bike.crate

As much as I love driving, it doesn't make sense to have a car in the city. I went through a brief car shopping phase until I realized the associated costs would brutalize any benefits gained from a car. Since I'll be saving on gas, insurance, parking, maintenance, and the price of the car itself, it makes sense to put good money and thought into a quality bike. The Bike Crate from MAIK, found on The Fancy, won't get you around the city but it's a great accessory once you find that perfect transportation. Available for about €150 (about $212), the basket (sorry marketing team, it's not a crate) is not nerdy like most and helps carry your daily errands.

mercedes.g550

The Mercedes-Benz G550 is iconic, luxurious and rough, and expensive. With a base price of $105,750, the do-it-all SUV will hit the bank account with intent. The powerful machine, found on Luxist, is laden with chrome and stainless-steel. According to Mercedes, the "chrome front grille guard frames the chrome three-bar grille and headlamps. Rugged stainless-steel running boards ease your entry. And the rear-mounted full-size spare tire is protected by a chrome-trimmed cover."

The interior features 14-way power front seats and premium leather that goes beyond the seats to cover the dash and door inserts. The vehicle also comes with a heated steering wheel, ambient lighting, extensive technological capabilities, heated and active ventilating seats, and a full swing door in the back for loading cargo. If you can't decide which features you want, Mercedes makes it easy: "This vehicle is equipped with all available equipment as standard. No additional packages or options available."

alligator.suitcase

The price of an alligator belt can buy you a round-trip airline ticket across the country; a matching suitcase can buy you 50 of those tickets... first-class. The $53,000 Alligator Suitcase from Bottega Veneta is a beautiful traveling addition for frequent fliers with cash to spare. Found on Luxist, the matte finish is furnished with burnished metal hardware and complete with an alligator handle. The suitcase beats phony croc embossed detailing and comes with it's own garment bag.

zoom.bike

If you can't afford a Bentley, a Ducati is a good way to look sporty and fresh without shelling out enough money to buy a small home. The Ducati 848 EVO, found on Uncrate.com, is a beautiful black-on-black bike that features an 140 horse Testastretta Evoluzione engine and curb weight of only 369 pounds. I don't know much about bikes so we'll leave it at that but the vehicle comes in Ducati red for the traditional and a stealthy black to hide from cars that will now sideswipe you when changing lanes.

curvy.cars

Celebrating a history of great design, Curves of Steel showcases the beautiful progression of automobiles, much of it encapsulating the art deco (a.k.a. my favorite) era. The 192-page book was found on Uncrate.com and is available on Amazon for less than $50. Photographed by Michael Furman, the 22 cars featured come with histories and information on each designer. If you're looking for another good coffee table book, check out Creature by Andrew Zuckerman.

sterling.bank

Sometimes you need to spend money to save money - as is the case when buying a nice new wallet or safe - but Tiffany's Rocket Ship Bank is a reverse hybrid of the two, not nearly as convenient as a wallet nor secure like a safe but redemption is found in craftsmanship and design. The sterling silver bank measure 9.5" high and makes a great present for oneself or another if you have $1,975 to buy a house for your coins. The bank was found on Silver-Rockets.com, a neat website dedicated to embracing "the fantastic aspects of spaceflight, as well as the realities."

maserati.grancabrio

The new Maserati GranCabrio, found on Luxist, is a beautiful new convertible available for $135,800. I'm not going to list all the features, since the available customization, powerful engine, and advanced technology seem to come standard (that is, limitless) once you reach the six-figure club, but Maserati's own personalization options are available through Atelier Maserati. If you like the curves and looks, I'm sure the car's handling and features will only complement the aesthetics.

comfortable.travelling

The Jet Set Throw and Cushion Set from Frette is composed of Merino wool and cashmere. For $395 and available online, the set is a great present for others (or oneself) and also comes in a brown color scheme. With only three locations in California (including the Stanford Shopping Center) and New York, and an additional three in various states, most of Frette's locations are international. Known for their bedding (with sheet sets selling upward of $1,500), Frette also sells towels, ready-to-wear goods, and other items for the home.

