How to Have More Birthdays Than the Queen
You don’t have to be royalty to get as many birthdays as the Queen of England, all you need is good working knowledge of global time zones.
All too often the natural birthdays of British monarchs fell in the rainy season (which is pretty much most of the time), making celebratory festivals a drudge. To stop Mother Nature literally ‘raining on the parade’ the monarch’s state birthday is celebrated during the more dependable weather months of June/July – effectively granting them two separate birthdays each year.
The good news is, through modern technology anyone can do the same today – by manipulating time zones and racing away from the sun as it comes to call your birthday to a close. Several years ago Paris Hilton was noted for celebrating her own birthday in this fashion by traveling from Tokyo to London on to New York and finally Los Angeles. The trick is to move from the east (where the sun rises) towards the west (where it sets) and involves an exciting, literal race against time. Only with a private jet (not subject to long boarding processes and often faster than commercial liners) is this really possible though. Your jet needs to be efficient because your race works like this:
- Time spent on the ground (celebrating at the location) – means hours you lose
- Time zone gains (distance raced away from the sun)
- Time lost in transit (during flights from one location to the next)
So, if this sounds like the kind of adventure you think you’d like to pursue for your next birthday here are some example routes provided by some of our travel expert friends and, of course, our own team.
Route 1:
Courtesy of: Girl about the Globe
My Bio: Lisa Eldridge is a travel journalist specialising in solo travel. She has travelled extensively, living and working in numerous countries. Lisa’s mission is to empower women to travel solo with her website, Girl about the Globe.
If I could celebrate my birthday three times over, I would fly ‘Down Under’ to Australia and possibly dive around The Great Barrier Reef, a metropolis of coral and underwater life, if there were time. My next stop would be Cape Town where I’d take a cable car to the top of Table Mountain and celebrate high above the city in style.
Then it’s on to Brazil where I would spend time in Rio perhaps partying on the beach in the evening. If my tight travel schedule permitted I would fly to Santa Marta and hike the Lost City Trek before whale watching on the Pacific Coast. Then go dancing in the city of Cali, Capital de la Salsa and party until the early hours. Then fly into Medellin, the magical city in a mountain valley with the friendliest people you can find. I’d sample the local food and take the metro cable for a stunning view of the city before potentially flying to the tiny island of Alofi, Niue. This adds one more location to your adventure and the pristine beaches are beautiful, just bring your own people as you’ll barely find any there. Then it’s back home, for a well-deserved rest.
Route 2
Courtesy of: Hand Luggage Only
The name “Hand Luggage†was born out of our constant packing of far too many items in our hand luggage. We’re always on the lookout for new places to go and explore. Travel our selected route to view our birthday race against time.
Our First Birthday Celebration:
We would grab a charter plane and with pilot and friends in tow, head from London straight to Paris to have a private champagne birthday breakfast at the top of the Eiffel Tower. After some bubbles we would head straight back to our lovely private plane and whisk ourselves and our friends down to Monte Carlo for a quick dip in the Mediterranean Sea, while jumping off our private yacht.
Our Second Birthday Celebration:
From there it’s on to New York City (NYC), where we would continue our celebrations at Masa Restaurant - the most exclusive and prestigious Japanese restaurant in town. A perfect place to continue our birthday celebration! If time permits, we would then head for some pre-party bubbles at The Champagne Bar at the Plaza before jumping right back on our private jet to Las Vegas.
Our Third Birthday Celebration:
Zooming across the US on our plane, we will be enjoying the mellow beats of our very own artist on board, Frank Ocean! Once we arrive at Las Vegas, we grab ourselves a top-spec Bentley and head straight down The Strip, to our favourite club, Bank at the Bellagio. After spending some time at the Bank we would stay in the biggest suite you can ever imagine, with private pool, hot-tubs and lots and lots of music.
We calculated that our awesome birthday trip would take us over 24 hours, but imagine if we can use time zones to our advantage and make all of these plans work. We will just have to be prepared to catch up on lots of Zzzzzz's when we get back to London!
