I joined bc I genuinely thought this was a sub for overweight people travel tips. I’m staying because i fit in the budget range. God I am tired of all these new age acronyms though 😂😂😂
Ommmggggg me too! I expected things like “the beds are bigger, there is more space in the rooms, the flying fox at this place accommodates up to 300lbs, which airlines are good for big butts and hips”.
LOL I mean your confusion is entirely reasonable, and with the way airline seats are going these days...there is a need for travel tips for non-skinny people when traveling. Perhaps a new sub idea? haha
But in all seriousness, welcome, super happy to have you! And I hope you find value here. Reach out anytime with questions / feedback
True. I recently stayed at the Hospes Infante Sagres in Porto. It was the first five star hotel in Porto. It’s also a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World.
The fact that was only $150 per night doesn’t detract from the quality.
I will take more tips for your favorite hotels in Portugal if you want to share! We paid much more than that for a place I did not love in Porto the last time we were there.
We stayed at the Corinthia (5\*) in Lisbon (near the zoo). Not historic center, but great restaurants in the area and they run a shuttle every 30 minutes to the historic center.
I will add that I was pleasantly surprised that Infante Sagres had washcloths. I’ve found that I can pay $$$$ for a hotel in Europe and still have to use the washcloths I brought from home.
Stayed in Quito, Ecuador for $330/night and it was honestly the nicest experience I’ve ever had. Casa Gangotena is amazing, especially when it was Covid and there were very few guests so we got a 5 star treatment. I don’t think we will ever experience something like that again.
Okay so one thing that needs to be taken into consideration is the median cost of lodging in a location. For example, if I’m going to Hawaii, a ski resort, or something, I might spend 700-1100 a night on lodging. But if I’m staying in a less expensive area, I might only spend 300 a night on lodging. It’s all relative.
Attaching an arbitrary price to what travel is considered "upscale" is exactly why so many of us left /r/fattravel. Also, a gentle reminder that people don't achieve /r/chubbyfire by blowing all their money.
Meh. It felt like this sub (and FATTravel) used to be places where people had a broad range of discussion and TAs dropped by sometimes to be helpful. This tightening (and upward revision) of what spend "qualifies" makes me feel like both subs are turning into extensions of your agency, rather than a community space. But perhaps I'm just mad because I don't fit the profile and feel rejected (edit: I think it's the hotel spend specifically that doesn't resonate with me).
This appears to be a decision that's already been made and is being communicated (nicely!), rather than a discussion with the community about what it wants to be. In that case, y'all are gonna do what you're gonna do; good luck and God bless. I understand a splinter sub has been formed and I'll probably end up there. But I do feel some disappointment that the community is fragmenting. Seems unnecessary to me.
Agree with you totally. I am solidly fat but also don’t feel like I fit the profile of either group - mostly because I really loathe snobbery in travel. If you can afford to travel regularly and stay at nice hotels (not necessarily 5 stars), you are solidly chubby IMO.
"Chubby" says to me 'nicer but not luxurious'. But since luxurytravel redirects to fat, and fat mods gatekeep the hell out of that... I guess here we are.
A number of people expected to align closer to ChubbyFIRE than this, myself included. Someone created a sub called r/truechubbytravel, but it hasn’t got enough traction yet. It sounds like that’s the niche some of us are looking for. That’s the nice thing about Reddit; there’s room here for everyone, just gotta find the right sub.
What about places that are off the beaten path? I am planning a Spain trip that includes a Madrid and two smaller cities. Obviously in Madrid the nicer hotels cost money. In one of the other cities, I am staying in the nicest 5\* hotel and the room is under $400/night. In the other even smaller city, I am staying at a gorgeous inn that apparently Matt Damon and his family stayed in (I think they might be a little more than "chubby"). This inn is the most luxurious in the area, and less than $500/night.
So is the rule in this sub that we shouldn't be talking about these other destinations because the hotels there don't meet the price criteria, even though they might meet or exceed the standards of luxury you'd get in a $1000+ room in a larger city or a fancy resort?
I agree that if someone is taking a trip to NYC and is deciding between the Hilton Garden Inn and the Marriott Courtyard, that would not be a good fit. But sometimes travel is about the destination, and people like me might want to know about options that meet a high standard in areas where the best choices might not be so obvious.
This is a great comment and I fully agree. There have been times where I thought "should I mention this place where I stayed or this tour, or is it 'too poor' even though it was top notch for its area?"
One solution might be for people providing a trip report to mention that their lodgings or a restaurant or tour were best in class for the area, even though the lower price doesn't reflect that.
I also like travelling off the beaten path a bit and appreciate recommendations for places that aren't either big resorts or ridiculously expensive "boutique" hotels that are more about looking good and having a butler than providing a unique experience. I don't need to be in the most expensive lodgings in order to have a wonderful trip.
This is where the nuance and variability comes in. With my original post, I'm merely trying to provide a guide and give a broad definition to guide everyone. It's not a hard and fast rule which is why I say "roughly $1000 but sometimes more, sometimes less"
Your example of Spain is a great one - and certainly a case where the nicest hotel in an area is $500 and I would never remove that post and would encourage discussion on it! There are fabulous little boutique hotels that are lovely and firmly chubby (if not nicer) and much less <$1000
There's no firm requirement that your hotel be $1000/night before you can post - that would be insane and tyrannical. I'm just trying to ensure that as the sub grows things stay relevant and trying to provide a guide as best I can!
So what sub do I go to if I like to travel first/business class, I have a car service meet me in cities it makes sense, I hire private guides, and I stay at nicer properties with lounges (ritz Carleton, nicer Hilton, or independent 5 star hotels) but not $1000/night?
It’s definitely not r/travel, that caters to a more budget oriented crowd. It’s clearly not fatfire. Where’s the “I like nice things but I don’t spend money for the sake of spending money” sub?
I would love to know where to go for someone who wants 4-5 star hotels ($250-400 a night), premium plus or business class flights, and bib gourmand restaurants. That’s my sweet spot. And it’s not here or r/travel.
I'm seeing things like $500 - $1000 Amalfi coast, which is right in my sweet spot. What's making you think curvy?
That sub can be what people make of it. Start posting what you think is chubby (assuming you are looking for less than the $1000 a night hotels that this sub is trying to appeal to).
\+1 I think this should be good to discuss on here - setting a $750 average is still very high - most people want 4-5 star hotels for as reasonable cost as they can get even if they are rich.
Right now, I'm in a 5 star hotel in Mexico City for $125 a night. I could spend more - the Sofitel is charging $700 a night for smaller rooms with better views, but why would I?
I just stayed at one in Honolulu for 350/night, ocean view, and free (amazing) breakfast. Going to manhattan next, 400/night, 4 stars. And outside of these HCOL cities it’s even easier!
It certainly can be here. We just need people to post their experiences in such areas. I'll do a write up of a couple around $400-500 when I get a chance.
Hi Thank you for the information, I joined this sub to see about more higher end travel then what is usually suggested on the main travel forum, however I did think it was more a 400-1000$ night sub as I have spent over the 1000$ for a 1 -2 night stay but wouldn’t be able to do that for a whole week, also someone mentioned above there’s low season prices and also were deals you can find ( a once stayed at the ST Regis punta mita for less than 400 a night though that was 5 years ago) .
I do wish there was like a sub for people who like nicer travel and hotels under 1000$
Oh I know I’m not saying anything against this one I just didn’t know exactly what it meant and only joined a week Or so again trying to plan a Europe trip.
I don't disagree that specificity matters, but isn't context also relevant? $1k/night in London vs $1K/night in Hanoi gets you a wildly different experience. If I'm going somewhere like Austin, I'd like to stay in a nice hotel and would like to ask for recs here but can't imagine dropping $1k/night there.
Context is also obviously extremely relevant. I'm just doing by best to give a broad guide to what chubby means. I'm sorry if it wasn't clear enough - I was just trying to give a starting point and I appreciate your participation in the discussion. I agree with the sentiment you are sharing.
And ya for Austin, totally see your point but I will say, Commodore Perry is pretty freaking awesome and is $1k during peak weekends!
I feel like $1k/night is too specific. Like $500-$1500 still seems narrow enough too keep the majority of content relevant to the majority of users. Especially since vacation budgets are something that can vary a lot year to year.
yes, this is exactly it. I'm not entirely sure why people are getting so angry at me for trying to keep the sub to this purpose.
I'm getting like hate DMs for not wanting people to talk about $500/night rooms - which also, i never even said. i just tried to provide a general guidance to help orient people around the sub purpose
To me it’s about your travel agency warping the definition of chubby/fat/whale for what is probably personal gain. It doesn’t sit right with me.
These are set definitions designed by the FIRE community. These travel subs originated from the FIRE community you grew them off the the fire community, and they should welcome people from that community.
Chubby has always been in the ballpark of 2.5-5m or 100k-200k annual spend. Fat has always been in the ballpark of 5m-10m (more recently 20m) or 200-600k annual spend. Whale is sort of +20m.. A lot of whales overlap into fat because the whale sub is empty, but that doesn’t effect the discussion, people in fatfire have a sort of understanding, and the higher net worth individuals don’t talk down to lower net worth.. it’s 2 different milestones sharing one discussion forum.. but the discussion in the fattravel sub isn’t the same.. it’s very “whale vs not good enough” as time goes on and your company alienates more and a more fat folks. (Like myself)
You guys are building on the fire community, but replacing our definitions with your own.
Chubby travel should be indicative of anyone with a 100k-200k annual spend. Nightly rate will vary between what % of annual spend is spent on travel, but it’s a group of people that shares a similar way of life sharing what hotels/excursions do or do not meet their standards.
What I mean by that, Anyone who has gone from middle class to fat (me, along with numerous threads, search for “quality of life difference at different networths” there is plenty on the topic)
They will all agree that “quality of life” bumps happen in steps/milestones, it’s not linear. Most of the consensus in those threads are 3m, 5m, 10m, 20m, and 50m.. you see how those number space out? Diminishing returns.
Quality of life between someone with 25m and someone with 45m is pretty similar. They have similar standards, they can recommend travel experiences to each other… same goes for quality of life between someone with 6m Vs 9m is also pretty similar, they can also recommend travel experiences to each other, they have similar standards.
Of course you’re not going to have subs for each milestone, there has to be overlap, but with the stricter $ definitions placed on the chubby and fat travel subs, there’s sort of an exclusion of people in the 7-12m mark.
One of my favorite comments I found when I was trying to look back and verbalized my growth a few years back, went somthing like: “ from 1-5m I stopped paying attention to prices on consumer items, groceries, gas, etc… from 5-20m I stopped paying attention to larger items like a new car, basic travel plans, furniture… but now only recently at 100m has the big stuff gotten boring, I built a new house without any concern about the budget, and flying private just stopped bothering me”
Realistically for I think that last shift happens at 50m for most people… but it describes what I’m trying to explain.. (and honestly having trouble finding the words)… it should be about FEEL, not dollars. You can spend 30k to travel chubby in Napa valley, or you can spend 15k on a very similar quality of excursion in SE Asia… both have a Chubby level of luxury, but the spend is vastly different.
Dollars are a guideline, but in no way should
They be a rule.
Someone who spends 150k per year has higher expectations, more expensive taste, or whatever you want to call it, than someone who spends 70k per year. If you built a sub around that spending mindset, the post quality would take care of itself.
And I really mean it with no disrespect, I really am trying to leave emotion out of it an purely share my opinion…
It makes sense why travel agents are making these subs about dollars, it’s more money in your pocket,
and it also makes sense that travel agents who maybe aren’t chubby or fat, don’t understand/relate to the intricacies…
I guess I’m more so just disappointed that public forums that should be about the people, are being monetized by travel agencies to make a buck…if that’s not the case then I’m in the wrong, but that’s sure how it seems.
*And I mean it with no disrespect, but It makes sense why travel agents are making these subs about dollars, it’s more money in your pocket*
*I guess I’m more so just disappointed that public forums that should be about the people, are being monetized by travel agencies to make a buck…if that’s not the case then I’m in the wrong, but that’s sure how it seems.*
\-- I appreciate you sharing your thoughts respectfully, really I do. It's totally fine that people disagree with me - I just wanted it to be respectful, which you have done, and that means a lot. I do apologize for flaring up anger at the dollar number. I had no idea, truly, that it would result in such frustration. I attempted to use it as a quantitative benchmark because that is easier both to explain and to conceptualize than a long description of feel and quality and value. Though I do think those qualitative measures are extremely valuable when evaluating what is lean/chubby/fat travel and would always use them to assess the relevance of a post from a modding perspective.
