Traveling can be exhausting. Between hotel stays, airfare prices, booked activities and meal planning, trips can drain you before they’ve even begun.
This is just one of the reasons a trend called “mystery travel” has caught on among travel lovers. Using an outside company, people can have their trip and transportation to an unknown destination planned for them — right up to the day they leave.
Is the trend too good to be true? Here’s what it involves and what travelers think of the alternative to personally planned travel.
What is mystery travel?
According to ABC News, vacationers can fill out a survey “of their interests, as well as their set budget and travel dates,” with travel companies such as Pack Up and Go and Magical Mystery Tours. The companies then plan the trip, including restaurants, flights and things to do around town.
AARP estimates at least 15 “web-based companies” offer these kinds of opportunities around the globe. Some trips are exclusively within the U.S. while others take travelers abroad. Many of the reported participants are those who are too busy to plan out a trip or who are over the age of 50.
One traveler, Kaye Peloquin, told AARP about her initial uncertainty with mystery travel.
“My husband and I were like, ‘What if this is horrible?’” she said. “But I was really busy in my career, and I just didn’t have the time to plan travel. It’s exhausting, and it takes a lot of research.”
The Peloquins paid Pack Up and Go to organize a mystery trip for them. When they got to the airport, they found out they were traveling to New Orleans. Their trip included plane tickets, their hotel stay and a couple prebooked activities.
Many travelers love the excitement behind not knowing where they will go. AARP reported that travelers will typically receive a packing list from the company they’ve booked their mystery travel through, along with predicted weather and travel instructions.
Companies may even provide enveloped clues to increase excitement beforehand; at the airport, travelers finally open the envelope that tells them where they are going. Each company, however, is different.
How to mystery travel
If mystery travel might seem like a great option for you, it might be time to explore some options online.
Each company is slightly different from the next. Journee, for example, has customers answer questions about their trip preferences, from “whether you’re an outdoorsy type to how much you’re into historical sights,” per Time Out.
You can also tell the company what your boundaries are, including activities you’d rather not do.
According to Time Out, if you like to control your travel plans, this option likely isn’t for you. Some customers value sustainable and authentic options, which travel companies might not always take into consideration.
Additionally, there is a chance you could be sent to a location you’re not as excited about going to.
For many people, however, the low-stress planning is worth it. Lillian Rafson, founder of Pack Up and Go, told Good Morning America: “It’s a really fun way to explore destinations that might not have occurred to you as a vacation destination, but you might fall in love with.”