• My family of five chartered a yacht for six nights in the Bahamas for about $14,000.
• It had perks and felt luxurious and relaxing. We loved seeing many beautiful beaches.
• However, we felt isolated at times and uncomfortable for several reasons throughout the trip.

A decade ago, my husband hatched a plan to celebrate his 50th birthday on a boat — one we didn't have to pilot ourselves.

After extensive research, I made his dream come true by booking a private, captained six-night yacht charter in the Abacos, an island group in the Bahamas.

The private cruise cost about $14,000, including tips and groceries, and we boarded the 42-foot yacht on New Year's Eve.

Yacht charters are advertised as the ultimate in vacation freedom and luxury. In many ways, they deliver. We visited three locations most days, often having stunning white-sand beaches to ourselves.

Throughout the trip, we never had to drive or look for a parking spot. We didn't even have to plan — the captain just took us to all the best spots.

Despite the fun, beauty, and memories, we wouldn't do this again. Here are four reasons yachting isn't for our family.

Island hopping felt like traveling in a sealed bubble

It was so convenient to text our captain to pick us up the moment we finished exploring historic Hopetown or petting the swimming pigs at No Name Cay.

However, this convenience meant we barely spoke to anyone except each other and our skipper throughout the trip.

We loved all the family time, but we would have also loved to meet and connect with more local Bahamians.

It felt weird to have the captain with us day and night

Some folks have the expertise to charter a "bareboat" yacht and pilot it themselves, but we definitely do not.

Our captain did a good job getting us from place to place safely, and he added local expertise to the trip. But as an introvert, I sighed with relief when he retired to his cabin each evening.

As a mom, he also felt like one more person to worry about. For example, he didn't care for the groceries we'd bought to share.

Because of the holiday and the scarcity of markets in the Abacos, we weren't able to take him shopping for food right away. I spent that time worrying that we were starving our captain.

The yacht wasn't nearly as comfortable as we expected

The 42-foot yacht felt luxurious when we were reclining on deck, sipping bubbly.

When we were showering using a nozzle connected to the bathroom sink, smelling the used toilet paper in the trash? Not so much.

I'm sure superyachts used by the rich have more comforts. However, I found living aboard this (nearly new) Bali Catspace felt surprisingly similar to staying in an RV.

The mattresses felt no thicker than gym mats, the storage space was limited to a few hatches, and the quarters were — naturally — tight. I ended the trip with bruises on both arms from banging into grab bars.

Plus, despite taking medication, each of us felt a little seasick at times.

For a family, the cost can be prohibitive

The thing about a family vacation with children is that the parents often pay everyone's way. That's a big factor in making the yacht a one-time thing for our family.

The timing — necessitated by school schedules — made our trip even more expensive than average. Charter companies usually have longer minimum rentals and charge a higher fee during holidays.

I might consider chartering again, but only with friends who could share the cost.

Overall, I'm glad we tried chartering a private yacht at least once

These are the reasons I'll be framing a photo of our family wading in the most gorgeous clear waters we've ever seen but not making a plan for our next yacht charter.

Yachting very much felt out of our league, but I'm glad we tried it. After all, our typical family trip entails driving to a national park and home swapping to save money.

I'm already thinking about next winter's family vacation, though. It will involve hiking, cultural experiences — and no boats.

• Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is engaged to Lauren Sánchez, a former news anchor.
• Sánchez, 55, is a helicopter pilot and entrepreneur as well as a former actor.
• She's also the vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos went to space with his rocket company, Blue Origin, four years ago. Now, it's his fiancée's turn.

Lauren Sánchez, a former journalist and licensed pilot herself, will head to space this spring to lead Blue Origin's all-woman crew that also includes "CBS Mornings" cohost Gayle King, pop star Katy Perry, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Amanda Nguyen, former NASA scientist Aisha Bowe, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.

Here's a look at Sánchez's life and career:

Lauren Sánchez had a long career as a reporter and news anchor.