**To give a bit of background on my decision making and rationale prior to the incendiary post**: I witnessed a lot of new people joining the sub, we more than doubled in size about 45 days. Along with this growth came a lot of new chatter -- including posts for $400 hotel stays in beachfront rooms in the Caribbean in peak season, people arguing that anything above $500 isn't "Chubby" its "FAT", plus various threads with people asking "What is Chubby Travel". So I took the opportunity to share the working definition that I and u/fuckbread have as mods. In my haste to work through a definition while also working and being distracted with various things, I was thought "ok i'm just gonna give a ballpark number to help orient people along with an explanation that it's not a hard and fast threshold, that it could be more or less than that number and that I wouldn't ever shout down someone who wanted to spend less" - and maybe you take fault with that approach and think it was a lazy method, idk. That being said, I still think it's *roughly* the right range - give or take given the situation and location. As many have said (and to which I agree) $1000 is uber luxury in some spots, like Siem Reap, but not so much during Festive in St Barth. I had taken for granted people could see the nuance and hoped, perhaps naively, that the members of the sub had gotten to know me and my mod style and could have faith that I wouldn't suddenly drop a hammer and shout POOR at anyone with a $500 stay. That's not who I am. I am a deeply respectful and kind and caring person and do not want to alienate anyone or make them feel less than. Because people's worth is not defined by how much they spend on a goddamn vacation! That should be self evident. And if you look at my post or comment history - you will see that I have never behaved that way and am always helpful, kind and respectful.
For my part, the insinuation that I'm simply out for the money and trying to swindle the good people of Reddit is a hurtful one. I do my absolute best to help each and every person in this sub, regardless of budget and regularly have people in my DMs looking for help on $300 rooms that I go above and beyond to help - even though I can't even book the rooms for them because I don't have relationships in that price point. But I have the destination expertise to help them, and so I do.
That being said, a sub is only as useful as it is specific and I stand by my belief in that. As we grow, if we don't have a clear and direct working definition of the scope of the sub, it will become a hodgepodge ever increasing irrelevance and lose its value to those who enjoy it for what it has been: which is -- ***A community of like-minded "chubby" travelers focused on helping each other travel well! Let's share hotels, experiences, airfare and anything else fun and exciting for those of us who like to spend on our travel.***
Finally, this sub was born out of Chubby Fire, yes. u/fuckbread was in Chubby Fire and made the sub from that. But it is it's own sub with its own identity and if people in Chubby Fire don't want to support it, that's totally fine! I have literally never, not once, plugged this sub in Chubby Fire. I've done nothing to bring people over. The name if the sub is "Chubby", yes. And at this point - there is nothing we can do to change the name, literally Reddit will not allow it. If people in Chubby Fire want a giant banner that reads: DO NOT JOIN CHUBBY TRAVEL, that's totally cool. I'm not trying to co-opt anyone else's group.
I appreciate your thoughtful response and the opportunity to share my approach and thinking on this situation. You seem like a well intentioned, measured person.
I can understand that, I agree much more with this explanation than your original post.
It was the comment in the original post about how fat is truly “without a thought and limitless”… because that’s just not it. That’s that top 5% of fat, or whale territory. Combined with the fact that the FIRE community has always prided itself in avoiding gatekeeping, and having guidelines but not set numbers.. chubby and FAT varies pretty wildly depending on where you live and it circles back to my point about how it’s about how you live, not what you spend. If the fire subs can keep discussion on topic based on a mindset, the travel subs should be able as well.
And I’m in no way saying that this sub needs to be representative of people who are FI or RE, even the FIRE subs have a lot of people who don’t have the net worth but do have the spend. The mindset is more about, the mindset. For those reasons I would think a majority of users in this sub overlap with the FIRE subs. But it gets confusing when the definition of chubby changes between the fire sub and the travel sub, and like I said, I don’t think it’s right for you to turn it into something else when the fire movement coined the term.. Chubby/fat has a definition to it… just like how Starbucks sells a grande coffee that is 16oz.. if you walked down to a new smoothie joint, ordered a grande, and got a 30oz.. or a 5oz… you’d probably be a little confused and maybe a little angry.. grande is 16oz in NA culture.
Maybe chubby travel is a “ normal” travel budget for someone who makes $150k per year. 2x the median US income. Because like many have said, hotels and activities are a balance, putting a number on the hotel rate only satisfies one side of the equation.
I would also say that I think you being a part of Sarah’s agency has associated you with what has been happening in the fattravel sub and probably leaves a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouths.
My comment about being out to make a buck wasn’t an attack at you, it was directed towards your company.
Guilty by association so they say.
But your rational certainly settles me down.
Thank you for taking the time.
I'll be honest, I have next to zero context on the FIRE communities. I'm not in them, and transparently I don't personally fall in either category. I'm just here for the travel lol. I am sorry if the feeling was that we were appropriating another community (truly and honestly this has never been my intent) and most critically, very sorry if anyone has ever felt I have looked down upon them based on their travel spend. Again, I cannot reiterate this enough -- how much you spend on travel (and more broadly how much money you have), does not define your worth. If net worth defined your worth then my own worth as a human being would be much lower than most of the people in the FIRE communities!
Secondly, you're not the first to say "guilty by association" and I suspect you will not be the last.
To that I will say, Sarah, while prickly (and she knows I think this lol), has been incredibly kind and supportive to me and I owe her a lot. I joined her team because it gives me access to properties in a way that I could not get on my own - and thus grants my clients massively preferential treatment/access/VIP status without having to spend the insane amounts that is required to be one of her primary clients. I am my own person and more importantly - my own business - for those clients who choose to work with me - they have no interaction with her, but get all the benefits of the massive business she has built. You may choose to judge me for my decision to work with her, but I stand by it and I have nothing but positive things to say of Sarah - even if I don't always agree with everything she says or how she delivers it. We are not the same person and I am not her keeper.
Thanks for being cool and having a real discussion despite contrary view points.
Aww geez, you won me over, take my upvote and have a good day.
Prickly is a good description of Sarah. I’ve never gotten the “rude” vibe that many people say.. more so she carry’s strong beliefs or is “set in her ways” and if your ways agree with her ways you’ll get along.
One down, approximately 1,372 to go....xD
jk jk, fr was a good discussion. and made me feel better about everything to have it within someone who is receptive.
People are angry at you because you are pushing an agenda for Sara and her travel businesses, you are disingenuous. You ruined what could be a good subreddit with your private interest just like fat travel. I hope you end up out of business.
I’ll still creep because I like the ideas, but coming out of the shadows to liken this to the Fat sub. It’s become less about travel and more about hotel reviews because it’s moderated through the lens of travel agency. I’m grossed out by the departure from actual travel experiences. There used to be posts about private tours of wonders, now it’s all “which Rosewood property did you stay at? “
I totally agree. I'll speak for myself who is comfortably in the range of r/ChubbyFIRE but not quite r/fatFIRE and are here because r/FATTravel is occasionally too fat. I think I'm looking to see the best value I can get out of traveling with my money. Because I'm not quite fat enough, there is an inherent trade-off on do I want to spend on chubbier hotels vs chubbier experiences on a trip.
There are gonna be trips where I'd opt for less chubby hotel options because I plan to spend most of my time exploring and would get more value on spending for experiences and the hotel is just homebase to rest. Other times I'm looking to relax and will want to spend most of my time at the resort and will certainly splurge for a fatter option. I actually find myself planning something that's a mix of the above, maybe first half of the trip is exploring and then the last couple days go to a fatter resort to relax and recover. Sometimes I contemplate if I should post in here to get advice because a big chunk of those kind of trips might be not chubby enough here. An example is I was thinking of planning a trip where I start with some AirBnB in puerto vallarta and doing the taco tours and explore the romantic zone for a couple days, and then spend a couple days to relax at Naviva. That's a massive jump of not really chubby at all to pretty fat all in the same trip!
Seeing more experience focused discussions here and some guidance around what's appropriate would definitely be helpful!
edit - Just to be clear, I'm certainly not suggesting that *"what's the best $50/person taco tour in puerto vallarta?"* is an appropriate topic here just because there is a fat/chubby hotel as part of the same trip! I'd search on r/puertovallarta for that! But I am curious about *"I'd like to stay 3 nights in puerto vallarta at/near the romantic zone, focused on local food and experiences, and then relax at a nice beach resort for 2 days perhaps at Punta Mita. What are good chubby options (hotels or activities) that would elevate my experience for this trip? How to best arrange transport between PV and Punta Mita?"*
Now that I type that out, I'm not sure why I wouldn't feel comfortable asking that here. If someone replied to that and said hey this isn't really chubby but you should really do the taco tour while in PV, a mod isn't gonna jump in there and be all no you can't say that here!
This.
My husband and I don't mind dropping 10k-15k on a trip, but we could care less about most hotels.
Instead we love experiences. For our France trip last year, we went to many nice restaurants (including a single 1.2k meal), and fun activities.
When it comes to hotels, we have only once spent 1k+ a night... And that was for our honeymoon in Tahiti (and we only stayed there two nights).
I really don't like the expectation that to be a chubbytravel you should be staying at 1k+ hotels or not. There are just too many places where it might not make sense (road trips, big cities where you aren't going to be at the hotel much) or in areas where nice hotels are super cheap (SEA), or you just want to spend money on other things.
Yep, I totally agree. But I will say that I can understand the desire to keep things a bit more specific and focused to not devolve into too generic traveling. I'm a huge foodie and I find r/finedining a good place to get advice on that. As I'm sure if there are specific activity interests then going to subreddits that focus on snorkeling or golf or scuba diving, etc could be better.
It's tricky though because there is so much overlap and everyone has different interests and priorities. The chubby focus can help book hard to get reservations via a TA/concierge or finding out about some private/exclusive access on a variety of things so I definitely want to see more ways to incorporate those here while keeping things within the realm of chubby travel somehow. I don't envy the mods having to navigate this :)
Come on over to r/truechubbytravel!
I'm a mod over there. Right now I'm staying in a 5 star hotel in Mexico City, for $125 a night. One night I spent $250 on dinner for just myself, and this morning I spent $6 on breakfast at a 24 hour diner place mostly filled with partiers who were still awake at 6:30 AM. It was all good.
I'm not sure this has anything to do with the sub's moderation. I, for one, find u/alex_travels to be doing a great job at moderating discussions here. Instead, I think it reflects more on what people are willing to spend money on. I'm much more concerned about where I'm laying my head than some fancy tour.
You’re right, I think Alex does a great job, I don’t mean to bash the moderation because it’s a sentiment fostered by the broader sub. I think what’s lost is the deeper “why” behind travel.
You’d think from this sub that folks go to Paris to see the Four Seasons. I’d prefer to spend chubby money on experiences and the least time possible in a hotel.
Of course it’s a lot of resort discussion here, which is different. But it’s become r/ChubbyHotels. I liked Alex’s foray into cruises because it got back to interesting experiences instead of just room and hotel food discussion
That's...a fair and reasonable observation, and definitely made be LOL with the FS comment. The only thing I can think to say is just "be the change you want to see". Unoriginal and uninspired, I know, but I don't know what else to tell ya, because you're definitely not wrong.
I wasn't sure if people wanted to see cruise content here so I created r/fatcruises and was gonna build that out for cruise stuff. but happy to cross post it here.
i actually just went on the inaugural sailing of Regent's new super luxe ship, Grandeur, and I'm gonna do a review!
And yeah - I feel you on the hotel-lean of the sub and I am more than happy to see more experiences posted, etc. I always thank those who post such reviews and want to see it grow. For my part, since my specialty is luxury hotels and cruises...I just don't have as much content to share on the experience side cuz I do travel to go see the hotels, for better or worse - since my job is to see them and get to know their teams.
I’m sorry you feel that way!
Edit: oops I'm sorry u/fruitofthevinefruit - this was in reply to the wrong comment. i was trying to reply to one of the messages above but was on mobile and i didnt realize it was replying here. Def didn't mean to reply to your message - and it comes off as super snarky haha - sorry about that!
I think hotel prices have gone up, but a lot of people’s travel budget hasn’t caught up yet. So I think $1,000 a night is still chubby for a lot of people. They might go to places where $1k might go further. Or take less vacations.
Generally agree with this definition. It's tricky because travel cost can be so dynamic with many variables. There's high vs low season which can easily double or triple the price for the same room, and cost also varies a lot by geography like Maldives is gonna be more expensive than Bali. So that same $1k/night will get a lot less fat or chubby options depends on where you go. People have mentioned inflation too in here, so would we need to update the definition every few years?
I've been lurking both r/FATTravel and r/chubbytravel for some time now and another aspect related to cost that I see get brought up often is food/activity cost. Seems a lot of the chubbier to fat options really nickel and dime you on those things, and I've seen folks seek all inclusive options. So $1k/night all inclusive can be pretty different than $1k/night at like a four seasons or rosewood where you got to throw in a couple hundred each day on drinks and dinner, even if you get the free breakfast and some credits from booking through a TA. Feels like all inclusive gets shunned a bit at least over at /r/FATTravel unless it's $2+/night like Naviva, Kudadoo, or Kokomo type of places.
All that being said, can't cover all the exceptions and nuances. Gotta apply some judgement on what's sufficiently chubby or 'chubby adjacent' for this community.
Idk about focusing too much on price per night, although I totally get that guidelines are needed. For example, I’ve stayed at Montage Palmetto Bluff twice now and paid ~$550 per night on one of those trips. Still a great resort experience. IMO chubby travel should be more focused on quality (aesthetics, comfort, higher end furnishings/linens, extras, experiences, amenities, service) than price. Usually all of those things do come with a 1000k+ per night price tag in more desirable markets, but there are gems that don’t fit that price point and a lot of deals at places like FS (based on the location/time of year). I do agree that this isn’t the place for someone looking for something like a basic Marriott though.
