Alistair’s Newsletter

There is nothing that will make you feel richer than luxurious vacations.

If you want to enjoy the best the world has to offer, to experience travel
and adventure at its very best, you don’t need a multi-million dollar bank
account. What you need are discriminating friends in great places — people
who will….

• Keep you away from the overpriced restaurants on the Champs-Elysées and take you to one of the most wonderful restaurants in the city, Chez Georges, just off the stylish Place des Victoires, where you can enjoy a gourmet meal, Parisian style, for ten dollars.
• Avoid the Disney World crowds in London’s Picadilly and Oxford Circuses and instead be escorted to one of the little known (except to local artists and cognoscenti) daytime concerts at St Bide’s church — free of charge.
• Stay away from the rip-off leather shops on the popular streets of Milan and be led through winding vias to Fratelli Prada, one of the world’s best leather shops, where incredibly beautiful goods can be purchased at amazingly cheap prices.

Thirty-seven years ago, the idea of luxury travel was changed when a man named Alistair Woodward, who lived on Chicago’s North Shore, took a trip to Paris.

Instead of using a travel agency as he has done in the past, this time Alistair made arrangements with a local art dealer, a friend of a friend, who was happy to find him a beautiful, inexpensive hotel on a quiet street and act as his personal concierge during his stay there.

Alistair went to the finest restaurants and nightclubs, art galleries and operas,street shows and bazaars — if it was unique and wonderful, he did it that summer. It was, without a doubt, the best vacation he ever had.

It was the best and he had paid only a fraction of what he had ever paid before.

And that led to an idea — that Alistair would publish a newsletter that would allow other people to have the same great experiences in other locations. The secret, of course, was finding local people to act as guides. Not journalists, but discriminating people of taste and education who lived locally and spent much of their spare time finding the best spots.

And not just the best…but the best values. “Price is important to me, Alistair said. “Anyone can throw his money away. Part of having discerning judgment is being wise with your money.”

If this idea appeals to you….if you’d like to enjoy travel and vacationing at its very best….if you care about the money you  spend and want the very best value for it….I strongly recommend you read Alistair’s newsletter.

[Ed. Note.  Mark Morgan Ford was the creator of Early To Rise. In 2011, Mark retired from ETR and now writes the Palm Beach Letter. His advice, in our opinion, continues to get better and better with every essay, particularly in the controversial ones we have shared today. We encourage you to read everything you can that has been written by Mark.]