flying.bmw

Some people have been recommending I put a private jet on my blog, and I was tempted to post the relatively new Gulfstream 650, the largest Gulfstream and "most technologically advanced business aircraft in the sky," but the interior of these jets have seen little change in decades. Instead, I came across a collaboration between BMW and Embraer to create first-class interiors. In fact, the WSJ wrote an article on the soaring popularity of customizing your own jet.  Sadly, the collaboration is limited to Embraer, but it could provide a starting point if you get your Gulfstream personally customized elsewhere, or you can simply go with Embraer's Phenom 300 for $6.65 million+ (shown below).

range.rover

So far I've featured a Bentley and Rolls-Royce, but both are way beyond any measure of practicality. The Range Rover, on the other hand, is less than $100,000 and doesn't ooze attention. Maybe I have synesthesia, but ever since Miami Vice with Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell, I see all Range Rovers in white (or how much better they'd look if they were white). For some reason, Land Rover released awful pictures of the 2010 Range Rover so I had to pull pictures of its cheaper brother, the Range Rover Sport. The Range Rover starts at $80,000 (as opposed to $60,000 for the Range Rover Sport) and is a beautiful yet heavy duty vehicle for everything from driving around Beverly Hills to serious off-road adventures. Although the exterior differences between the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport are minimal, the luxury premium of getting the Range Rover is enough that I didn't want to add interior photos of the Sport, but check out the interior of both on the Land Rover website. Complete with headrests that fold to cradle your head and televisions in the seats. With a luxurious interior and enough room to fit everyone, the Range Rover is a great choice.

my.commute

The award-winning IF-Mode Foldable Bicycle is a 32lb. bike perfect for urban travelers who use the subway or bring their bike into the office with them. With monoblade wheel mountings and a two speed transmission, the bike rolls like luggage and is available at Neiman Marcus for $2,200.

rr.ghost

The Rolls-Royce Ghost, slated for release in 2010, is the latest Rolls-Royce vehicle and joins the Phantom, Phantom Drophead Coupe, and Phantom Coupe in the RR lineup. Designed to appeal through its lower price point ($255,000) and smaller frame, the Ghost is looking to compete with cheaper luxury cars such as the Bentley Continental Flying Spur and Maserati Quattroport.

Similar to other Rolls-Royce cars, the customization benefits seem endless, ranging from various technologies to enough colors choices to cause agitation. And naturally, the benefits (the seats, the speed, the umbrella holder in the door...) are legendary. If you're looking for something a little more sporty, the Bentley Continental might be more your choice, though the Ghost definitely has a modern edge over its predecessors with its smoother curves.

On a tangent, I noticed that Rolls-Royce made slight changes to their commercial for the Phantom Coupe, released in 2008 and featured in the third picture below. The original commercial (still found on YouTube) featured the great song "Shooting Star" by Air Traffic but the commercial on their website features a wordless sound-alike.

Lastly, and just for fun, the hood ornament on a Rolls-Royce is called the Spirit of Ecstasy and inspired by an affair between John Scott-Montagu, a pioneer in the car movement, and his secretary/model of the emblem, Eleanor Thornton. Pressured to marry elsewhere due to Thornton's low socioeconomic status, Scott-Montagu lost his mistress when she died while on a ship torpedoed by a German submarine.

yacht.codex

This beautiful yacht comes mixed with modern design and green technology. Designed by Code-X AG in collaboration with Silicon-Fire AG, the boat features "a flexible solar hybrid propulsion system," located in the recessed center in front of the main compartment, that makes the yacht quieter than peers and more environmentally friendly. Code-X AG is a newly formed Swiss brand but their website (and subsequent Google searches) give minimal information. According to their website, the company is dedicated to creating exclusive environmentally conscious products. The yacht is their first product but comes without a list price, though they give their contact information for serious buyers. The idea of the glass enclosure that raises and lowers at the push of a button is neat but it's a shame there seems to be no standing area in the front to enjoy the wind of boating. If you look at the last picture, though, you can see that a platform unfolds to extend the base for easy access when the glass raises. Normally I enjoy large yachts (think mini-mansions) but it's always good to have something zippy to suite the need for speed.

bentley.travel

The Bentley Continental.