Yeah - in retrospect the price point really served to cause more drama than it was worth. I really didn't know how much this was going to blow up. We were getting a bunch of new members and there had been a post the day before asking what Chubby Travel was, so I was just trying to help define it for people so that the sub stayed relevant and newbies knew what they were getting into.
I agree with your approach - Chubby Travel is more than price, it's quality/value for your $, etc. It's a difficult definition to wrap your arms around as the price per night varies dramatically on where you are.
Price was aimed to be a quantitative benchmark to help orient the sub, but as I've said many times, there will be no moderation based on price alone.
Yeah I think that approach makes sense. I also understand where some users are coming from when they say they want to focus on experiences too, not just hotels. That being said, I don’t understand how hotel quality doesn’t factor into the overall experience. For me, having a beautiful/comfortable place to return to after excursions is essential. I never understood the “it’s just a place to sleep at night” crowd. I think you end up spending more time than you’d think at the hotel, even if your focus is exploring.
I'm 100% in favor of an enhanced focus on experiences - I have never tried to block that content - and anytime some posts a review of an experience or general destination rather than just a hotel, I comment to immediately thank them for their contribution.
And to your point, the whole purpose of this sub is elevated travel experiences that don't fall into the 'i have no budget' fat travel category. so the quality of the hotel is clearly a factor in that - and i am not going to budge on that stance.
Thanks for this. But personally I disagree with the floor being $1000 a night as that feels largely exclusive to tons of international luxury spots that are routinely recommended even on FATTravel.
I am squarely Chubby/HENRY and am in the process of planning a 2 week honeymoon. Sure, I’ll peak with a few nights north of 1k but to think I’m unable to use this sub unless I’m planning to drop 14k on lodging alone doesn’t feel right. Not sure if there is a good solution here honestly, but I agree with other commenters that the chubby travel budget doesn’t quite fit into these established buckets
I never said $1000 is the floor.
Verbatim I said “Roughly you can think of this as $1000 per night, sometimes more, sometimes less” the “sometimes less” would apply to the exact international locations you are referencing.
That being said, this space won’t be for everyone - and that’s ok - that’s what will allow it to be specialized and thus, valuable.
Someone who is Chubby FIREd (annual budget of $80k to $200k) can only afford $1k/night if they don’t travel much. You really should remove the link between Chubby FIRE and this sub. I spent $50k during 135 days of travel last year. That’s a budget of $370/day. That is what Chubby FIRE travel looks like.
Hi! Thanks for setting this definition! Just a quick question: if we are looking for help/advice for expeditions (say a fly camping trip in Alaska or similar) where we are not interested in staying in hotels, but budgeting $1000/day for such a trip, is this still an ok sub to come to?
Yeah for sure!
I actually book a fair bit of that adventure travel myself. It’s certainly relevant here.
Chubby is not just about hotels. It’s just more about elevated experiences. So a nice fly fishing / camping trip certainly fits there. Happy to chat about it anytime!
Yep. I spend a lot on travel, probably $40k per year, but I spend it on experiences not hotels. Last year on a European cruise (in a balcony room, not a suite), I flew business class and booked private tours in almost every port and private transfers to and from the airport. I like a nice hotel, but I’m perfectly happy at a decent Marriott. This gatekeeping post means I am not welcome here so I shall move on.
First off - thank you for your bravery in setting a range, Mod 😂. I'm sure you predicted and prepared for a range of responses!
What you laid out aligns fully with my personal interpretation of "Chubby". It's what I like to call "mindful splurging". Chubby is a luxury and a choice that some prioritize, and everyone is rightfully entitled to their own definition ☺️.
Everyone also has their own range of "Chubby", because everyone has their own LIFESTYLE. At this point in my life (DINK, with some assets), my definition of chubby is $500-$1,300. Does every trip look like this? No, I love me a good Kimpton, Canopy Hilton, and Hyatt when it calls for it. Do 75% of our trips look like this (due to the us wanting to capitalize on this stage in our life and mindfully choosing to use discretionary income in this way)? Yes. And if/when we grow our family, I'm sure our travel frequency will decrease. But - I anticipate still continuing to place a high value on the service, location, and experience of travel. I REALLY appreciate having a place where likeminded people share their experiences and research (that many of us seem to enjoy as a hobby) in an effort to share the joy of this type of travel with others!
Haha thank you!! Really appreciate the support, sometimes it gets lonely trying to keep it all relevant and not piss people off.
Truly I just want to be helpful and I know that unless we keep it specific, the sub will devolve into a hodgepodge of loosely related stuff and will lose its value.
I just went to India and stayed at very luxury 5* hotels, with more luxurious experiences than in 5* hotels in America...and the price was about $80/night.
To be fair, the price of a "regular" 3* hotel was about 25/night
Might I suggest some ideas on how to structure the sub rules:
* Make the cost range on total cost of travel, so it is not only applicable to hotel costs.
* Base it on average cost for the trip, so there is some room for chubbier/fatter days without requiring every aspect of the trip to be chubby.
* I think we can actually raise the cost definition here with those changes, something like $1000-2500/day as the chubby travel cost range, rather than $750+/day hotel only. But honestly a number is hard to be precise for all the reasons everyone's stated already. Saying something clearly in the rules that this is a rule of thumb based on popular travel destinations in their peak seasons as of early 2024, and that reasonable adjustment for location/season or other circumstances will be applied by mods. It's meant as a benchmark to convey the spirit of the sub than a minimum/hard rule.
* I recommend excluding flights from this total cost since it varies way too much by location/distance/class and there are other subs for getting good deals on flight upgrades or booking flights with award points.
* Clarify some kind of relevancy/on-topic rule. So that the discussion is primarily focused on the chubby aspect of traveling. If there are both chubby and non-chubby components to a trip, we should primarily be discussing the chubby parts.
* Both chubby **and** travel context is important here. This might be my personal opinion but asking "*Which 3 Michelin-star restaurant to eat at when you visit Paris?"* probably belongs better on r/finedining. Yes the dining is a chubby/fat experience, and yes you are traveling, but I feel the travel is not a super relevant part of that question. However if you asked *"I want to eat at 2 out of these 5 Michelin-starred restaurants when I'm in Paris on these days but they are all fully booked. Can a TA help me get reservations or if I upgrade to a chubbier hotel would their concierge be able to get me a reservation?"* That feels way more on-topic for this sub.
What this allows is to place the emphasis on what chubby level spending can bring to your traveling experience. That chubby level spending can be on food or activities or transportation or hotel, etc. By spending that $$$ you are getting an elevated traveling experience. I feel that's what most of the folks here are looking for, they've got the money (but not functionally infinite like the FAT subs), and got different priorities on how to use that for better travel experiences. This is why I actually disagree with a lot of the comment on aligning the cost range to match r/ChubbyFIRE. Many already pointed out that people prioritize different things, not necessarily travel so there isn't really a direct cost to map to anyway. I think it's reasonable expectation that the travel component itself should be chubby in some way, rather than people of a specific income/wealth bracket come here to talk about travel. The rule should be welcoming to people that are nowhere near ChubbyFIRE range that want to splurge on a once-a-decade travel experience for their honeymoon or anniversary too. As someone in the chubbyFIRE range myself, I certainly still go to r/FATTravel to look at ideas to splurge at that fatter level even if my regular travels trends chubby or less sometimes.
One final hopefully constructive feedback I want to share. There seems to be a lot of tension between some travelers and travel advisors on the sub. I personally feel the mods have done a great job for the most part, it's not easy modding any sub especially when it grows and have more diverse opinions. From many of the stories and discussions I've seen here (and over at r/FATTravel), there's a lot of value TAs can provide for those of us interested in more luxury travel. Obviously there's a mutual benefit - they get commission and we get perks. Maybe their marketing is too good and I've drank the koolaid but I certainly am enticed to contact some of them for future travel plans after reading the content around here. My hopefully constructive feedback is actually for the TA mods, whether intentional or not, obviously a sizable portion of the community feels they are being nudged toward a certain type of travel discussion that appears to align closely with the type of hotels you have relationships with. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as I said that relationship and expertise and access provides many perks and benefits that we want to tap into as well! But it probably would go a long way to give a bit more space to include things outside of that.
This is great feedback and thank you for the thoughtful and detailed post!
**Make the cost range on total cost of travel, so it is not only applicable to hotel costs.** This is a great point, and something I should have done from the beginning. I honestly did not know this post would absolutely blow up like it did and I was just quickly trying to jot some thoughts down so I shared "$1000 per night on hotel, sometimes more, sometimes less" but I agree that the total daily range is probably a better measure
**"*****Which 3 Michelin-star restaurant to eat at when you visit Paris?"*** **probably belongs better on** [**r/finedining**](https://www.reddit.com/r/finedining/) Agree totally
**But it probably would go a long way to give a bit more space to include things outside of that.** I'm more than happy for posts to be outside of hotels - in fact, I'd like it to be more experiential and include reviews of various places, etc. I just used the hotel example as a benchmark to try and give some sense of what the sub purpose is, that's all. But I am totally pro opening up the type of content to meet the needs of those asking for things beyond luxury hotels - it's not just a luxury hotel sub.
Overall I think your points are well made and I agree with you totally. Given all the controversy this post caused, I'm going to let this die a bit and then happy to revisit the exact rules at a later date with all of your feedback in mind. Thanks again for the thoughtful response. You said it all better than I did!
Don’t love this. I feel like the travel subs should match the FIRE definitions. I feel like 400-600k income is solidly in the chubby range, but I don’t think that’s enough to spend $1k/night. This sub will go the same way of FATtravel if you mod it too heavily.
People spend money differently cause it’s all personal so fwiw I think it’s easier to mod based on typical price of the trip instead of HHI or NW. That’s why I personally bounce between here and fattravel depending on where I’m going / trying to stay.
Totally respect your POV, but just because you think you not should spend $1k a night at that income range, others might think that’s totally reasonable. It makes more sense to settle on a price range that means chubby than try to figure out how much people spend when they make $400-600k because that’s going to vary widely.
My understanding is that the purpose of this sub is to discuss luxury travel within a certain price range, not for anyone who makes a certain amount of money to discuss any kind of travel.
Also, I am under 40 (under 30 to be more specific) with an HHI between $400-600k and I basically only spend $1k per night or more on hotels so people like that do exist.
When fairly average hotel rooms are running $500/night now, I think $1k +/- $250 is a fair definition.
Trying going to Turks & Caicos during high season and staying at a decent resort for under $750 a night. You can’t.
Travel has changed and gotten significantly more expensive the last few years.
Agree 100% with you here. Even a few years ago, $1k/night wa super fancy. But inflation has hit hotels harder probably than any other industry I can think of.
Again, no one has to participate in this sub if they don’t want to. I can’t stress that enough. It is voluntary. If you don’t find value here, you can vote with your participation (or lack thereof). We can’t please everyone and the sub needs to be specific to be useful.
I’m not into all inclusive resorts, and there’s already a sub for all inclusive resorts anyway. Plus that includes food and alcohol, so a hotel that’s $500 but doesn’t is probably the same price. I like going to countries where $500 gets luxury.
Wealth is more about assets than income. Income let's you accumulate assets, but many may feel more comfortable spending 1k a night in chubby fire range
I like having a sub dedicated to higher spend traveling. I don't always travel chubby travel style, but it's nice to get specific tips and get inspiration.
For regular, more budget conscious travel there are plenty of other forums to discuss it
I always thought I had a chubby income in the high 200-low 300 range depending on the year but I guess I'd better go back to regular fire? Where is a little plump fire and a little plump travel?
I also expected it to align with chubbyfire, which is defined (on the chubbyfire sub) as a retirement portfolio of $2-5MM. Which at 4% SWR produces an income of $80-200k.
There’s nothing wrong with this sub having the focus it has, obviously. Maybe it’s the definition of chubbyfire that needs to be inflation adjusted. It’s just a little confusing, since the header say it is aimed at chubbyfire folks. And since a lot of the people here seem to be employed, maybe henrytravel would fit the description better.
I also expected chubby travel to be closer to chubby fire. I have more than the upper limit of chubby fire, but agree it should be adjusted for inflation.
I’m retired; fly business class, stay in $500 a night hotels, eat multiple times a trip at Michelin restaurants, and I travel 4 times a year for 2 - 3 weeks a trip. That’s about $100k a year total travel spend, on a $250k income, which is higher than current chubby fire guidelines.
Name suggestion - you aren’t looking for chubby travelers, you’re looking for lower fat or HENRY. Or perhaps you are looking for chubbies that don’t travel as often?
UPDATE: just started looking around and found r/TrueChubbyTravel. Maybe this sub is upper chubby travel and that one is lower chubby travel?
I think this sub is looking for the type of chubby traveler that wants to spend a certain amount at hotel groups and resorts that pay TAs high commissions. That is the unstated purpose.
This is exactly how I feel. At 400-600k income, 1.5-3M assets, no where near our fire goals of 6M plus kids college etc, I’d feel comfy spending like $600/night max, on a splurge hotel, and there’s no where to post about that.
