the Twelve Apostles. Always with a sea view and along the most beautiful beaches.

This is a heart and stomach idea for gourmets: How about a six-month trip, during which you munch through all three-star restaurants on the side? The British travel company Holidaysplease offers such individual travel ideas for wealthy gourmets on request.

"One of the best kitchens is worth a trip" - is the simple definition of the "Michelin Guide" for the three-star restaurants. There are currently 138 of them around the world. These include The Fat Duck in London, Per Se in New York and Lung King Heen in Hong Kong.

There are ten three-star restaurants in Paris alone, from "Le Meurice Alain Ducasse" and "Le Cinq" to the newcomer "Plénitude", which means something like "abundance". This tour should definitely be a gluttony. Such a pleasure trip around the world was already offered a few years ago, and you can count on 250,000 euros for two.

Nobody at the Canadian luxury hotel group Four Seasons expected this run: After the Corona lockdown, their private jet trips from 135,000 euros around the world are booming. You will travel with an Airbus A321neo-LR, with beds and bar and a maximum of 40 guests; Also on board are a concierge, a doctor and a chef.

For 2023 there are only remaining places or a waiting list; the world trips 2024 are well booked. A classic is "World of Adventures" - in 24 days from Seattle via Kyoto, Bali, the Seychelles, Rwanda, Colombia and Galapagos, another tour goes three and a half weeks from Hawaii to London with stops in French Polynesia, Australia and Asia.

A 16-day tour from Tokyo (private samurai lesson) via Bali (rafting), Maldives (turtle safari), Bhutan (trek to the Tiger Monastery), Vietnam, Thailand was added. As far as sustainability is concerned: the CO2 emissions are compensated.