Sánchez grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and studied broadcast journalism at the University of Southern California. She started her journalistic career as an intern on the Los Angeles station Channel 13 during college, according to a 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

She began anchoring UPN News 13 on Los Angeles' KCOP in 1999, winning a Los Angeles Area Emmy award for her work on the show in 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Sánchez went on to work as a host at various news channels before landing at Fox 11's "Good Day LA" in 2003, where she worked for six years. She then became a weekend anchor and special correspondent on "Extra" in 2009.

She's even played a news anchor in several movies and TV shows.

In addition to once being an anchor in real life, Sánchez has starred as a news anchor in movies including "Fight Club," "The Day After Tomorrow," and "The Fantastic Four."

She's a licensed plane and helicopter pilot.

Sánchez learned how to fly while working as a news anchor and she started flying planes in 2011 before getting her helicopter pilot's license in 2016.

Her interest in aviation seems to have been sparked at an early age, as her father was a flight instructor and mechanic who rebuilt planes.

"I was always in the hangar growing up but knew nothing about flying," she told The Hollywood Reporter.

She founded her own aerial filming company.

Sánchez founded Black Ops Aviation in 2016, a "female owned and operated" aerial filming company, which has shot footage for Amazon, Netflix, and Fox, among others.

Sánchez also lent her aerial-filming knowledge to Christopher Nolan as a consultant on "Dunkirk."

She used to host a dancing reality show.

Sánchez was a host on the first season of Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" in 2005, but she left the show after one season.

Sánchez was married to Hollywood agent Patrick Whitesell for 13 years.

Whitesell is co-CEO of the Hollywood agency WME, and his clients include Matt Damon, Christian Bale, and Hugh Jackman. Whitesell and Sánchez married in 2005 and separated in the fall of 2018.

They finalized their divorce in October 2019 with shared custody of their two children, People magazine reported.

Sánchez also has a son from her previous relationship with NFL star Tony Gonzalez.

Sánchez and Bezos got engaged four years after going public with their relationship.

Bezos and Sánchez first connected at a 2016 Amazon Studios party for the film "Manchester by the Sea," according to Brad Stone's book, "Amazon Unbound."

Their relationship "blossomed" during helicopter rides in 2018, when Bezos hired Sánchez's company to film footage for his rocket company, Blue Origin, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Their relationship came to light in a 2019 tabloid scandal, and the couple went public shortly after Bezos and his now-ex-wife, author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, announced their divorce in 2019 following 25 years of marriage.

In May 2023, CNN reported that Sánchez and Bezos had gotten engaged, citing a source close to the couple. Sanchez was also photographed with a large diamond ring on her left ring finger while onboard Bezos' $500 million megayacht.

In Vogue's December 2023 issue, Sánchez revealed that Bezos proposed on his yacht, Koru.

"When he opened the box, I think I blacked out a bit," she said.

While Sánchez and Bezos have often been spotted cruising on his yacht or attending high-profile events, including President Trump's inauguration, Sánchez says they also have more mundane days at home.

"On a typical Saturday, we hang out, we have dinner with the kids, which is always fun because you never know where the conversation is going to go with this many kids," Sanchez told The Wall Street Journal in 2023. "We are the Brady Bunch!"

She's the vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund.

In 2020, Bezos announced that he would commit $10 billion — about 7.7% of his net worth at the time — to fighting the climate crisis as part of an initiative called the Bezos Earth Fund. Sánchez serves as the organization's vice chair.

She's a children's book author.

Sánchez's first picture book, "The Fly Who Flew to Space,"is scheduled for a September release.

She's talked about how her own struggles with dyslexia were part of the inspiration for her writing the book. Celebrities such as Katy Perry, Kim Kardashian, and Karlie Kloss have endorsed the book, with Kloss writing that the "story sparks curiosity and imagination while introducing young minds to the magic of STEM!"

Next up for Sánchez is a trip to space.

She's leading a six-person all-woman crew on a Blue Origin spaceflight in 2025.

The 11-minute journey will take them past the Kármán line, which is the internationally recognized boundary of space. Blue Origin says this will be the first all-female flight crew since Valentina Tereshkova's flight to space in 1963.

• As the holidays approach, the ultrawealthy will decamp to some of the world's most expensive destinations.
• Whether aboard yachts or ski lifts, the 0.01% tend to travel to familiar locales.
• Here's a look at some of the most popular places for the rich during the holidays.