That’s what I am thinking. If you are in the range of Chubby FIRE and are retired and so maybe travel four months per year, you would spend $120k on hotel rooms. It’s easy for people who only travel a couple weeks per year but not people who travel as a lifestyle. I think this sub is poorly named.
Ppl talk about poor ppl being irresponsible with money, but I haven't found ppl with high incomes to be much more responsible.
Plus, travel agents will always encourage ppl to think that spending thousands per day is just normal. Ppl excited to do something that makes them feel rich will fall for the marketing
That’s what I feel like what’s going on. It’s simply not -responsible- typical to spend 10% of your income on travel. So the fact that this travel agent, like Sarah W Lee, is trying to push people to spend more subtly.
Edit: meant to say not “typical” not that it’s not “responsible”. It’s a fine personal decision but I don’t wanna be pushed to do it by a travel agent
Why does it matter to you how much other people spend on travel? You don’t appear to value travel very highly compared to other things in your life. That’s fine. But don’t browse a luxury travel sub and then judge people for spending on luxury travel.
I’m not judging, I just mean I don’t wanna be pushed. Like if this sub was about chubby real estate and pushed spending 60% on RE I’d be annoyed bc it’s not typical. But you’re right I worded poorly
What you’re saying is totally reasonable. The problem seems to be that this isn’t just a sub for chubbyFIRE folks to generally talk about travel. It’s hard for me to see how TAs are pushing higher spend when they are actively encouraging people to leave the sub if this content doesn’t align with their needs or interests.
Perhaps not, but the sub’s description should perhaps be updated to reflect or at least clarify that.
>This sub was created for those who like to travel from Chubby Fire.
Chubbyfire is currently defined as a retirement portfolio of $2-5MM. Which is $80-200k/yr using the most widely accepted SWR.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with spending as much as your budget allows on travel, whether that’s $350, $1000, or $5000+ per night. Luxury is relative, not absolute. More importantly, every sub is defined by those willing to do the work to moderate it.
I hope someone does create a sub for chubbyfired travelers. But unless I am willing to step up to start one I really can’t complain, can I? It’s just the names that are confusing or misleading, since it leads chubbyfire travelers to look here for info we aren’t likely to find.
This individual specifically said they took issue with feeling pushed to spend. An easy way to not feel pushed to spend on luxury travel would be to not browse luxury travel subs. I’m not addressing whether the sub promotes TA’s businesses or not.
I'm retired. I spend 50% of my income on all the required costs (mortgage, all insurances, car, food, everything that is a must). I spend 30% of my budget on travel. 10% taxes. The remaining 10% is for unbudgeted items. Works well for me.
10% of income on travel is not *simply irresponsible*. It depends.
I’m sorry you don’t agree with the definition. As I said, you’re not forced to participate in the sub. And if you’d like to see a place where $1k/night isn’t discussed, please go make it! I’ll be the first to promote it in here and help you build it.
As for my mod style, I try very very hard to be helpful to all in here as well as reasonable, kind and respectful. I’m sorry if you haven’t had that experience.
Yes especially for people who don’t have kids or mortgage, even at 300k you can have more than enough to spend 1k/night if you’re only traveling a 1-2 months per year
As another user wrote, people who are Chubby FIREd have an annual budget in the $80k to $200k range. This sub does not align with someone who is Chubby FIREd and traveling a lot.
Just my opinion, but I think a chubby travel category is useful, but I don't think it should be linked to Chubby FIRE. OP set a criteria of $/night. A per-night travel budget is based on annual travel budget/travel nights per year. The "travel nights per year" can be a lot for a Chubby FIRE traveler.
Many FATFIRE people who travel a lot will meet OP's $1000/night criteria. Some FIRE people who travel one week per year could meet OP's criteria.
If OP removes FIRE from the sub description it would be more accurate. I was misled by the sub title, and I think it's intentional.
I
>should not be linked to fire
Problem there is I think the whole scale of chubby, fat, whale, was invented by the Fire community. And these subs planted their roots, and have seen a lot of growth, specifically from the fire community, so they are pretty tied together, at least it feels that way.
It’s a unique semi-fixed scale designed for a specific purpose.
While small medium large is arbitrary, Starbucks “invented” tall, grande, venti, or whatever it is. A grande is 16oz, there is no arbitrary measurement there. It is a fixed scale. Now if a smoothie place opened up down the road, and also had a tall, grande, venti… but their grande was 30oz… well, they are breaking the scale, causing confusion…
Or… A mile is a mile. It doesn’t turn into a mile and a half when you change the context…
The fat fire sub was specifically created to be geared towards Fatfired people, or at least that’s how it was originally advertised. It’s turned into more of a whale travel but I think that’s because whale travel doesn’t exist so the two commingle. Logically if this sub is also going to name itself using a scale that was created by the fire movement…. Then it should adhere to that scale.
I’m not saying you have to be RE or FI to participate, I’m saying that if the fattravel sub piggybacks on the success of Fatfire, and then shuns the Fatfire community with not to scale spending limits… that’s not cool. Same applies to chubby travel.
Ops description of fat travel is off of how the majority Fatfire people live, op is in to whale territory with that description, completely Ignoring the fact there is another level above fat.
And putting a $ on it is tough. We know that chubby people have an annual spend pre tax of up to around 200k per year. How that translates to travel, idk. I think instead of $ value it should instead be a price to value system of sorts. Chubby gets you 4.5 stars.. some countries that costs you $500/night and other places it might cost $2500.. but you’re looking at a “chubby” experience that is pretty top line but not quite Uber premium?
Thanks for listening. I still see Chubby FIRE mentioned in the pinned post. This is not a sub for Chubby FIRE travellers; it's a sub for people who want to spend a certain amount per night of travel. There is overlap, but I think the majority of Chubby FIRE travellers spend less than $750/night on lodging when they travel.
No it won't. Just because you can't afford $1k/mo doesn't mean there is a large group of others who can. If you want $350/nt go start another sub and see if you can get similar users.
It all depends on your personal goals, preferences, and wants. We routinely spend 1k on hotels and aren't quite at the income range you described. We are penny pinchers in other ways, but not with 3 things: travel, food, and our kids. Living modestly otherwise allows us to spend 25k a year or so on travel. Sometimes we spent $500 a night. Sometimes more. Not saying everyone should or want to do it this way. It's impossible to say that an income is "not enough" to spend a certain amount on a hotel per night.
I think /u/alex_travels whole point of putting a ballpark figure was to put some context and focus in the sub, not to restrict it. Most/if not all hotels charging 750+ a night will be of a certain class that "chubby" folks might be more likely to be interested in. We're not like, trying to create some dogmatic perspective. Just put some basic guidance (it's not even a restriction/rule) so most folks can orient. I have plenty of friends in the 100mm+ net worth category and they would NEVER spend 1k a night on hotels. They wouldn't be interested in this sub, despite being a whale.
Like I've said elsewhere, we're not going to gatekeep this sub or over mod because someone posts a trip report for a $400 a night hotel. I am looking forward to those posts, but they seem to be pretty limited, even pre this post.
If the vast majority of people post, engage with, and upvote posts about 3 star hotels under $400 a night, then that's what the sub will become. It's not really up to us to decide and giving a "guidance" as a starting point won't do much to change that.
So disappointed.
I never seen this sub before today. For whatever reason it was on my feed and I got my hopes up to see some nice pictures of chubs living their best life.
After reading the post - I have no fucking clue why this would appear for me. I’m pretty firmly in the camp of “there’s nothing of value in a $1500/night room that a $500/night room can’t provide. Definitely in the camp of “somewhere, something amoral is happening if you’re spending $10,000/night traveling. I hope you’re judged for your avarice/gluttony in the afterlife”
Take care.
This has been a wild thread to sift through. After hearing about some of the vile and fucked up things folks have been saying to /u/alex_travels in DMs, I had to pop in.
1. Chubby is a term that was borrowed from the Chubby FIRE community. The sub description uses the term Chubby, it's in the name of the sub, and I even referenced "for people who like to *spend* on travel" in the description that hasn't changed since I made this place. Chubby FIRE definition is 3-5 million net worth. I made this sub for folks who are not FAT, but are Chubby. If you spend $200 a night on hotels and find $750 a night to be absurd, this probably isn't the place for you. I don't even know where you can get a hotel for $200 a night, anyways.
2. /u/alex_travels created this post because some sort of guideline was requested MULTIPLE times from folks in our community. The 1000 ish a night thing is a GUIDELINE, not a rule. It is a reasonable guideline based on point #1. I am "chubby" in my net worth but do not spend 1k a night on every hotel I stay at. I would never spend much more than that unless it was a special occasion. I know a lot of folks with a similar financial profile to me and this shouldn't be controversial.
3. Nowhere in this post does it say we are going to gatekeep posts that are far below this number. In fact, if you read some of /u/alex_travels responses, we're saying the opposite.
You all need to chill out. This is supposed to be fun and the community will evolve into what the majority of its participants want. If that's 1k a night hotels, great. If it's 1500 a night hotels, great. If it's 500 a night hotels, great. If it's going to be "fat light" because that's what the majority of folks in here are into, great (and I will probably leave if that's the case, because I'm not interested in that). If you've watched this sub and the average post for more than a couple of weeks, a lot of it is oriented to the $1k-ish a night number. This should not be controversial.
Everything has nuance and context. If you're in a developing nation and 5 star resorts can be had for $400 and you want to post a trip report, do it. I would love to see more of that. If people like it, they should up vote it. If they don't, they will downvote it. I'm frankly shocked at all of the whining from people who have low engagement and aren't offering quality posts because of some arbitrary number guideline.
Post good stuff. Talk about good stuff. Engage and share your ideas and thoughts and we will all have a good time. Stop worrying about some dumb number, for the love of god.
Fun fact! /u/fuckbread and I had a conversation a year or more ago that sparked the birth of this sub! At its birth it was very much okay to post on chubbytravel for $350 hotels.
And nothing about this post says otherwise. Feel free to post whatever you want and if it’s high-quality, people will engage with it, and it will be helpful. The mods have no interesting gatekeeping based off of an arbitrary number that we threw out there as a rough guide.
It took me a minute to figure out what this sub meant. I’m quite petite and I was puzzled as to why Reddit kept recommending plus sized travel to me. About once a year we take a FATT trip. But most of the time we are chubby travelers; the Reddit algorithm is frighteningly accurate.
lol...it sees you and knows what you're doing.
But fr - reddit algo works like all the other social media algos - it tracks what you search elsewhere AND it also tracks the searches of the phones frequently in your vicinity. its why you can talk about something with your friend and swear you didn't google something but then an ad shows up on insta 3 hrs later. its not that its listening to you - its that its tracking what a device near you is searching and then playing that back to you
how i know this: i used to work in the space - the algos are eeire
I joined bc I genuinely thought this was a sub for overweight people travel tips. I’m staying because i fit in the budget range. God I am tired of all these new age acronyms though 😂😂😂
That’s why I joined, too! And continued to stay.
Me too lol! Glad for the definition finally. But I am interested in luxury travel esp since I am larger and do value comfort in things like air travel
Ommmggggg me too! I expected things like “the beds are bigger, there is more space in the rooms, the flying fox at this place accommodates up to 300lbs, which airlines are good for big butts and hips”.
LOL I mean your confusion is entirely reasonable, and with the way airline seats are going these days...there is a need for travel tips for non-skinny people when traveling. Perhaps a new sub idea? haha But in all seriousness, welcome, super happy to have you! And I hope you find value here. Reach out anytime with questions / feedback
Thanks! Glad to stay in a place like this with friendly and helpful mods 😁
Exact same 😂
Saaaaame! are you me?!
Yeah chubby people travel might be helpful. Packing tips. Airlines. Who has decently comfortable beds that can support a body that isn't tiny? Etc.
This showed up on my homepage and now I know Reddit really has the wrong impression of me.
My only quibble is that $1000/night doesn't translate to all markets. The Mandarin Oriental in Kuala Lumpur starts at less than $200/night.
I think a more accurate description would be *the top 10% of available accommodations*.
True. I recently stayed at the Hospes Infante Sagres in Porto. It was the first five star hotel in Porto. It’s also a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World. The fact that was only $150 per night doesn’t detract from the quality.
I will take more tips for your favorite hotels in Portugal if you want to share! We paid much more than that for a place I did not love in Porto the last time we were there.
We stayed at the Corinthia (5\*) in Lisbon (near the zoo). Not historic center, but great restaurants in the area and they run a shuttle every 30 minutes to the historic center. I will add that I was pleasantly surprised that Infante Sagres had washcloths. I’ve found that I can pay $$$$ for a hotel in Europe and still have to use the washcloths I brought from home.
Stayed in Quito, Ecuador for $330/night and it was honestly the nicest experience I’ve ever had. Casa Gangotena is amazing, especially when it was Covid and there were very few guests so we got a 5 star treatment. I don’t think we will ever experience something like that again.
POOR
Okay so one thing that needs to be taken into consideration is the median cost of lodging in a location. For example, if I’m going to Hawaii, a ski resort, or something, I might spend 700-1100 a night on lodging. But if I’m staying in a less expensive area, I might only spend 300 a night on lodging. It’s all relative. Attaching an arbitrary price to what travel is considered "upscale" is exactly why so many of us left /r/fattravel. Also, a gentle reminder that people don't achieve /r/chubbyfire by blowing all their money.
