A wealthy pair of high-flying executives swapped their usual lavish holiday with a budget break volunteering at a local animal shelter on Rich Holiday, Poor Holiday.
In tomorrow’s episode of the Channel 5 show, Julia and Katya, who both work in luxury lifestyle management and live in the affluent London suburb of Wimbledon, ditched their ‘private yachts and jets’ for a twin bedroom in a backpackers hostel.
The two wealthy friends exchanged holidays with the single mother and body artist Annie, from East Lothian, Scotland who can’t afford to take all of her three children abroad, and opts for camping and caravan parks rather than glamorous getaways.
While the Richardson family bagged an £11,788 all expenses paid trip to Altalia, Turkey, Julia and Katya embarked on a £422 trip to Tenerife, where they would be volunteering at a local animal sanctuary.
Julia (left) and Katya (right) , who both work in luxury lifestyle management and live in the affluent London suburb of Wimbledon, appeared on Channel 5’s Rich Holiday, Poor Holiday
The pair ditched their usual lavish holidays including ‘private yachts and jets’ for a twin bedroom in a backpackers hostel in Tenerife
And the friends weren’t exactly impressed with their new dwellings, with the pair bemoaning the lack of champagne in the fridge and gasping: ‘There’s no wardrobes! Oh my god what about all these clothes.’
While they’re now use to the laps of luxury, Julia and Katya’s lifestyles couldn’t be further from the childhood they both experienced in the Soviet Union, Julia in Bulgaria, Katya in Russia – however their current income puts them in the top ten per cent of earners and they’ve holidayed all over the world.
‘I’ve been to Mauritius, China, Hawaii I stay in luxury hotels all the time’, said Julia, ‘Go on private yachts private jets, being with very wealthy very interesting people
‘But for us it’s like a normality,’ added Katya.
The Richardson, (pictured L-R mother Annie and children Alexander, Leanna and Ray) family bagged an £11,788 all expenses paid trip to Altalia, Turkey
Annie usually likes to ‘incorporate holidays with working’, but instead spent her vacation relaxing by the pool in a lavish hotel. Pictured, the family onboard a private boat in Turkey
The pair told how they wanted to experience a more budget friendly holiday to as they fear that their lavish lifestyle may have made them ‘too soft’.
‘During the collapse of Soviet Union, we had to queue for basic essentials, toilet paper was considered luxury. It was a childhood very different to the life i’m living now, it was simpler,’ Katya said.
‘Luxury is something we have discovered at a certain stage in our lives, added Julia, ‘Maybe I have become too soft’.
Meanwhile, Annie, who is mother to children Leanna, Ray and Alexander likes to ‘incorporate holidays with working’ and recalled a holiday to a private beach owned by a client where she was ‘paid in food’.
‘I try to incorporate holidays with working’, she said, ‘One of the holidays I went on, I did some painting on a private beach and the owner of the beach paid me in food’
Katya and Julia were given €120 in cash to enjoy a local breakfast before heading out to the local market for some shopping
She added: ‘If you’re going somewhere you should at least learn something, I don’t want them to think a holiday is a place where you go and it’s the same, sitting by the pool is very boring and i’ll probably get sunburned.’
As their holidays began, the Richardson family enjoyed a luxury breakfast before being tasked with relaxing by the pool, trying out a Turkish tasting menu and paragliding.
Meanwhile, Katya and Julia were given €120 in cash to enjoy a local breakfast before being told they would be volunteering at a nearby animal rescue centre.
The pair opted for a deal on two full English breakfasts with a drink for just €9 (£and were happily surprised with the meal, but questioned whether their eggs were organic.
The friends soon set off for the working section of their holiday, arriving at Tenerife Horse Rescue, but they were underwhelmed with their surroundings
In exchange for volunteering Julia and Katya will get their food and boarding for free, and were seen helping staff members sort through food donations for the sanctuary and helping tend to the animals
‘I would never have a full English breakfast at home unless it was an authentic English place, said Julia, ‘And here we are in Tenerife!’
The friends soon set off for the working section of their holiday, arriving at Tenerife Horse Rescue, and while the pair were excited for their new jobs, they were underwhelmed with their surroundings.
‘I was hoping this isn’t where we were going to be honest’, said Katya, ‘I saw some funny buildings, not even buildings basically a wall, quite untidy.’
In exchange for volunteering Julia and Katya will get their food and boarding for free, and were seen helping staff members sort through food donations for the sanctuary and helping tend to the animals.
‘When we first arrived we looked quite alien probably’, said Katya, ‘Like we just landed from another planet.’
Despite arduous tasks such as mixing clay, Julia and Katya found comfort in working with the animals and were determined to prove themselves as hard workers
Despite arduous tasks such as wheelbarrowing sand and mixing clay with their hands , while working at the sanctuary, Julia and Katya found comfort in working with the animals and were determined to prove themselves as hard workers.
‘I feel very comfortable with animals and the farm lifestyle’, said Julia, ‘it has stayed somewhere deep in my heart from my childhood’.
After discovering the cost of her holiday, Katya added: ‘I’m so impressed, it’s exciting to see how little to discover a human needs, I did not think this was even possible’.
Julia went on: ‘It has totally changed my view of what a holiday is, that there is more than going to a fancy hotel and just thinking about ourselves
Katya added: ‘It’s an amazing thing to realise that the amount of money you spend on a holiday doesn’t necessarily equal happiness and fun.’
Rich Holiday, Poor Holiday airs on Sunday at 9pm on Channel 5.