Probably my favorite vacation so far, at any price, involved a a day of hiking with my then young family in the mountains in upstate NY. I know, weird. But it has stood out over time as my all time favorite days of vacation.
My bucket-list vacation would be insanely expensive and consists of attaching myself to and following along with the Formula One crowd for an entire season. It would involve flying first class, staying in top-rated hotels, and getting paddock passes (pit passes) for every race of the season.
I would only come home during the summer break, but would otherwise just hang out at or near the various race venues. If I had done this for 2023, it would mean visiting (most races are either 1 or 2 weeks apart, starting March 3rd and ending November 26th):
Sakhir, Bahrain --> Jeddah, Saudi Arabia -> Melbourne, Australia --> Baku, Azerbaijan --> Miami, FL --> Imola, Italy --> Monte-Carlo, Monaco --> Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain --> Montreal, Canada --> Spielberg, Austria --> Silverstone, England --> Budapest, Hungary --> Spa-Francorchamps (Stavelot), Belgium
Then home for summer break for a few weeks. Then on to:
Zandvoort, Netherlands --> Monza, Italy --> Marina Bay, Singapore --> Suzuka, Japan --> Lusail, Quatar --> Austin, TX --> Mexico City, México --> São Paulo, Brazil --> Las Vegas, NV --> Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi.
Even a single F1 Grand Prix, with paddock passes especially, is expensive. Hotels and restaurants often double or triple their pricing for the week, require multiple night stays to make reservations, and the really good hotels in good locations need to be booked years in advance.
I don't know that I'll ever do the whole season - the costs would be irresponsible. But I will do some version of this sometime in the next 5-10 years.
Have a feeling the hike w/my young kids will still be my favorite, though, even after doing the F1 thing. 🙂