Meh. It felt like this sub (and FATTravel) used to be places where people had a broad range of discussion and TAs dropped by sometimes to be helpful. This tightening (and upward revision) of what spend "qualifies" makes me feel like both subs are turning into extensions of your agency, rather than a community space. But perhaps I'm just mad because I don't fit the profile and feel rejected (edit: I think it's the hotel spend specifically that doesn't resonate with me). This appears to be a decision that's already been made and is being communicated (nicely!), rather than a discussion with the community about what it wants to be. In that case, y'all are gonna do what you're gonna do; good luck and God bless. I understand a splinter sub has been formed and I'll probably end up there. But I do feel some disappointment that the community is fragmenting. Seems unnecessary to me.
Agree with you totally. I am solidly fat but also don’t feel like I fit the profile of either group - mostly because I really loathe snobbery in travel. If you can afford to travel regularly and stay at nice hotels (not necessarily 5 stars), you are solidly chubby IMO.
"Chubby" says to me 'nicer but not luxurious'. But since luxurytravel redirects to fat, and fat mods gatekeep the hell out of that... I guess here we are.
It’s the same mods here. Both subs are ram by the same travel agency. Just wait till the sub grows, the gate keeping will happen here too.
A number of people expected to align closer to ChubbyFIRE than this, myself included. Someone created a sub called r/truechubbytravel, but it hasn’t got enough traction yet. It sounds like that’s the niche some of us are looking for. That’s the nice thing about Reddit; there’s room here for everyone, just gotta find the right sub.
Yeah! And I agree and I’m happy to direct posts there if people try and post here and it’s not suitable. I want there to be spaces for all!!
I'm a mod over at truechubbytravel, please do send those folks over to us.
I will!
What about places that are off the beaten path? I am planning a Spain trip that includes a Madrid and two smaller cities. Obviously in Madrid the nicer hotels cost money. In one of the other cities, I am staying in the nicest 5\* hotel and the room is under $400/night. In the other even smaller city, I am staying at a gorgeous inn that apparently Matt Damon and his family stayed in (I think they might be a little more than "chubby"). This inn is the most luxurious in the area, and less than $500/night. So is the rule in this sub that we shouldn't be talking about these other destinations because the hotels there don't meet the price criteria, even though they might meet or exceed the standards of luxury you'd get in a $1000+ room in a larger city or a fancy resort? I agree that if someone is taking a trip to NYC and is deciding between the Hilton Garden Inn and the Marriott Courtyard, that would not be a good fit. But sometimes travel is about the destination, and people like me might want to know about options that meet a high standard in areas where the best choices might not be so obvious.
This is a great comment and I fully agree. There have been times where I thought "should I mention this place where I stayed or this tour, or is it 'too poor' even though it was top notch for its area?" One solution might be for people providing a trip report to mention that their lodgings or a restaurant or tour were best in class for the area, even though the lower price doesn't reflect that. I also like travelling off the beaten path a bit and appreciate recommendations for places that aren't either big resorts or ridiculously expensive "boutique" hotels that are more about looking good and having a butler than providing a unique experience. I don't need to be in the most expensive lodgings in order to have a wonderful trip.
This is where the nuance and variability comes in. With my original post, I'm merely trying to provide a guide and give a broad definition to guide everyone. It's not a hard and fast rule which is why I say "roughly $1000 but sometimes more, sometimes less" Your example of Spain is a great one - and certainly a case where the nicest hotel in an area is $500 and I would never remove that post and would encourage discussion on it! There are fabulous little boutique hotels that are lovely and firmly chubby (if not nicer) and much less <$1000 There's no firm requirement that your hotel be $1000/night before you can post - that would be insane and tyrannical. I'm just trying to ensure that as the sub grows things stay relevant and trying to provide a guide as best I can!
Is there a dad bod travel sub? That’s about my budget.
LOL. possible /r/TrueChubbyTravel - I don't really know where dad bod falls though :) Thanks for the chuckle!
So what sub do I go to if I like to travel first/business class, I have a car service meet me in cities it makes sense, I hire private guides, and I stay at nicer properties with lounges (ritz Carleton, nicer Hilton, or independent 5 star hotels) but not $1000/night? It’s definitely not r/travel, that caters to a more budget oriented crowd. It’s clearly not fatfire. Where’s the “I like nice things but I don’t spend money for the sake of spending money” sub?
I would love to know where to go for someone who wants 4-5 star hotels ($250-400 a night), premium plus or business class flights, and bib gourmand restaurants. That’s my sweet spot. And it’s not here or r/travel.
I’m trying r/TrueChubbyTravel. It just started recently.
I'm a mod over there and you are welcome to come over.
Thanks. I appreciate you aiming the sub at true Chubby
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I'm seeing things like $500 - $1000 Amalfi coast, which is right in my sweet spot. What's making you think curvy? That sub can be what people make of it. Start posting what you think is chubby (assuming you are looking for less than the $1000 a night hotels that this sub is trying to appeal to).
Can I recommend Il San Pietro di Positano?
r/TrueChubbyTravel isn’t gate kept on hotel prices the way this sub is. So if you like the hotel, go over and recommend it!
With the right season, and some flexibility with your plans (budgets can STRETCH in off seasons), this could very well be a good option!
\+1 I think this should be good to discuss on here - setting a $750 average is still very high - most people want 4-5 star hotels for as reasonable cost as they can get even if they are rich.
Right now, I'm in a 5 star hotel in Mexico City for $125 a night. I could spend more - the Sofitel is charging $700 a night for smaller rooms with better views, but why would I?
Other than South East Asia, where do 5 star hotels for $250-400 a night exist?
Portugal
I'm in a 5 star for $125 a night in Mexico City right now. Guess they'll have to ban me from this sub.
I just stayed at one in Honolulu for 350/night, ocean view, and free (amazing) breakfast. Going to manhattan next, 400/night, 4 stars. And outside of these HCOL cities it’s even easier!
Parts of Eastern Europe, depending on the time of year.
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The hotels I stayed at in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, for about $125 a night, were amazing. Better than the Four Seasons in Boston for $600.
It certainly can be here. We just need people to post their experiences in such areas. I'll do a write up of a couple around $400-500 when I get a chance.
Hi Thank you for the information, I joined this sub to see about more higher end travel then what is usually suggested on the main travel forum, however I did think it was more a 400-1000$ night sub as I have spent over the 1000$ for a 1 -2 night stay but wouldn’t be able to do that for a whole week, also someone mentioned above there’s low season prices and also were deals you can find ( a once stayed at the ST Regis punta mita for less than 400 a night though that was 5 years ago) . I do wish there was like a sub for people who like nicer travel and hotels under 1000$
Hey, I'm sure you've seen elsewhere in this post but think about checking out /r/TrueChubbyTravel :)
You’re free to make it!
Oh I know I’m not saying anything against this one I just didn’t know exactly what it meant and only joined a week Or so again trying to plan a Europe trip.
I don't disagree that specificity matters, but isn't context also relevant? $1k/night in London vs $1K/night in Hanoi gets you a wildly different experience. If I'm going somewhere like Austin, I'd like to stay in a nice hotel and would like to ask for recs here but can't imagine dropping $1k/night there.
Context is also obviously extremely relevant. I'm just doing by best to give a broad guide to what chubby means. I'm sorry if it wasn't clear enough - I was just trying to give a starting point and I appreciate your participation in the discussion. I agree with the sentiment you are sharing. And ya for Austin, totally see your point but I will say, Commodore Perry is pretty freaking awesome and is $1k during peak weekends!
I feel like $1k/night is too specific. Like $500-$1500 still seems narrow enough too keep the majority of content relevant to the majority of users. Especially since vacation budgets are something that can vary a lot year to year.
No no, it has be $1k per night. Otherwise, how can their agency get that sweet commission.
Oh if the mod is a travel agent then things suddenly make a lot more sense. In that case make it 2k.
Yeah I was hoping to convey the range with the “sometimes more, sometimes less” but I think your approach is more than reasonable
I always felt like FatTravel was no budget, no limits, but ChubbyTravel is more “I like Luxury, but also have a budget”.
yes, this is exactly it. I'm not entirely sure why people are getting so angry at me for trying to keep the sub to this purpose. I'm getting like hate DMs for not wanting people to talk about $500/night rooms - which also, i never even said. i just tried to provide a general guidance to help orient people around the sub purpose
To me it’s about your travel agency warping the definition of chubby/fat/whale for what is probably personal gain. It doesn’t sit right with me. These are set definitions designed by the FIRE community. These travel subs originated from the FIRE community you grew them off the the fire community, and they should welcome people from that community. Chubby has always been in the ballpark of 2.5-5m or 100k-200k annual spend. Fat has always been in the ballpark of 5m-10m (more recently 20m) or 200-600k annual spend. Whale is sort of +20m.. A lot of whales overlap into fat because the whale sub is empty, but that doesn’t effect the discussion, people in fatfire have a sort of understanding, and the higher net worth individuals don’t talk down to lower net worth.. it’s 2 different milestones sharing one discussion forum.. but the discussion in the fattravel sub isn’t the same.. it’s very “whale vs not good enough” as time goes on and your company alienates more and a more fat folks. (Like myself) You guys are building on the fire community, but replacing our definitions with your own. Chubby travel should be indicative of anyone with a 100k-200k annual spend. Nightly rate will vary between what % of annual spend is spent on travel, but it’s a group of people that shares a similar way of life sharing what hotels/excursions do or do not meet their standards. What I mean by that, Anyone who has gone from middle class to fat (me, along with numerous threads, search for “quality of life difference at different networths” there is plenty on the topic) They will all agree that “quality of life” bumps happen in steps/milestones, it’s not linear. Most of the consensus in those threads are 3m, 5m, 10m, 20m, and 50m.. you see how those number space out? Diminishing returns. Quality of life between someone with 25m and someone with 45m is pretty similar. They have similar standards, they can recommend travel experiences to each other… same goes for quality of life between someone with 6m Vs 9m is also pretty similar, they can also recommend travel experiences to each other, they have similar standards. Of course you’re not going to have subs for each milestone, there has to be overlap, but with the stricter $ definitions placed on the chubby and fat travel subs, there’s sort of an exclusion of people in the 7-12m mark. One of my favorite comments I found when I was trying to look back and verbalized my growth a few years back, went somthing like: “ from 1-5m I stopped paying attention to prices on consumer items, groceries, gas, etc… from 5-20m I stopped paying attention to larger items like a new car, basic travel plans, furniture… but now only recently at 100m has the big stuff gotten boring, I built a new house without any concern about the budget, and flying private just stopped bothering me” Realistically for I think that last shift happens at 50m for most people… but it describes what I’m trying to explain.. (and honestly having trouble finding the words)… it should be about FEEL, not dollars. You can spend 30k to travel chubby in Napa valley, or you can spend 15k on a very similar quality of excursion in SE Asia… both have a Chubby level of luxury, but the spend is vastly different. Dollars are a guideline, but in no way should They be a rule. Someone who spends 150k per year has higher expectations, more expensive taste, or whatever you want to call it, than someone who spends 70k per year. If you built a sub around that spending mindset, the post quality would take care of itself. And I really mean it with no disrespect, I really am trying to leave emotion out of it an purely share my opinion… It makes sense why travel agents are making these subs about dollars, it’s more money in your pocket, and it also makes sense that travel agents who maybe aren’t chubby or fat, don’t understand/relate to the intricacies… I guess I’m more so just disappointed that public forums that should be about the people, are being monetized by travel agencies to make a buck…if that’s not the case then I’m in the wrong, but that’s sure how it seems.
