The surprise vacation has been planned. The itinerary is fixed. The flight tickets and hotels have been booked. And now you just cannot wait to reveal it to your family/ parents/ partner or whoever you are gifting this surprise trip! Planning a secret holiday is a lot of hard work (don’t we know that!), and so the surprise trip reveal deserves to be as fantastic as the holiday you’ve planned. And trust us, if you are planning a week-long vacation, it is ideal to announce the vacation a few days or even weeks in advance, to give enough time to your loved ones to plan their schedule around the given dates. So here are some creative vacation reveal ideas that will be as fun as the actual trip!
Surprise birthday trip reveal
You could choose a special occasion like a birthday or anniversary to make the grand announcement. For instance, if you are planning to send your parents on a surprise vacation to celebrate their 50th golden wedding anniversary, you could pick one of their birthdays to reveal the upcoming trip. The birthday gift would be a clue to where they are going!
1. A customized cake
You can bake or arrange a cake based on the theme of your destination. If your secret is a safari holiday to Kenya or Namibia, how about a jungle or safari-theme cake? Or you could plan a “photo rolling” or “pull-out” cake where the birthday boy or girl gets to pull out a roll of photos or clues from the cake that will reveal the big surprise!
2. Gift a travel essential Birthdays by default involve gifting. So, a creative way to reveal your surprise trip is to gift a travel essential that would also double up as a hint towards your chosen destination. How about gifting a travel wallet? You could slip in a calendar card, with the dates of the trip crossed out to indicate that those days are “booked for a vacation”. If you are planning an adventurous trip with your partner that may include camping out, how about you gift a camping tent and leave your beloved guessing about the destination 😉 Also read: Best way to plan a surprise trip: 4 tips to gift the perfect holiday!
Cool ideas to reveal a surprise trip to your husband/ wife
There is nothing cooler than planning a surprise to reveal a surprise trip! And when you’re planning a secret vacation for your spouse, you have so many interesting ways to announce your surprise.
3. Let a movie reveal the surprise Plan a comfortable Friday evening movie night at home with your husband/ wife andpick a movie that has been shot in or around your secret holiday destination! If your destination is Italy, you can build up the suspense to your reveal, by watching the beautiful movie, Under the Tuscan Sun, that showcase the beautiful landscape of rural Tuscany and the charming Italian lifestyle. If your secret destination is Iceland, how about you watch The Secret Life of Walter Mitty that puts the best of this Nordic country on display. You can place a note at the bottom of your popcorn tub, that reads, “Isn’t the movie storyline and location fantastic? How about we shoot our story there?” or something equally cheesy like a surprise trip reveal poem 😉
“Fun-tastic” ways to announce a surprise family trip to your kids
Some of our favourite surprise trip reveal ideas involve announcing the holiday to the little ones. It does not take a lot of effort to keep a surprise from them, yet it is incredibly gratifying to see their starry eyes light up with joy when they get to know!
4. Send them on a treasure hunt Make your children earn their surprise gift by scattering treasures (clues) all over the house that will lead them to the final clue that reveals the destination or the fact that they will soon go on a trip! You can draft each clue in such a way that their theme is in sync with the holiday place. For instance, if you are planning to take the family to Disney world or any other amusement theme park, you could write your clues accordingly: “Brace yourself for a bumpy ride. Find your next clue where eggs are fried!” (Hide the clue in the kitchen near the cooking stove) “An adventure awaits, are you ready? Find your next clue where you study!” (Hide the clue in the kids’ room near their study table/ school stuff) 5. Make them solve a surprise trip reveal puzzle Let the kids rack their brains a little to discover the surprise holiday that awaits them! You can draw or print out a picture that either gives a clue or announces your vacation destination directly. Now cut this up into smaller pieces – the more pieces, the more puzzling! Let them put together the entire puzzle and watch the delight on their faces!
Romantic ways to reveal a surprise beach vacation to your boyfriend/ girlfriend
The initial days of dating are a whirlwind of romance and grand gestures. So if you’ve planned a surprise vacation for your girlfriend or boyfriend, it definitely needs to be announced in a special way!
6. Set his/ her heart racing with a special evening full of “reveals”
If you are headed to a beach destination, how about you plan a tropical meal at home (seafood) with some fresh fruits, some punch or pina colada with those cute umbrellas. You can also dress up to set the mood – flip-flops and a flowery dress/ shorts and let them get the hint!
Our personal favourite way to reveal a surprise trip
7. Surprise within a surprise within a surprise...
When the Blind Experiences team plans a "blind travel experience" for our customers, we put together a bunch of envelopes - anywhere between 5 to 10 envelopes depending on the duration of your vacation! We allow you to open only the first envelope so that you can discover where you’re heading on your blind experience! Then, you have to simply enjoy and savour every moment of your trip. As your vacation proceeds, you get to open one envelope every other day, so that you know what's next. This way, every other day you get a small surprise as each letter reveals a new experience/ activity/ destination!
You can get inspired from these ideas and add your unique touch to reveal your surprise holiday. And if you need help with planning the entire surprise travel, we are here for you!