The Upgrade: A Cautionary Tale of a Life Without Reservations

by PaulCarr (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2011

  $3.28

  Bored, broke and struggling to survive in one of the most expensive cities on earth, Paul Carr comes to the surprising realisation that it would actually be cheaper to live in a hotel in Manhattan than in his one-bedroom London flat. Inspired by that possibility, he decides to sell most of his possessions, abandon his old life and spend a year living entirely without commitments, as a modern-day nomad. Thanks to Paul's highly developed blagging skills, what begins as a one-year experiment soon becomes a permanent lifestyle - a life lived in luxury hotels and mountain-top villas. A life of fast cars, Hollywood actresses and Icelandic rock stars. Of 6,000-mile booty calls, of partying with 800 female hairdressers dressed only in bedsheets, and of nearly dying at the hands of Spanish drug dealers. And, most bizarrely of all, a life that still costs less than surviving on cold pizza in London. Yet, as word of Paul's exploits starts to spread - first online, then through a newspaper column and eventually a book deal - he finds himself forced constantly to up the stakes in order to keep things interesting. With his behaviour spiralling to dangerous - and sometimes criminal - levels, he is forced to ask the question: is there such a thing as too much freedom?