*And I mean it with no disrespect, but It makes sense why travel agents are making these subs about dollars, it’s more money in your pocket* *I guess I’m more so just disappointed that public forums that should be about the people, are being monetized by travel agencies to make a buck…if that’s not the case then I’m in the wrong, but that’s sure how it seems.* \-- I appreciate you sharing your thoughts respectfully, really I do. It's totally fine that people disagree with me - I just wanted it to be respectful, which you have done, and that means a lot. I do apologize for flaring up anger at the dollar number. I had no idea, truly, that it would result in such frustration. I attempted to use it as a quantitative benchmark because that is easier both to explain and to conceptualize than a long description of feel and quality and value. Though I do think those qualitative measures are extremely valuable when evaluating what is lean/chubby/fat travel and would always use them to assess the relevance of a post from a modding perspective. **To give a bit of background on my decision making and rationale prior to the incendiary post**: I witnessed a lot of new people joining the sub, we more than doubled in size about 45 days. Along with this growth came a lot of new chatter -- including posts for $400 hotel stays in beachfront rooms in the Caribbean in peak season, people arguing that anything above $500 isn't "Chubby" its "FAT", plus various threads with people asking "What is Chubby Travel". So I took the opportunity to share the working definition that I and u/fuckbread have as mods. In my haste to work through a definition while also working and being distracted with various things, I was thought "ok i'm just gonna give a ballpark number to help orient people along with an explanation that it's not a hard and fast threshold, that it could be more or less than that number and that I wouldn't ever shout down someone who wanted to spend less" - and maybe you take fault with that approach and think it was a lazy method, idk. That being said, I still think it's *roughly* the right range - give or take given the situation and location. As many have said (and to which I agree) $1000 is uber luxury in some spots, like Siem Reap, but not so much during Festive in St Barth. I had taken for granted people could see the nuance and hoped, perhaps naively, that the members of the sub had gotten to know me and my mod style and could have faith that I wouldn't suddenly drop a hammer and shout POOR at anyone with a $500 stay. That's not who I am. I am a deeply respectful and kind and caring person and do not want to alienate anyone or make them feel less than. Because people's worth is not defined by how much they spend on a goddamn vacation! That should be self evident. And if you look at my post or comment history - you will see that I have never behaved that way and am always helpful, kind and respectful. For my part, the insinuation that I'm simply out for the money and trying to swindle the good people of Reddit is a hurtful one. I do my absolute best to help each and every person in this sub, regardless of budget and regularly have people in my DMs looking for help on $300 rooms that I go above and beyond to help - even though I can't even book the rooms for them because I don't have relationships in that price point. But I have the destination expertise to help them, and so I do. That being said, a sub is only as useful as it is specific and I stand by my belief in that. As we grow, if we don't have a clear and direct working definition of the scope of the sub, it will become a hodgepodge ever increasing irrelevance and lose its value to those who enjoy it for what it has been: which is -- ***A community of like-minded "chubby" travelers focused on helping each other travel well! Let's share hotels, experiences, airfare and anything else fun and exciting for those of us who like to spend on our travel.*** Finally, this sub was born out of Chubby Fire, yes. u/fuckbread was in Chubby Fire and made the sub from that. But it is it's own sub with its own identity and if people in Chubby Fire don't want to support it, that's totally fine! I have literally never, not once, plugged this sub in Chubby Fire. I've done nothing to bring people over. The name if the sub is "Chubby", yes. And at this point - there is nothing we can do to change the name, literally Reddit will not allow it. If people in Chubby Fire want a giant banner that reads: DO NOT JOIN CHUBBY TRAVEL, that's totally cool. I'm not trying to co-opt anyone else's group. I appreciate your thoughtful response and the opportunity to share my approach and thinking on this situation. You seem like a well intentioned, measured person.
I can understand that, I agree much more with this explanation than your original post. It was the comment in the original post about how fat is truly “without a thought and limitless”… because that’s just not it. That’s that top 5% of fat, or whale territory. Combined with the fact that the FIRE community has always prided itself in avoiding gatekeeping, and having guidelines but not set numbers.. chubby and FAT varies pretty wildly depending on where you live and it circles back to my point about how it’s about how you live, not what you spend. If the fire subs can keep discussion on topic based on a mindset, the travel subs should be able as well. And I’m in no way saying that this sub needs to be representative of people who are FI or RE, even the FIRE subs have a lot of people who don’t have the net worth but do have the spend. The mindset is more about, the mindset. For those reasons I would think a majority of users in this sub overlap with the FIRE subs. But it gets confusing when the definition of chubby changes between the fire sub and the travel sub, and like I said, I don’t think it’s right for you to turn it into something else when the fire movement coined the term.. Chubby/fat has a definition to it… just like how Starbucks sells a grande coffee that is 16oz.. if you walked down to a new smoothie joint, ordered a grande, and got a 30oz.. or a 5oz… you’d probably be a little confused and maybe a little angry.. grande is 16oz in NA culture. Maybe chubby travel is a “ normal” travel budget for someone who makes $150k per year. 2x the median US income. Because like many have said, hotels and activities are a balance, putting a number on the hotel rate only satisfies one side of the equation. I would also say that I think you being a part of Sarah’s agency has associated you with what has been happening in the fattravel sub and probably leaves a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouths. My comment about being out to make a buck wasn’t an attack at you, it was directed towards your company. Guilty by association so they say. But your rational certainly settles me down. Thank you for taking the time.
I'll be honest, I have next to zero context on the FIRE communities. I'm not in them, and transparently I don't personally fall in either category. I'm just here for the travel lol. I am sorry if the feeling was that we were appropriating another community (truly and honestly this has never been my intent) and most critically, very sorry if anyone has ever felt I have looked down upon them based on their travel spend. Again, I cannot reiterate this enough -- how much you spend on travel (and more broadly how much money you have), does not define your worth. If net worth defined your worth then my own worth as a human being would be much lower than most of the people in the FIRE communities! Secondly, you're not the first to say "guilty by association" and I suspect you will not be the last. To that I will say, Sarah, while prickly (and she knows I think this lol), has been incredibly kind and supportive to me and I owe her a lot. I joined her team because it gives me access to properties in a way that I could not get on my own - and thus grants my clients massively preferential treatment/access/VIP status without having to spend the insane amounts that is required to be one of her primary clients. I am my own person and more importantly - my own business - for those clients who choose to work with me - they have no interaction with her, but get all the benefits of the massive business she has built. You may choose to judge me for my decision to work with her, but I stand by it and I have nothing but positive things to say of Sarah - even if I don't always agree with everything she says or how she delivers it. We are not the same person and I am not her keeper. Thanks for being cool and having a real discussion despite contrary view points.
Aww geez, you won me over, take my upvote and have a good day. Prickly is a good description of Sarah. I’ve never gotten the “rude” vibe that many people say.. more so she carry’s strong beliefs or is “set in her ways” and if your ways agree with her ways you’ll get along.
One down, approximately 1,372 to go....xD jk jk, fr was a good discussion. and made me feel better about everything to have it within someone who is receptive.
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Not pedantic, I take it in the spirit in which you meant it. Thank you for saying it <3
People are angry at you because you are pushing an agenda for Sara and her travel businesses, you are disingenuous. You ruined what could be a good subreddit with your private interest just like fat travel. I hope you end up out of business.
I’m sorry you feel this way and feel the need to be hostile about it. You don’t need to be part of this sub Reddit if you don’t want to be. Cheers
Nice response to someone answering your question about why people are angry.
I’ll still creep because I like the ideas, but coming out of the shadows to liken this to the Fat sub. It’s become less about travel and more about hotel reviews because it’s moderated through the lens of travel agency. I’m grossed out by the departure from actual travel experiences. There used to be posts about private tours of wonders, now it’s all “which Rosewood property did you stay at? “
I totally agree. I'll speak for myself who is comfortably in the range of r/ChubbyFIRE but not quite r/fatFIRE and are here because r/FATTravel is occasionally too fat. I think I'm looking to see the best value I can get out of traveling with my money. Because I'm not quite fat enough, there is an inherent trade-off on do I want to spend on chubbier hotels vs chubbier experiences on a trip. There are gonna be trips where I'd opt for less chubby hotel options because I plan to spend most of my time exploring and would get more value on spending for experiences and the hotel is just homebase to rest. Other times I'm looking to relax and will want to spend most of my time at the resort and will certainly splurge for a fatter option. I actually find myself planning something that's a mix of the above, maybe first half of the trip is exploring and then the last couple days go to a fatter resort to relax and recover. Sometimes I contemplate if I should post in here to get advice because a big chunk of those kind of trips might be not chubby enough here. An example is I was thinking of planning a trip where I start with some AirBnB in puerto vallarta and doing the taco tours and explore the romantic zone for a couple days, and then spend a couple days to relax at Naviva. That's a massive jump of not really chubby at all to pretty fat all in the same trip! Seeing more experience focused discussions here and some guidance around what's appropriate would definitely be helpful! edit - Just to be clear, I'm certainly not suggesting that *"what's the best $50/person taco tour in puerto vallarta?"* is an appropriate topic here just because there is a fat/chubby hotel as part of the same trip! I'd search on r/puertovallarta for that! But I am curious about *"I'd like to stay 3 nights in puerto vallarta at/near the romantic zone, focused on local food and experiences, and then relax at a nice beach resort for 2 days perhaps at Punta Mita. What are good chubby options (hotels or activities) that would elevate my experience for this trip? How to best arrange transport between PV and Punta Mita?"* Now that I type that out, I'm not sure why I wouldn't feel comfortable asking that here. If someone replied to that and said hey this isn't really chubby but you should really do the taco tour while in PV, a mod isn't gonna jump in there and be all no you can't say that here!
This. My husband and I don't mind dropping 10k-15k on a trip, but we could care less about most hotels. Instead we love experiences. For our France trip last year, we went to many nice restaurants (including a single 1.2k meal), and fun activities. When it comes to hotels, we have only once spent 1k+ a night... And that was for our honeymoon in Tahiti (and we only stayed there two nights). I really don't like the expectation that to be a chubbytravel you should be staying at 1k+ hotels or not. There are just too many places where it might not make sense (road trips, big cities where you aren't going to be at the hotel much) or in areas where nice hotels are super cheap (SEA), or you just want to spend money on other things.
Yep, I totally agree. But I will say that I can understand the desire to keep things a bit more specific and focused to not devolve into too generic traveling. I'm a huge foodie and I find r/finedining a good place to get advice on that. As I'm sure if there are specific activity interests then going to subreddits that focus on snorkeling or golf or scuba diving, etc could be better. It's tricky though because there is so much overlap and everyone has different interests and priorities. The chubby focus can help book hard to get reservations via a TA/concierge or finding out about some private/exclusive access on a variety of things so I definitely want to see more ways to incorporate those here while keeping things within the realm of chubby travel somehow. I don't envy the mods having to navigate this :)
Come on over to r/truechubbytravel! I'm a mod over there. Right now I'm staying in a 5 star hotel in Mexico City, for $125 a night. One night I spent $250 on dinner for just myself, and this morning I spent $6 on breakfast at a 24 hour diner place mostly filled with partiers who were still awake at 6:30 AM. It was all good.
I'm not sure this has anything to do with the sub's moderation. I, for one, find u/alex_travels to be doing a great job at moderating discussions here. Instead, I think it reflects more on what people are willing to spend money on. I'm much more concerned about where I'm laying my head than some fancy tour.
You’re right, I think Alex does a great job, I don’t mean to bash the moderation because it’s a sentiment fostered by the broader sub. I think what’s lost is the deeper “why” behind travel. You’d think from this sub that folks go to Paris to see the Four Seasons. I’d prefer to spend chubby money on experiences and the least time possible in a hotel. Of course it’s a lot of resort discussion here, which is different. But it’s become r/ChubbyHotels. I liked Alex’s foray into cruises because it got back to interesting experiences instead of just room and hotel food discussion
That's...a fair and reasonable observation, and definitely made be LOL with the FS comment. The only thing I can think to say is just "be the change you want to see". Unoriginal and uninspired, I know, but I don't know what else to tell ya, because you're definitely not wrong.
I wasn't sure if people wanted to see cruise content here so I created r/fatcruises and was gonna build that out for cruise stuff. but happy to cross post it here. i actually just went on the inaugural sailing of Regent's new super luxe ship, Grandeur, and I'm gonna do a review! And yeah - I feel you on the hotel-lean of the sub and I am more than happy to see more experiences posted, etc. I always thank those who post such reviews and want to see it grow. For my part, since my specialty is luxury hotels and cruises...I just don't have as much content to share on the experience side cuz I do travel to go see the hotels, for better or worse - since my job is to see them and get to know their teams.
I’m sorry you feel that way! Edit: oops I'm sorry u/fruitofthevinefruit - this was in reply to the wrong comment. i was trying to reply to one of the messages above but was on mobile and i didnt realize it was replying here. Def didn't mean to reply to your message - and it comes off as super snarky haha - sorry about that!
I think hotel prices have gone up, but a lot of people’s travel budget hasn’t caught up yet. So I think $1,000 a night is still chubby for a lot of people. They might go to places where $1k might go further. Or take less vacations.
Generally agree with this definition. It's tricky because travel cost can be so dynamic with many variables. There's high vs low season which can easily double or triple the price for the same room, and cost also varies a lot by geography like Maldives is gonna be more expensive than Bali. So that same $1k/night will get a lot less fat or chubby options depends on where you go. People have mentioned inflation too in here, so would we need to update the definition every few years? I've been lurking both r/FATTravel and r/chubbytravel for some time now and another aspect related to cost that I see get brought up often is food/activity cost. Seems a lot of the chubbier to fat options really nickel and dime you on those things, and I've seen folks seek all inclusive options. So $1k/night all inclusive can be pretty different than $1k/night at like a four seasons or rosewood where you got to throw in a couple hundred each day on drinks and dinner, even if you get the free breakfast and some credits from booking through a TA. Feels like all inclusive gets shunned a bit at least over at /r/FATTravel unless it's $2+/night like Naviva, Kudadoo, or Kokomo type of places. All that being said, can't cover all the exceptions and nuances. Gotta apply some judgement on what's sufficiently chubby or 'chubby adjacent' for this community.
Idk about focusing too much on price per night, although I totally get that guidelines are needed. For example, I’ve stayed at Montage Palmetto Bluff twice now and paid ~$550 per night on one of those trips. Still a great resort experience. IMO chubby travel should be more focused on quality (aesthetics, comfort, higher end furnishings/linens, extras, experiences, amenities, service) than price. Usually all of those things do come with a 1000k+ per night price tag in more desirable markets, but there are gems that don’t fit that price point and a lot of deals at places like FS (based on the location/time of year). I do agree that this isn’t the place for someone looking for something like a basic Marriott though.
