Departures magazine (you must have a premium American Express card to view the site) is more for amusement, and ad sales, than real, live travel advice. At least for us.
There are the ads for designer fashion and resort hotels you might find in other glossy magazines. But maybe you've been thinking of picking up your own ocean going yacht? Then, how about the full page ad for Oceanco, which "creates and builds yachts for visionary owners?" Or perhaps you fancy a Bottega Venata folding double camp stool, just $7800? There's a darling "Pytmere python pillow" from Frette at just $1200.
Meanwhile we happened by travelmuse, still in beta, which bills itself as the "inspiration finder." In a suitably Departures magazine frame of mind, we clicked "inspire me" and maxed out every category - Duration: they'll give you a maximum of 26 days. We'll take it. Accomodation: 5 stars. Budget per person: $12,500 (hey, they offered, let's see what we get). We were willing to fly their maximum of 24 hours.
Turns out travelmuse won't let us spend all the $12,500 per person. They offered up Penang, Melbourne, Langkawi, Phuket, Singapore, Adelaide, Bali and Perth. The most expensive package was to Perth, for a mere $8766 per person. A mere $1000-odd dollars more than that camp stool in Departures magazine. The results are here.
In case travelmuse has suitably inspired you, there are photos from several of those popular far away travel destinations at EarthPhotos.com.
