Planning a Surprise Trip to Paris
This year I felt moved to do something special for my selfless and loving parents. Who better to surprise with a trip of a lifetime than the people who continually give everything they have to others? I also knew I wanted to truly make it a surprise, but I wasn’t exactly sure how I would keep it one, logistically speaking. With some covert planning, here’s how I did it.
CHOOSING THE DESTINATION
For our destination, I chose the most beautiful city in the world: Paris, France. My parents have never traveled abroad, so I knew crossing the Atlantic would make it that much more exciting. In all my travels, Paris also happens to be my favorite city I’ve visited. Let’s just say I am a sucker for old world romance. I wanted to share a place with them that felt special to me, and would serve as a excellent introduction to Europe. There’s no better place than Paris.
PENCILING IN THE DATE
To plan a surprise trip for four humans to fly across the globe who have jobs, pets, and responsibilities requires a little bit of groundwork. I needed to figure out a way to ensure my parents could take off work without giving everything away. Importantly, I started planning the trip 8 months in advance to allow for plenty of time for us to take off work and make any arrangements. I also spent a fair amount of time researching dates, flights, and costs. I chose the fall for its crisp weather, avoided the Summer exodus in August, and the very overrun Fashion Week shortly after.
I decided the best way to ensure we all could take off was to tell my parents we were going on a trip, but the destination would remain a surprise, only revealed through small clues given throughout the year on holidays. This was going to be the gift that keeps giving for the entire year.
Once I was ready with desired dates, I called my parents on speaker phone and told them I had something to tell them. (They probably thought I was pregnant). I told them my sneaky plan - cue excitement and lots of questions! Know that if you are going to do this, you WILL need a game plan and a poker face for the questions and pressure to reveal the destination that will follow!
Once they were able to check their schedules, we locked in the dates. Of course, even more experienced surprise-planners might have even called up to their work and taken off work for them. I personally thought it would be more fun to build some anticipation throughout the year though.
BOOKING THE TRAVEL
Now that the dates were confirmed, it was time to book the travel. Note I had not revealed we would be traveling abroad at this point, so I needed to confirm I could book tickets without fear of them receiving a notification of any kind. As a precaution, I called American Airlines to confirm they would not receive a notification as frequent flyer members. As long as you don’t input their frequent flyer number or email address, the customer rep explained that they would not know of the flight. Perfecto! I also needed their passport information to complete the booking. My parents live in Texas. I live in NY. Little brother to the rescue! I called my brother and recruited him for a covert mission to find their passports and take pictures of them. Note I did learn that you can book a flight without a passport, but you will need it before you check-in. For example, if you planned to keep your trip a surprise until the day of, you would need to get their passport to get them checked into the flight.
BUILDING ANTICIPATION
Now for the fun part, dropping the clues! My plan was to give them clues throughout the next few months on key holidays, such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and their birthdays. I started Googling Paris facts and clues. That’s where the internet failed me a bit. When you look up clues for a Paris trip, you get things like “give them an Eiffel Tower key chain” or “a Paris book.” I wanted to keep this going for a few months, so I started extremely ambiguous and maybe even be a bit misleading (sorry, not sorry!). I think you could get even more creative with your clues than I did, but here’s what I shared:
Clue #1: Once I booked our AirBnB, I wanted to share where we would be staying. I sent them an email with a snapshot of the AirBnB with a bit of misleading language around a cozy fire place. Hilariously, they thought we were going to Vermont.
Clue #2: After holding out for a few months, I finally told them we would be going abroad. Our next clue was delivered over the phone. "We will be crossing an ocean, but I’m not telling you which ocean - bring your passport.”
Clue #3: I got a little more creative for my next clue, I sent a cryptic text on father’s day. “We will visit our lady on the island.” My hope was to steer them to tropical locations. One of the most popular attractions in Paris is Notre Dame which means “Our Lady” in French. It also resides on a small island in the middle of the Seine River.
Clue #4: Our last clue was the big reveal on their birthday and a month away from our trip. I sent my parents a locked PDF. Inside was our weeklong itinerary meticulously planned with key destinations, attractions, and restaurant reservations for each day. With a month out from the trip, they had a hunch it may be Paris. I sent them an email with the locked PDF and the last clue. “The password for the PDF is the nickname for the city we would be visiting.” We called them up and waited patiently on the phone as they tried a number of combinations of passwords until they got it: The City of Lights. Bam!
Planning a surprise trip was an epic way to get excited for a trip. It created a bit of fun for the entire year not just my parents, but my husband and I too. And the trip was a complete dream. We will never forget the fun we had with my parents. I’ll share our favorite parts of the trip in my next post.