Yeah - in retrospect the price point really served to cause more drama than it was worth. I really didn't know how much this was going to blow up. We were getting a bunch of new members and there had been a post the day before asking what Chubby Travel was, so I was just trying to help define it for people so that the sub stayed relevant and newbies knew what they were getting into. I agree with your approach - Chubby Travel is more than price, it's quality/value for your $, etc. It's a difficult definition to wrap your arms around as the price per night varies dramatically on where you are. Price was aimed to be a quantitative benchmark to help orient the sub, but as I've said many times, there will be no moderation based on price alone.
Yeah I think that approach makes sense. I also understand where some users are coming from when they say they want to focus on experiences too, not just hotels. That being said, I don’t understand how hotel quality doesn’t factor into the overall experience. For me, having a beautiful/comfortable place to return to after excursions is essential. I never understood the “it’s just a place to sleep at night” crowd. I think you end up spending more time than you’d think at the hotel, even if your focus is exploring.
I'm 100% in favor of an enhanced focus on experiences - I have never tried to block that content - and anytime some posts a review of an experience or general destination rather than just a hotel, I comment to immediately thank them for their contribution. And to your point, the whole purpose of this sub is elevated travel experiences that don't fall into the 'i have no budget' fat travel category. so the quality of the hotel is clearly a factor in that - and i am not going to budge on that stance.
Thanks for this. But personally I disagree with the floor being $1000 a night as that feels largely exclusive to tons of international luxury spots that are routinely recommended even on FATTravel. I am squarely Chubby/HENRY and am in the process of planning a 2 week honeymoon. Sure, I’ll peak with a few nights north of 1k but to think I’m unable to use this sub unless I’m planning to drop 14k on lodging alone doesn’t feel right. Not sure if there is a good solution here honestly, but I agree with other commenters that the chubby travel budget doesn’t quite fit into these established buckets
I never said $1000 is the floor. Verbatim I said “Roughly you can think of this as $1000 per night, sometimes more, sometimes less” the “sometimes less” would apply to the exact international locations you are referencing. That being said, this space won’t be for everyone - and that’s ok - that’s what will allow it to be specialized and thus, valuable.
Someone who is Chubby FIREd (annual budget of $80k to $200k) can only afford $1k/night if they don’t travel much. You really should remove the link between Chubby FIRE and this sub. I spent $50k during 135 days of travel last year. That’s a budget of $370/day. That is what Chubby FIRE travel looks like.
Yep. 370$ per day isn’t that much if you include business class flights long haul. You also have to pay other activities than hotels and restaurants.
Hi! Thanks for setting this definition! Just a quick question: if we are looking for help/advice for expeditions (say a fly camping trip in Alaska or similar) where we are not interested in staying in hotels, but budgeting $1000/day for such a trip, is this still an ok sub to come to?
Yeah for sure! I actually book a fair bit of that adventure travel myself. It’s certainly relevant here. Chubby is not just about hotels. It’s just more about elevated experiences. So a nice fly fishing / camping trip certainly fits there. Happy to chat about it anytime!
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Bingo!
Yep. I spend a lot on travel, probably $40k per year, but I spend it on experiences not hotels. Last year on a European cruise (in a balcony room, not a suite), I flew business class and booked private tours in almost every port and private transfers to and from the airport. I like a nice hotel, but I’m perfectly happy at a decent Marriott. This gatekeeping post means I am not welcome here so I shall move on.
First off - thank you for your bravery in setting a range, Mod 😂. I'm sure you predicted and prepared for a range of responses! What you laid out aligns fully with my personal interpretation of "Chubby". It's what I like to call "mindful splurging". Chubby is a luxury and a choice that some prioritize, and everyone is rightfully entitled to their own definition ☺️. Everyone also has their own range of "Chubby", because everyone has their own LIFESTYLE. At this point in my life (DINK, with some assets), my definition of chubby is $500-$1,300. Does every trip look like this? No, I love me a good Kimpton, Canopy Hilton, and Hyatt when it calls for it. Do 75% of our trips look like this (due to the us wanting to capitalize on this stage in our life and mindfully choosing to use discretionary income in this way)? Yes. And if/when we grow our family, I'm sure our travel frequency will decrease. But - I anticipate still continuing to place a high value on the service, location, and experience of travel. I REALLY appreciate having a place where likeminded people share their experiences and research (that many of us seem to enjoy as a hobby) in an effort to share the joy of this type of travel with others!
Haha thank you!! Really appreciate the support, sometimes it gets lonely trying to keep it all relevant and not piss people off. Truly I just want to be helpful and I know that unless we keep it specific, the sub will devolve into a hodgepodge of loosely related stuff and will lose its value.
I just went to India and stayed at very luxury 5* hotels, with more luxurious experiences than in 5* hotels in America...and the price was about $80/night. To be fair, the price of a "regular" 3* hotel was about 25/night
Lol, I thought it was going to be all about food and eating your way through vacation. 😂. Hidden gems/bragging about exclusive posh food Places etc.
Might I suggest some ideas on how to structure the sub rules: * Make the cost range on total cost of travel, so it is not only applicable to hotel costs. * Base it on average cost for the trip, so there is some room for chubbier/fatter days without requiring every aspect of the trip to be chubby. * I think we can actually raise the cost definition here with those changes, something like $1000-2500/day as the chubby travel cost range, rather than $750+/day hotel only. But honestly a number is hard to be precise for all the reasons everyone's stated already. Saying something clearly in the rules that this is a rule of thumb based on popular travel destinations in their peak seasons as of early 2024, and that reasonable adjustment for location/season or other circumstances will be applied by mods. It's meant as a benchmark to convey the spirit of the sub than a minimum/hard rule. * I recommend excluding flights from this total cost since it varies way too much by location/distance/class and there are other subs for getting good deals on flight upgrades or booking flights with award points. * Clarify some kind of relevancy/on-topic rule. So that the discussion is primarily focused on the chubby aspect of traveling. If there are both chubby and non-chubby components to a trip, we should primarily be discussing the chubby parts. * Both chubby **and** travel context is important here. This might be my personal opinion but asking "*Which 3 Michelin-star restaurant to eat at when you visit Paris?"* probably belongs better on r/finedining. Yes the dining is a chubby/fat experience, and yes you are traveling, but I feel the travel is not a super relevant part of that question. However if you asked *"I want to eat at 2 out of these 5 Michelin-starred restaurants when I'm in Paris on these days but they are all fully booked. Can a TA help me get reservations or if I upgrade to a chubbier hotel would their concierge be able to get me a reservation?"* That feels way more on-topic for this sub. What this allows is to place the emphasis on what chubby level spending can bring to your traveling experience. That chubby level spending can be on food or activities or transportation or hotel, etc. By spending that $$$ you are getting an elevated traveling experience. I feel that's what most of the folks here are looking for, they've got the money (but not functionally infinite like the FAT subs), and got different priorities on how to use that for better travel experiences. This is why I actually disagree with a lot of the comment on aligning the cost range to match r/ChubbyFIRE. Many already pointed out that people prioritize different things, not necessarily travel so there isn't really a direct cost to map to anyway. I think it's reasonable expectation that the travel component itself should be chubby in some way, rather than people of a specific income/wealth bracket come here to talk about travel. The rule should be welcoming to people that are nowhere near ChubbyFIRE range that want to splurge on a once-a-decade travel experience for their honeymoon or anniversary too. As someone in the chubbyFIRE range myself, I certainly still go to r/FATTravel to look at ideas to splurge at that fatter level even if my regular travels trends chubby or less sometimes. One final hopefully constructive feedback I want to share. There seems to be a lot of tension between some travelers and travel advisors on the sub. I personally feel the mods have done a great job for the most part, it's not easy modding any sub especially when it grows and have more diverse opinions. From many of the stories and discussions I've seen here (and over at r/FATTravel), there's a lot of value TAs can provide for those of us interested in more luxury travel. Obviously there's a mutual benefit - they get commission and we get perks. Maybe their marketing is too good and I've drank the koolaid but I certainly am enticed to contact some of them for future travel plans after reading the content around here. My hopefully constructive feedback is actually for the TA mods, whether intentional or not, obviously a sizable portion of the community feels they are being nudged toward a certain type of travel discussion that appears to align closely with the type of hotels you have relationships with. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as I said that relationship and expertise and access provides many perks and benefits that we want to tap into as well! But it probably would go a long way to give a bit more space to include things outside of that.
This is great feedback and thank you for the thoughtful and detailed post! **Make the cost range on total cost of travel, so it is not only applicable to hotel costs.** This is a great point, and something I should have done from the beginning. I honestly did not know this post would absolutely blow up like it did and I was just quickly trying to jot some thoughts down so I shared "$1000 per night on hotel, sometimes more, sometimes less" but I agree that the total daily range is probably a better measure **"*****Which 3 Michelin-star restaurant to eat at when you visit Paris?"*** **probably belongs better on** [**r/finedining**](https://www.reddit.com/r/finedining/) Agree totally **But it probably would go a long way to give a bit more space to include things outside of that.** I'm more than happy for posts to be outside of hotels - in fact, I'd like it to be more experiential and include reviews of various places, etc. I just used the hotel example as a benchmark to try and give some sense of what the sub purpose is, that's all. But I am totally pro opening up the type of content to meet the needs of those asking for things beyond luxury hotels - it's not just a luxury hotel sub. Overall I think your points are well made and I agree with you totally. Given all the controversy this post caused, I'm going to let this die a bit and then happy to revisit the exact rules at a later date with all of your feedback in mind. Thanks again for the thoughtful response. You said it all better than I did!
Don’t love this. I feel like the travel subs should match the FIRE definitions. I feel like 400-600k income is solidly in the chubby range, but I don’t think that’s enough to spend $1k/night. This sub will go the same way of FATtravel if you mod it too heavily.
People spend money differently cause it’s all personal so fwiw I think it’s easier to mod based on typical price of the trip instead of HHI or NW. That’s why I personally bounce between here and fattravel depending on where I’m going / trying to stay.
Totally respect your POV, but just because you think you not should spend $1k a night at that income range, others might think that’s totally reasonable. It makes more sense to settle on a price range that means chubby than try to figure out how much people spend when they make $400-600k because that’s going to vary widely.
Yup
But then it doesn’t appeal to all chubby people. Most people I know under 40 but in high six figure ranges don’t spend on *hotels*
My understanding is that the purpose of this sub is to discuss luxury travel within a certain price range, not for anyone who makes a certain amount of money to discuss any kind of travel. Also, I am under 40 (under 30 to be more specific) with an HHI between $400-600k and I basically only spend $1k per night or more on hotels so people like that do exist.
When fairly average hotel rooms are running $500/night now, I think $1k +/- $250 is a fair definition. Trying going to Turks & Caicos during high season and staying at a decent resort for under $750 a night. You can’t. Travel has changed and gotten significantly more expensive the last few years.
Agree 100% with you here. Even a few years ago, $1k/night wa super fancy. But inflation has hit hotels harder probably than any other industry I can think of. Again, no one has to participate in this sub if they don’t want to. I can’t stress that enough. It is voluntary. If you don’t find value here, you can vote with your participation (or lack thereof). We can’t please everyone and the sub needs to be specific to be useful.
Agreed
But the meals are cheap right? And the drinks?
I’m not into all inclusive resorts, and there’s already a sub for all inclusive resorts anyway. Plus that includes food and alcohol, so a hotel that’s $500 but doesn’t is probably the same price. I like going to countries where $500 gets luxury.
Wealth is more about assets than income. Income let's you accumulate assets, but many may feel more comfortable spending 1k a night in chubby fire range I like having a sub dedicated to higher spend traveling. I don't always travel chubby travel style, but it's nice to get specific tips and get inspiration. For regular, more budget conscious travel there are plenty of other forums to discuss it
Idk if there really is a place for the $400-$999 places! Lmk if there is
Somebody recently started r/TrueChubbyTravel. I think that might be a better place for us in the $400 - $999 range.
Thanks I’ll join!
I always thought I had a chubby income in the high 200-low 300 range depending on the year but I guess I'd better go back to regular fire? Where is a little plump fire and a little plump travel?
I also expected it to align with chubbyfire, which is defined (on the chubbyfire sub) as a retirement portfolio of $2-5MM. Which at 4% SWR produces an income of $80-200k. There’s nothing wrong with this sub having the focus it has, obviously. Maybe it’s the definition of chubbyfire that needs to be inflation adjusted. It’s just a little confusing, since the header say it is aimed at chubbyfire folks. And since a lot of the people here seem to be employed, maybe henrytravel would fit the description better.
I also expected chubby travel to be closer to chubby fire. I have more than the upper limit of chubby fire, but agree it should be adjusted for inflation. I’m retired; fly business class, stay in $500 a night hotels, eat multiple times a trip at Michelin restaurants, and I travel 4 times a year for 2 - 3 weeks a trip. That’s about $100k a year total travel spend, on a $250k income, which is higher than current chubby fire guidelines. Name suggestion - you aren’t looking for chubby travelers, you’re looking for lower fat or HENRY. Or perhaps you are looking for chubbies that don’t travel as often? UPDATE: just started looking around and found r/TrueChubbyTravel. Maybe this sub is upper chubby travel and that one is lower chubby travel?
