How to Spend It: Indulge

There’s a time to be financially responsible and then there’s a time to treat yo’self.

Ride the Rails

If life’s about the journey, not the destination, then the Rocky Mountaineer’s Journey Through the Clouds trip provides a serious taste of the good life. The leisurely 10-day railway trip takes passengers along an increasingly picturesque route from Vancouver to Jasper to Banff to Calgary, with non-stop beverage service and gourmet meals served up to the lucky travellers seated in the glass-topped observation car. $3,249, rockymountaineer.com

Back It Up

This Mary Rich backpack—designed by two female entrepreneurs in Vancouver—is anything but kids’ stuff, crafted from cream shearling and leather. $595, maryrich.com

Gear Head

The custom-built offerings from high-end bike shop Veloholic are miles beyond the Main Street fixie scene: take the Cipollini NK1k Italian Champion, an impressive feat of aerodynamic engineering in a playful Italian-flag package that costs as much as some cars. $20,000, veloholiccycles.com

Look Book

It’s a coffee-table book the size of a literal coffee table, but Annie Leibovitz’s gigantic, limited-edition book Sumo from publisher Taschen is more than just a stunt—her gorgeous portrait work of everyone from Keith Haring to Patti Smith is well suited for the large-scale format, which was limited to a printing of 9,000 and comes with its own special stand. $3,450, informinteriors.com

Over the Moon

Mother-of-pearl and diamonds help the Chopard Imperiale Moonphase 36 mm automatic watch replicate the sparkling of the night sky. $66,840, globalwatchco.com, palladiocanada.com

Kick Back

Yes, you’re here for the massage (we dare you to stay awake with one of the Spa by JW’s signature Stress Relief massages, with warming ginger and black pepper oils), but its new relaxation room takes spa day to the next level. Cozy tuxedo chairs are lined up along floor-to-ceiling windows with a dazzling view of False Creek—grab a herbal tea, a copy of Cosmo (thoughtfully stocked in the back of each chair), and soak in that post-massage-muscle-melt feeling from the best seat in the city. Massages from $155, parqvancouver.com/spa

Shine Bright

Put Stittgen’s master goldsmiths to work crafting a unique-to-you work of wearable art via a custom design of your imagining, be it a pendant that collages your family’s birthstones, a diamond-and-sapphire fish bracelet or a foldover engagement ring. Price on request, stittgen.com

Small World

These high-end, handmade architectural sculptures from Chisel and Mouse replicate some of the world’s most striking buildings in miniature—Helsinki Central Station, the dome of St. Paul’s and the National Theatre, to name a few. $199, goodgeplace.com

My Jam

These Olivia von Halle Lila Nika silk pajamas are so chic, you could probably wear them out of the house with no qualms. $595, rebeccabree.com

Sleep Tight

Can you put a price on a good night’s sleep? Well, Swedish luxury bedding brand Hästens is certainly trying. Its Vividus mattresses are handmade over 320 hours by expert artisans out of 210 kilograms of natural materials—ethically sourced down and horsehair—and essentially guarantee sweet dreams. $187,000, informinteriors.com

Drink Up

This silver paper cup is Tiffany and Co.’s whimsical take on the most mundane of objects, elevating it to something special in hand-finished sterling silver. $780, tiffany.ca

Hot to Trot

An Hermès saddle nods to old-world luxury and the design house’s history with craftsmanship, whether you actually have a horse or not—though it’s certainly not as easy to tote around as a Birkin. $10,000, hermes.com

High Flier

Take to the skies after acing the Sky Quest pilot course, a $6,000 program that will qualify you to get behind the wheel (or whatever it is planes have) of a single-engine aircraft. But if you’d rather have someone else do the captaining, private jet and premium helicopter charter services are available from London Aviation Centre at your convenience. skyquest.ca; londonair.com

Flower Power

Sign up for weekly deliveries from the Fairview-based Wild Bunch floral design studio and get fresh flowers delivered to your door on the reg. Subscriptions starting at $65, thewildbunch.ca

Seafood Star 

The seafood game is competitive in our oceanfront town, but Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar steps up to the challenge with gusto. The Seafood Tower Royale is a three-tier masterpiece that’s deliciously over the top. Piled high with oysters, lobster and snow crab, along with plates of ceviche and mussels, it’s the most expensive dish of its kind in the city. $500, boulevardvancouver.ca


See more from our How to Spend It package and put your money to work with the best ways to indulge, invest, give back and outsource your life.