Gregory Patrick has been creating over-the-top travel experiences for nearly three decades. This year, the founder of DreamMaker—an upscale outfitter known for designing bespoke trips for high-end clients—is offering his most elaborate voyage yet with the Passport to 50 around-the-world journey. The $13.9 million experience will take groups of up to 50 guests to 20 cities in 20 days aboard two Boeing Business Jets.
Along the way, passengers will enjoy the live theater of travel—with more than a little bit of aid from Patrick. For instance, on the trip’s stop to Havana, the travelers will make their way to a small park where locals regularly gather to talk baseball. But the travelers won’t be alone—they’ll have Cuban-born former Major League Baseball player José Canseco with them. The encounter is sure to cause a scene to remember.
“When you immerse people in an experience they will never forget, time becomes irrelevant,” explains Patrick. “If all we did was sightsee, they would have no lasting memory of the trip.”
Of course, sightseeing is a major part of the trip, too, with stops including Marrakech, Florence, Barcelona, Manila, and Koh Samui. Patrick has added plenty of bespoke moments at each destination, from a Downton Abbey–inspired dinner party in London (complete with a wardrobe of custom Savile Row suits and an appearance by a member of the Royal Family) to an in-flight poker tournament (with the world’s number-one-ranked champion, Daniel Negreanu, and a $500,000 purse).
Amidst 20 days of unforgettable experiences like these, Patrick has also gone to great lengths to ensure his clients are well-rested, carefully planning the itinerary to ensure travelers spend just 12 percent of the trip in the air. Only four nights will be spent on long-haul flights; the rest will take place in high-end hotels around the world. The jets will also come staffed with a crew of 50—including a hypnotherapist who specializes in sleep—to address all comfort needs.
“We made an adjustment to the schedule in Marbella because of the previous night in Ibiza,” explains Patrick, who has planned an all-night party, headlined by a Grammy Award–winning musician, on the Balearic Island. For the following day, sleeping until noon or later is part of the program.
Of course, given Patrick’s history of bespoke trips, nothing on the Passport to 50 itinerary is set in stone. Diving for pearls in the South Sea? No problem. Watching the famous Il Palio horse race in Siena, Italy? Consider it done. “Everything is possible,” says Patrick. (passportto50.com)