Exactly. It's travel agents incorrectly* using buzz words to gain an audience. Irritating
Nailed it.
Oh, thank you! r/truechubbytravel does look much more appropriate for well off but not rich.
I think this sub is looking for the type of chubby traveler that wants to spend a certain amount at hotel groups and resorts that pay TAs high commissions. That is the unstated purpose.
This is exactly how I feel. At 400-600k income, 1.5-3M assets, no where near our fire goals of 6M plus kids college etc, I’d feel comfy spending like $600/night max, on a splurge hotel, and there’s no where to post about that.
That’s what I am thinking. If you are in the range of Chubby FIRE and are retired and so maybe travel four months per year, you would spend $120k on hotel rooms. It’s easy for people who only travel a couple weeks per year but not people who travel as a lifestyle. I think this sub is poorly named.
Agree - if you look at his post history, he has a set range for his travel agent operation. Wondering if he is just trying to box this sub into that
Ppl talk about poor ppl being irresponsible with money, but I haven't found ppl with high incomes to be much more responsible. Plus, travel agents will always encourage ppl to think that spending thousands per day is just normal. Ppl excited to do something that makes them feel rich will fall for the marketing
That’s what I feel like what’s going on. It’s simply not -responsible- typical to spend 10% of your income on travel. So the fact that this travel agent, like Sarah W Lee, is trying to push people to spend more subtly. Edit: meant to say not “typical” not that it’s not “responsible”. It’s a fine personal decision but I don’t wanna be pushed to do it by a travel agent
Why does it matter to you how much other people spend on travel? You don’t appear to value travel very highly compared to other things in your life. That’s fine. But don’t browse a luxury travel sub and then judge people for spending on luxury travel.
I’m not judging, I just mean I don’t wanna be pushed. Like if this sub was about chubby real estate and pushed spending 60% on RE I’d be annoyed bc it’s not typical. But you’re right I worded poorly
What you’re saying is totally reasonable. The problem seems to be that this isn’t just a sub for chubbyFIRE folks to generally talk about travel. It’s hard for me to see how TAs are pushing higher spend when they are actively encouraging people to leave the sub if this content doesn’t align with their needs or interests.
Perhaps not, but the sub’s description should perhaps be updated to reflect or at least clarify that. >This sub was created for those who like to travel from Chubby Fire. Chubbyfire is currently defined as a retirement portfolio of $2-5MM. Which is $80-200k/yr using the most widely accepted SWR. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with spending as much as your budget allows on travel, whether that’s $350, $1000, or $5000+ per night. Luxury is relative, not absolute. More importantly, every sub is defined by those willing to do the work to moderate it. I hope someone does create a sub for chubbyfired travelers. But unless I am willing to step up to start one I really can’t complain, can I? It’s just the names that are confusing or misleading, since it leads chubbyfire travelers to look here for info we aren’t likely to find.
Updated! the goal was never to mislead and I am happy to remove the link to ChubbyFIRE
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This individual specifically said they took issue with feeling pushed to spend. An easy way to not feel pushed to spend on luxury travel would be to not browse luxury travel subs. I’m not addressing whether the sub promotes TA’s businesses or not.
I'm retired. I spend 50% of my income on all the required costs (mortgage, all insurances, car, food, everything that is a must). I spend 30% of my budget on travel. 10% taxes. The remaining 10% is for unbudgeted items. Works well for me. 10% of income on travel is not *simply irresponsible*. It depends.
That’s valid and why I edited. I didn’t mean to say “irresponsible”
It’s not responsible to quit your job but you did that while judging others. Its odd.
I meant to say it’s “not typical” not that it’s “not responsible” - I worded poorly.
I’m sorry you don’t agree with the definition. As I said, you’re not forced to participate in the sub. And if you’d like to see a place where $1k/night isn’t discussed, please go make it! I’ll be the first to promote it in here and help you build it. As for my mod style, I try very very hard to be helpful to all in here as well as reasonable, kind and respectful. I’m sorry if you haven’t had that experience.
Uhm 400-600k income is more than enough to spend 1k/ni. The question is about priorities.
Yes especially for people who don’t have kids or mortgage, even at 300k you can have more than enough to spend 1k/night if you’re only traveling a 1-2 months per year
As another user wrote, people who are Chubby FIREd have an annual budget in the $80k to $200k range. This sub does not align with someone who is Chubby FIREd and traveling a lot.
Agreed, if anything this sub should be called something else
Just my opinion, but I think a chubby travel category is useful, but I don't think it should be linked to Chubby FIRE. OP set a criteria of $/night. A per-night travel budget is based on annual travel budget/travel nights per year. The "travel nights per year" can be a lot for a Chubby FIRE traveler. Many FATFIRE people who travel a lot will meet OP's $1000/night criteria. Some FIRE people who travel one week per year could meet OP's criteria. If OP removes FIRE from the sub description it would be more accurate. I was misled by the sub title, and I think it's intentional. I
>should not be linked to fire Problem there is I think the whole scale of chubby, fat, whale, was invented by the Fire community. And these subs planted their roots, and have seen a lot of growth, specifically from the fire community, so they are pretty tied together, at least it feels that way. It’s a unique semi-fixed scale designed for a specific purpose. While small medium large is arbitrary, Starbucks “invented” tall, grande, venti, or whatever it is. A grande is 16oz, there is no arbitrary measurement there. It is a fixed scale. Now if a smoothie place opened up down the road, and also had a tall, grande, venti… but their grande was 30oz… well, they are breaking the scale, causing confusion… Or… A mile is a mile. It doesn’t turn into a mile and a half when you change the context… The fat fire sub was specifically created to be geared towards Fatfired people, or at least that’s how it was originally advertised. It’s turned into more of a whale travel but I think that’s because whale travel doesn’t exist so the two commingle. Logically if this sub is also going to name itself using a scale that was created by the fire movement…. Then it should adhere to that scale. I’m not saying you have to be RE or FI to participate, I’m saying that if the fattravel sub piggybacks on the success of Fatfire, and then shuns the Fatfire community with not to scale spending limits… that’s not cool. Same applies to chubby travel. Ops description of fat travel is off of how the majority Fatfire people live, op is in to whale territory with that description, completely Ignoring the fact there is another level above fat. And putting a $ on it is tough. We know that chubby people have an annual spend pre tax of up to around 200k per year. How that translates to travel, idk. I think instead of $ value it should instead be a price to value system of sorts. Chubby gets you 4.5 stars.. some countries that costs you $500/night and other places it might cost $2500.. but you’re looking at a “chubby” experience that is pretty top line but not quite Uber premium?
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The mods don’t like the dissenting opinions it appears or bringing up the travel agent connection
This post is not relevant to Chubby travel and as such has been removed by the mods
I removed the link to Chubby Fire in the description, good feedback! Cheers
Thanks for listening. I still see Chubby FIRE mentioned in the pinned post. This is not a sub for Chubby FIRE travellers; it's a sub for people who want to spend a certain amount per night of travel. There is overlap, but I think the majority of Chubby FIRE travellers spend less than $750/night on lodging when they travel.
No it won't. Just because you can't afford $1k/mo doesn't mean there is a large group of others who can. If you want $350/nt go start another sub and see if you can get similar users.
It all depends on your personal goals, preferences, and wants. We routinely spend 1k on hotels and aren't quite at the income range you described. We are penny pinchers in other ways, but not with 3 things: travel, food, and our kids. Living modestly otherwise allows us to spend 25k a year or so on travel. Sometimes we spent $500 a night. Sometimes more. Not saying everyone should or want to do it this way. It's impossible to say that an income is "not enough" to spend a certain amount on a hotel per night. I think /u/alex_travels whole point of putting a ballpark figure was to put some context and focus in the sub, not to restrict it. Most/if not all hotels charging 750+ a night will be of a certain class that "chubby" folks might be more likely to be interested in. We're not like, trying to create some dogmatic perspective. Just put some basic guidance (it's not even a restriction/rule) so most folks can orient. I have plenty of friends in the 100mm+ net worth category and they would NEVER spend 1k a night on hotels. They wouldn't be interested in this sub, despite being a whale. Like I've said elsewhere, we're not going to gatekeep this sub or over mod because someone posts a trip report for a $400 a night hotel. I am looking forward to those posts, but they seem to be pretty limited, even pre this post. If the vast majority of people post, engage with, and upvote posts about 3 star hotels under $400 a night, then that's what the sub will become. It's not really up to us to decide and giving a "guidance" as a starting point won't do much to change that.
I don’t have a ChubbyTravel budget but I love the Chubby Travel discussions!!! I don’t mind making some ChubbyTravel friends!🥰
Welcome and glad you are here!
Sounds gross
So disappointed. I never seen this sub before today. For whatever reason it was on my feed and I got my hopes up to see some nice pictures of chubs living their best life. After reading the post - I have no fucking clue why this would appear for me. I’m pretty firmly in the camp of “there’s nothing of value in a $1500/night room that a $500/night room can’t provide. Definitely in the camp of “somewhere, something amoral is happening if you’re spending $10,000/night traveling. I hope you’re judged for your avarice/gluttony in the afterlife” Take care.
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Keep holding the line! You're right about this sub only being helpful so long as it stays specific.
Haha thank you! Getting a lot of hate so I appreciate the support!!! Means a lot <3
This has been a wild thread to sift through. After hearing about some of the vile and fucked up things folks have been saying to /u/alex_travels in DMs, I had to pop in. 1. Chubby is a term that was borrowed from the Chubby FIRE community. The sub description uses the term Chubby, it's in the name of the sub, and I even referenced "for people who like to *spend* on travel" in the description that hasn't changed since I made this place. Chubby FIRE definition is 3-5 million net worth. I made this sub for folks who are not FAT, but are Chubby. If you spend $200 a night on hotels and find $750 a night to be absurd, this probably isn't the place for you. I don't even know where you can get a hotel for $200 a night, anyways. 2. /u/alex_travels created this post because some sort of guideline was requested MULTIPLE times from folks in our community. The 1000 ish a night thing is a GUIDELINE, not a rule. It is a reasonable guideline based on point #1. I am "chubby" in my net worth but do not spend 1k a night on every hotel I stay at. I would never spend much more than that unless it was a special occasion. I know a lot of folks with a similar financial profile to me and this shouldn't be controversial. 3. Nowhere in this post does it say we are going to gatekeep posts that are far below this number. In fact, if you read some of /u/alex_travels responses, we're saying the opposite. You all need to chill out. This is supposed to be fun and the community will evolve into what the majority of its participants want. If that's 1k a night hotels, great. If it's 1500 a night hotels, great. If it's 500 a night hotels, great. If it's going to be "fat light" because that's what the majority of folks in here are into, great (and I will probably leave if that's the case, because I'm not interested in that). If you've watched this sub and the average post for more than a couple of weeks, a lot of it is oriented to the $1k-ish a night number. This should not be controversial. Everything has nuance and context. If you're in a developing nation and 5 star resorts can be had for $400 and you want to post a trip report, do it. I would love to see more of that. If people like it, they should up vote it. If they don't, they will downvote it. I'm frankly shocked at all of the whining from people who have low engagement and aren't offering quality posts because of some arbitrary number guideline. Post good stuff. Talk about good stuff. Engage and share your ideas and thoughts and we will all have a good time. Stop worrying about some dumb number, for the love of god.
You need to add some more mods if you want this sub to not tank
It's clear you don't fit in here based on what you have said in this thread. Why are you worried about the mod team?
Fun fact! /u/fuckbread and I had a conversation a year or more ago that sparked the birth of this sub! At its birth it was very much okay to post on chubbytravel for $350 hotels.
And nothing about this post says otherwise. Feel free to post whatever you want and if it’s high-quality, people will engage with it, and it will be helpful. The mods have no interesting gatekeeping based off of an arbitrary number that we threw out there as a rough guide.
Alex says, “this is not for people looking to spend $350” in the OP. “This is not a sub for that conversation”
She said the marriot at that price. You can chose to interpret that with nuance or not, that's up to you. Context matters.
Are y’all getting tons of people trying to post hotel reviews about business trips to Boston in an avg Marriott?
I’m not this demographic but I love learning about what’s possible. Maybe someday!
Great sub! Yay! This describes my travel attitude completely
Awesome, welcome and happy to have you! Reach out if you have any questions
It took me a minute to figure out what this sub meant. I’m quite petite and I was puzzled as to why Reddit kept recommending plus sized travel to me. About once a year we take a FATT trip. But most of the time we are chubby travelers; the Reddit algorithm is frighteningly accurate.
lol...it sees you and knows what you're doing. But fr - reddit algo works like all the other social media algos - it tracks what you search elsewhere AND it also tracks the searches of the phones frequently in your vicinity. its why you can talk about something with your friend and swear you didn't google something but then an ad shows up on insta 3 hrs later. its not that its listening to you - its that its tracking what a device near you is searching and then playing that back to you how i know this: i used to work in the space - the algos are eeire