Create a Better than a Billionaire on Five Dollars Extra a Day Waterfront Experience

Good morning, Live Better than a Billionaire-a-Holics!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so.

Forbes.com has an article about Billionaires' Summer Homes that you may enjoy (See http://biz.yahoo.com/weekend/summerhomes_1.html).

It seems that although billionaires could live almost anywhere, they tend to flock together at the priciest waterfront properties around. Two key sites are Malibu (where the breezes help keep the noxious L.A. smog down to slightly less dirty levels) and the Hamptons (a quick helicopter's ride away from Manhattan's steamy days and nights). One property in the Hamptons sold recently for $90 million. Then, the new owner will often tear down the buildings on the property and build a bigger and more opulent version. Oh, and there will be some water you can see from the house.

I am reminded of this whenever I take a boat tour of Miami or Fort Lauderdale. Billionaire waterfront property is everywhere. It's impressive . . . but not very exclusive . . . any gawker in a canoe can stop by for a close-up look. Perhaps that's the point.

With some imagination, you can do better and on a tiny budget. One of my students recently reminded me of that when he built a beautiful pond on his property which he can enjoy by sitting at its edge or by viewing it from any of several rooms in his home. There are many wonderful books on water gardening that will give you ideas for beautiful blooming plants (such as water lilies) and exotic fish. And it doesn't have to be expensive. If you ever have admired Monet's paintings of his pond, you'll get the idea. You can visit the original site of his gardens and pond in Giverny north of Paris should you be traveling in the area. It's well worth the time to see how an intelligent person arranged his life in idyllic ways to be beautiful, reclusive and creative.

When I was a student, my room had a waterfront view. I could be down on the Charles River on a beautiful day in less than two minutes. And if I arranged my schedule properly, I would be the only lounger in sight for hours.

And if you like variety, you can camp out. One of my daughters will be spending an inexpensive week camping in Acadia National Park in Maine this summer. The views are magnificent and are often shared with the many billionaires who own estates in the area.

Despite what you think, there's still lots of inexpensive waterfront property if you feel compelled to buy rather than to share. It's often located on remote lakes and rivers . . . and on the ocean outside of the United States. Inside the U.S., not all waterfront property is priced identically.

Many people tell me that their greatest waterfront experience was in riding down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Few billionaires do this, however. It's not exclusive enough for them. And there are few cocktail parties down there to attend with reporters from The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly.

For a modest price, you can see some of the most wonderful waterfront property in the world from your cruise ship cabin in Alaska this summer, while enjoying fine dining, air conditioning, freedom from bugs and bears.

Add your own ideas and share them with others through a comment.

It's too bad that billionaires have so much more money than imagination. With all that money . . . and a little more imagination . . . they, too, could live better than a billionaire.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell