You Can Live Like James Bond

by jill ~ September 18, 2008

This is a great promotional idea and makes me wonder why no one ever thought of it before…. in an attempt to promote the upcoming Bond movie “Quantum of Solace” (due for release on October 21), a tourism organization (VisitBritain) is pushing a “live like Bond” vacation experience.

Quantum of Solace is the 22nd Bond film since 1962 - and I think it’s widely accepted that the James Bond character represents an ideal for many men: adventure, style, unlimited funds, fancy gadgets, fast cars, women - what more is there, right guys?  

According to this article in PRWeek UK, “VisitBritain has invited 15 bloggers from across the US and all over the world to ‘live like Bond’ in Britain. Some of the activities include: martini-making master classes, speedboat rides along the Thames and sky-diving in Bedfordshire. (Full 2-Day Itinerary here.) The bloggers are expected to recount the experience on their blogs - sites like LA-based Chud.com and Comingsoon.net, Italy’s Blog.screenweek.it, Germany’s Moviemaze.de and Japan’s Cinemacafe.net.”

Offering the chance to “live” the Bond fantasy must engage men on a deep emotional level and if you can afford it, why not go for it?  I see an ocean of Bond adventure bachelor parties on the horizon.   But “living like Bond” is an extremely expensive proposition for the average person… and most of us will probably have to do it little by little or wait until the technology is ready to have the memories implanted rather than experienced (à la Total Recall, the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger film that I liked more than I should admit.).

Full Disclosure: It engages me on an emotional level too… I went skydiving this past weekend for the first time.  We were very well taken care of at Skydive Long Island (thanks, Willie T.!) and it was an unbelievably intense experience - from the sheer terror of jumping out of the plane at 11,500 feet to the freeness and amazingly surreal quality of the free fall - it was truly incredible and did make me feel a bit Bond-esq.  Check out pics on my Facebook page. (Sign up to be my friend if you’re not already!)