Well, at the beginning of the article, he said, "My breath was literally taken away. I knew instantly. I was rocketed to the fourth dimension. It was a metaphysical overtaking." So clearly they both are full of themselves.

And Minnie makes an excellent point. Which part of Africa? Africa is an enormous CONTINENT, not a rural, backwater country that people like this tend to imply. Are they the sort who never picture Africa as having cities, and it's all just one big Disney zoo?

The entire article made me throw up in my mouth a little. They aren't doing themselves any favours if they want to encourage people to buy their products, unless the other 1% think the same way (though in all fairness, some of the 1% have actually been around the world and have foundations to aid the areas that impacted them most deeply).

It must be satire. It has to be satire....

Im not sure what to think. Sadly there are people who live life very removed from the general reality but I can't help but thinking this is some sort of joke??

Ugh, so very ridiculously clueless.

The college I went to was literally named after this guy's ancestors, which almost makes me want to try cutting them a little slack, but nope, I don't think that's happening.

The Danger Of A Single Story
To counteract that saccharine taste, I recommend Novelist Chimamanda Adichie. I heard her on NPR yesterday afternoon and just found her TED talk.

Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.
http://www.ted.com/talks/chima.....ngle_story

ETA: Jezebel's coverage:
Breaking: Annoying ​Rich People Feel "Deep Affinity" for Africa

Ummmmm, speaking as someone who has actually spent a month on safari in Africa as well as read a lot of Hemingway...

Yeah... just reading Hemingway.

Not the same.

Apparently they are so inspired by the faux, imaginary travels they don't see the need for real ones? (and I still find myself hoping this article is some kind of late-to-the-game April fools joke).

Eh. To each his own I suppose, but from my perspective --Pinterest is not a good or suitable replacement for real and varied experiences.

Ahhh, the rich truly are very different creatures than I.

I'm sorry, I wanted to read the whole article, but I think I sprained my eyes rolling them so hard at the very first paragraph.

They have all that money. Just go to Africa already. Maybe it will give them a badly-needed dose of perspective.

Una - cracking me UP...

Any man who wears those pants is affected. By what, I'm not sure...most likely affluence and distance from reality.

At the bottom of the article reads: A version of this article appears in print on April 13, 2014, on page ST9 of the New York edition with the headline: The Mellon Lifestyle as a Brand.

Is filthy rich a brand these days? If so, I can bypass that trend.