I’ve always loved surprise trips.  Years ago there was a budget airline called WestPac that offered Surprise Trips.  These trips were usually booked one to two weeks in advance and for a set fee of maybe $200, you would be guaranteed a round trip flight and two nights at a decent hotel.  The surprise was that you didn’t know the destination until just a day or so before the trip.  Jill and I never did one of these trips for fear of going to Tulsa or Kansas City.  Now I’m sure those cities are great but since we had limited funds, we wanted to spend our travel savings on our wish list destinations.  What I did notice was that if you signed up with multiple airlines for their “last minute escapes” email, you could do your own “Surprise Trip” for about the same cost.

I love planning trips.  And I REALLY love planning surprise trips.  For my first attempt, I purchased two last minute tickets to San Francisco that allowed for nearly 6 days in the Bay Area.  I then booked a hotel close to the wharf, then 2 nights in Monterrey, and 2 nights in Sonoma.  Jill had no idea any of this was happening.  I called her boss, who I knew, and let him know she’d be missing a few days of work.  The night before the trip, I told her we’d be leaving the next day and told her the temperature range for which to pack.  It was a great trip that we’ll remember forever.

Fast forward to 2013 and we’ve got twin 7 year-old boys.  One day, one of them tells me that his classmate just got back from a surprise trip to Disneyland and that he wanted us to plan a surprise trip for them.  I lit up with memories of our first surprise trip to San Francisco and promised to book a surprise trip for them.  I’ll post more details on their first surprise trip when a get some time.

So, if you love planning travel like I do, think about planning a Surprise Trip for your family, spouse, partner, friend, or whatever.  I guarantee you’ll have just as much fun putting it together as they’ll have getting the surprise.