A Journey around my room: Luxury travel company designs £150,000 trip clients pay for but never take

30/03/2017 16:11

LONDON, March 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Luxury travel company Brown + Hudson, launches a new service called "A Journey around my room". For people who struggle to achieve a work/life balance, this concept provides all the benefits of travel without any of the inconveniences.

"The idea was inspired by a client who would commission us to design the most incredible trips, pay and then cancel at the last minute, to the disappointment of their family. So we decided to bring the destination to them," says Philippe Brown, founder of Brown + Hudson.

Strange though it may seem, it is possible to experience all of the psychological and physical benefits of travel without even leaving home.

People travel in search of different things: learning, the exotic, adventure, escape, relaxation, curiosity, breaking routine, celebration, challenge and even anonymity. Brown + Hudson's understanding of how travel satisfies these motivations allows them to recreate intensely memorable cultural experiences anywhere. Vietnam in London, India in Toronto, Morocco in Paris, Bhutan in Buenos Aires.

The company begins by confirming hotel reservations - just in case. They then create a "Brown Box" that the client will receive. This includes Oculus Rift VR headsets pre-loaded with destination footage, a week of menus and a Moroccan chef to faithfully recreate the street food of Fez at home, for example. To titillate the senses you'll receive a rare fragrance "Eau de Souq". If the missed trip was to the Galapagos or a safari, after-hours access to a wildlife reserve might be arranged with an expert like Randal Keynes, Charles Darwin's great grandson.

Busy executives who want their colleagues to think they are travelling, when in fact they are catching up on work at home, have been flocking to "Journey around my room". For them, the company provides clothing bearing the fragrance of the destination, souvenirs, photoshopped snaps, drone footage of "where they were", anecdotes, postcards sent to friends, geo-tagged social media posts and signed copy of Pierre Bayard's "How to talk about places you've never been". Of course, they also hold confirmed hotel reservations so that if someone calls them, reception can say that "X is at the pool".

The concept also opens up the benefits of travel to people who find travel deeply challenging. There is the hassle of preparation, possible fear of flying and jet lag. When they get there, there are language barriers, loss of control, unfamiliarity and unusual foods and people. And then there's the emotional rollercoaster of coming home. All of that can be avoided with "A Journey around my room".

So is this a travel company telling people not to travel? "No certainly not. We're in the business of creating amazing travel experiences, but our expertise and insight allow us to recreate the benefits of travel, wherever the client may be."

"Some clients have found their experiences so intensely memorable and transformational that they won't travel any other way," says Laura Mitchell the company's Marketing Manager.

A poor silly fad? Brown thinks not.

Laura Mitchell
Marketing Manager
Brown + Hudson
203 358 0110
laura@brownandhudson.com

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