This Company is Hiring Someone to Take a $1,000,000 Vacation

A vacation that costs a million dollars can be yours for free. Well, at least it won’t cost you any money. You will be expected to do a little bit of work for Luxury Travel Intelligence, the company that will pay for it all. Fortunately your labor will consist of simply reporting on the luxury experiences you have as your yearlong vacation progresses.

A CNBC article on the $1 million vacation explained:

Two luxury travel companies—Luxury Travel Intelligence and VeryFirstTo.com—are searching for someone to take a one-year, $1 million vacation around the world for free. The only requirement is that the traveler write detailed reports on all of their experiences.

“It’s like a secret shopper,” said Amar Thapen, editor in chief of VeryFirstToKnow.com, a website that gives members first looks at luxury experiences and trips when they launch. “But they have to be very discerning.”

Be a secret shopper for the wealthiest travelers? That might not be such bad work. It got my attention. I read on…

The job is all part of Luxury Travel Intelligence’s fast-growing business of providing detailed, objective ratings on high-end travel. While the company relies on its own research team and reviews, it hopes the new luxury vacationer will improve its research. Getting people to review everyday trips and experiences on Trip Advisor and Yelp may be easy, but getting the rich to review top travel sites is more challenging.

“Some of these people don’t like to rock the boat,” Thapen said. “And they don’t like to be out there publicly criticizing.”

I had to dig a little deeper on this to see how a person might get the job. I went to read the signup information at VeryFirstTo.com. I had to register for a membership, but it cost nothing and the site looks interesting enough (LTI, the company that will actually hire you, charges for their membership, but there was no requirement that you become a member to apply for the job). Then I looked at the details. The name of the position is LTI (Luxury Travel Intelligence) researcher and if you’re hired they really will pay for up to a million dollars in travel expenses for a year.

In addition to your name and address and 65 words explaining why you should be selected, you are asked to upload your CV or resume. CV, by the way, stands for curriculum vitae, a resume of sorts that should (in this case) provide an outline of your relevant life and travel experiences and other qualifications. Mention that you are a writer if that’s the case, since they will want you to report on your destinations.

Your Itinerary

You will have a number of required destinations, like the Buenos Aires Four Seasons Hotel, where you’ll report on what it’s like after their major refurbishment. Las Vegas, Venice, and several ski resorts are also on the list. VeryFirstTo.com describes your work like this:

You will spend one year travelling in uber luxurious style; visiting the world’s most glamorous locations; and casting a refined eye on the latest hotels, restaurants and entertainment that each has to offer. You will also be testing various luxury modes of travel including yachts, jets and Japan’s Kyushi Seven Stars luxury train.

They are looking for “a very special individual,” who will be traveling incognito:

Applicants will need to have the following qualities: discrete: discerning; eloquent; sociable; considerable travel passion, knowledge and experience; and a fine appreciation of food, culture and entertainment.

You need a year free of any other business or professional commitments in order to do this. From the way it’s explained it seems that you really will be a fulltime traveler for those twelve months. Primarily you’ll be going to places that are just opening or have recently been improved. This is how they describe your “work” of going to the ski resorts on the itinerary:

Ski Resorts – checking out the many newly opened decadent properties including W Hotel in Verbier, L’Apogée in Courchevel and The Chedi in Andermatt.

Decadent properties? This trip might a bit too far out my own comfort zone. The CNBC article noted that;

The ideal candidate would be well-versed in the world of high-end hotels, restaurants and experiences and be able to immediately tell a 1978 DRC from a 2001 Lafite.

Are those cars or bottles of wine?

Well, some readers are probably better qualified for this free million-dollar vacation, so I’ll step out of the competition. If you want to apply though, you better hurry. The April 30, 2014 deadline is fast approaching.

Your Turn: Would you give up a year of your life to take a million dollar vacation? Tell me in the comments below if you are going to apply for the job…