Deck the gangways with boughs of holly.

Billionaires are deploying their private jets and superyachts in preparation for the holiday season, with many headed to familiar hot spots.

Each December, the richest among us depart for expensive destinations to enjoy time with their families — and often other billionaires.

This year will be nothing different.

"It's going to places that are exclusively pretty much high net worth," Winston Chesterfield, the founder of Barton, a consulting firm focused on luxury and the wealthy, told Business Insider. "They want these private resorts away from everyone else because they don't want to be around everyone else."

Many of the world's largest yachts have already sailed to warmer waters.

Jeff Bezos' yacht Koru and Barry Diller's Eos are both floating in the Caribbean Sea, according to ship tracker Marine Traffic. Eric Schmidt's Whisper is headed to Barbados, and Len Blavatnik's Odessa II was most recently docked in Antigua.

Once their billionaire owners are aboard, several of these ships will likely make their way to St. Barths.

"I always say if you want to have your toes in the sand and eat a croissant that feels like you're in Paris, St. Barths is the place for you," Elisabeth Brown, the membership director at luxury concierge service Knightsbridge Circle, told BI.

Known for its exclusivity, fine hotels and restaurants, and natural beauty, the island has been a favorite among the uberwealthy for decades. Rockefellers and Rothschilds built estates there in the mid-1900s.

Last year, Bezos, his fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, and Michael Jordan were spotted on St. Barths, and David Geffen's superyacht, the Rising Sun, was seen nearby.

For those who don't stay on yachts, popular luxury hotels like Eden Rock and Cheval Blanc, owned by billionaire Bernard Arnault's LVMH, cost upward of $5,000 per night for a room at this time of year.

The less expensive hotels aren't exactly cheap — which is part of the appeal. A room in the least expensive hotel available for the week between Christmas and New Year's costs more than $3,000 per night.

"There is nothing mass-market about it. It's impossible to be there unless you are really wealthy," Chesterfield said.

Other superrich travelers opt for colder destinations, choosing to embrace the winter weather.

"The holidays in the mountains are more of an escape than any other holidays, even escapes to their own remote private islands and things," Chesterfield said.

In Europe, that means the Alps. Gstaad, St. Moritz, Courchevel — which was a favorite of Russian oligarchs — and Val-d'Isère are classic choices for the ultra-high net worth set, Chesterfield and Brown said.

Recently, Chesterfield said he's seen some choose quieter destinations, like Crans-Montana in Switzerland, where billionaire Vicky Safra has a home, or Kitzbühel, Austria.

"You're less likely to bump into people that you know there," he added.

Some of the very wealthy own eight-figure chalets that they rent out for as much as $40,000 a week during peak season. Real estate prices continue to rise in these locations, with homes in Gstaad, the most expensive locale, costing 41,500 euros per square meter (about $43,350), according to property consultancy Knight Frank's 2024 Alpine Index.

Buying luxury condos within resorts, like the Six Senses in Courcheval, is becoming more common, too, in large part due to the amenities, which include spas, saunas, ski valets, and concierges.

Stateside, Aspen remains the most elite ski resort.

The town has the highest density of residents worth more than $30 million in the US, according to a 2023 study by data firm Altrata. Billionaires like Steve Wynn, Daniel Och, and Terry Taylor own homes there, and in recent years, wealthy celebrities like Rihanna and Kylie Jenner have been photographed downtown during the holidays.

"It is the closest you'll get to a European après situation," Brown said. "Great mountains, great skiing, the hotels are top-notch, the restaurants are awesome."

There's a restaurant by chef Nobu Matsuhisa, designer shops like Prada and Gucci, and private clubs to make the uber-rich feel at home. Plus, there are plenty of top resorts like the St. Regis and Little Nell, where rooms cost four figures a night.

Of course, sometimes billionaires are just like us — at least kind of. One of Brown's clients is gifting their family a trip to Disney World, though it will cost more than the typical American family's vacation to Cinderella's Castle.

"It's a few days, for about seven or eight people. It'll probably end up being $75,000, give or take," Brown said.