When it comes to the entry fee to life’s more expensive activities, most people can’t afford it, let alone opt for the VIP package. Unlike average income earners who might take the canoe out on the weekends, wealthy individuals leave port in luxury yachts. Yes, rich people tend to lead different lives from the rest of society.
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From scaling Mt. Everest to fine dining experiences at Michelin-star restaurants, here are some of the many things the rich, famous and high-net-worth individuals enjoy doing because they can afford to.
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Yachting
You don’t need to take a cruise with people you don’t know if you can afford to sail in a yacht. Because most of the larger boats come equipped with a captain and crew, you need not know how to sail to hit the open water.
Unfortunately, you do need to have a large bank account to enjoy this activity. Just renting one can reportedly run you around $5,000 a day. However, the general range for weekly yacht charters is $20,000 to $80,000 for 65-foot to 80-foot yachts and $80,000 to $120,000 for 80-foot to 100-foot yachts.
A 170-foot yacht can cost anywhere from $15 million to $50 million to buy outright. Believe it or not, some luxury yachts cost much, much more.
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Playing the Ponies and Equestrian Sports
Polo — a team sport played on horseback — is favored by the royals. So, it’s no surprise that it’s also an expensive hobby. For example, a full membership in the Detroit Polo Club costs $1,000 a year, and that doesn’t include tournament or boarding fees, let alone the price to buy a horse, which can be as high as $250,000 for a polo pony.
Also, don’t forget good old-fashioned horse racing. Going to a horse racing track and placing a bet doesn’t have to be a budget-buster. However, if you want to breed, train and race your own horses in competitions, that can cost big money.
The average cost for a racehorse ranges between $50,000 and $300,000, and the expense of this hobby increases once you add in the price of food, grooming and housing. Further, training bills at a high-level racetrack can cost $150,000 monthly.
Race Car Driving
If you have an adventurous side and a love of cars, high-performance race car driving can offer extreme fun as you speed around a track. But don’t get too excited. It can cost up to $2,100 for three, eight-minute driving sessions (totaling 24 minutes of track time) according to NASCAR Racing Experience. That is about $87.50 per minute to drive in a really fast circle.
Collecting Exotic Animals
For some millionaires, it isn’t enough to own a typical dog or cat. They would rather collect exotic and expensive animals. Unfortunately, this hobby comes with a hefty price tag.
Buying a cheetah cub can cost, on average, between $15,000 and $25,000. A tiger cub can cost $7,500, while a grown tiger can cost $50,000. And a lion cub can run you $1,500 to $15,000. For people who want to own big cats like these, it can cost over $100,000 to set up a facility in the first year, with annual care costing over $10,000, according to Big Cat Rescue.
Collecting Antiques
You don’t have to be rich to collect antiques, and you might discover some high-value finds at estate sales or garage sales. However, for rich people with plenty of money to blow, antique collecting can be an expensive hobby.
For example, someone collecting handmade rugs might be in for a surprise, as the most expensive rug ever sold was the Clark Sickle-Leaf carpet, which was a 17th-century antique Persian carpet that sold for a record-breaking $33.8 million at an auction at Sotheby’s New York. Expectations of the rug fetching around the bargain price of $10 million were surpassed, leaving everyone amazed, according to Rug the Rock.
Mountain Climbing
Anyone can hike a mountain to get some exercise and appreciate the view. However, you’ll need to open your wallet if you want to reach the top of the world’s most famous summits. Hiking the majestic peaks of Everest or Kilimanjaro can mean shelling out for a guide, food, base camp and oxygen.
Prices vary, but it can cost a single climber $11,000 in license fees alone to reach the top of Mount Everest. However, it’s estimated that climbing Mount Everest can cost anywhere from $40,000 to $160,000 or more, which is a pretty spicy ticket price for riding that ride.
Hot Air Ballooning
A hot air balloon ride offers an amazing glimpse of the landscape below. At around $250 per person, a 90-minute weekend ride isn’t too extravagant. However, if you want to make air ballooning a hobby, it can cost you some serious cash. You’ll have to spend about $2,500 on flight school to learn how to operate the balloon and another $20,000 or more for the balloon itself.
Skydiving
The average Joe might be able to afford the occasional skydiving experience, which involves jumping from an aircraft with a parachute. A single tandem dive can cost about $250. However, making skydiving a regular hobby is a big investment. Skydiving gear alone costs $5,000 to $9,000 to buy, according to CostHelper.
Scuba Diving
Scuba diving is another expensive hobby that only the rich can afford on a regular basis. The price of scuba diving certification and equipment is about $500 each, which isn’t too extreme. However, underwater diving becomes expensive once you add in transportation and lodging at the best scuba locations in the world, such as the Great Barrier Reef, Kimbe Bay in Papua, New Guinea and Ras Mohammed National Park in Egypt.
Art Collecting
Collecting high-end art is among the most expensive hobbies. Some of the more costly works in the world include Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, “Salvator Mundi,” which sold for $450 million to an anonymous bidder at the time in 2017, and “When Will You Marry?” by Paul Gauguin, which sold to Qatar Museums for $300 million the same year.
High-Stakes Poker
For wealthy people with millions to blow, a game of poker is all about the stakes. High-stakes poker games are played by some of the world’s richest people, with some games requiring a $1 million buy-in.
World Travel
Most people can afford a short vacation or getaway. But not everyone can afford to travel and explore the world in style. Add in the cost of high-end accommodations, first-class travel, excursions and food, and a round-trip excursion around the world might cost as much as $1 million.
Winemaking
Winemaking is another expensive hobby of the rich, who apparently, instead of wanting to spend a full day drinking grapes, are opting to bottle them instead. Many hobbyists can make wine on a more affordable scale. If you want to start a winery in Napa, however, it can cost you up to $500,000 per acre.
Collecting Vintage Cars
Members of the super-rich are known for car collecting, especially when it comes to rare and vintage vehicles. Jay Leno, for instance, is known for his expensive collection, which he drives around the streets of Los Angeles. The price of a vintage collectible varies. For example, a 1954 Mercedes Formula One race car sold at auction for an astounding $29.7 million.
Flying Planes
If you have dreams of piloting your own plane, you’ll need the personal finances and resources to pursue them. Securing a private pilot license can cost up to $20,000, and a used six-seat Cessna Citation CJ3 can cost as much as $4.75 million. Then, it can cost up to $3,750 per flight hour to operate the plane.
Instead of flying a plane, you might consider just renting a private jet every now and then. Keep in mind, however, that the most luxurious jets in the world cost a fortune as well.
Caitlyn Moorhead, Lola Geary and Martin Dasko contributed to the reporting for this article.
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