Into the unknown: Why travellers are surrendering to ‘surprise travel’ in 2024

In a world saturated with endless decision-making and high-pressure jobs, it’s easy to see why more travelers say they’re willing to relinquish control and surrender to the allure of the unknown. 

Imagine booking a trip without knowing the destination or details until the last moment – this spontaneity is the essence of surprise travel – a new trend for 2024. But when push comes to shove, are people actually willing to let go, or is it a romantic ideal?

Let’s dive into the phenomenon of surprise travel – or “mystery vacations”, and discover why someone would allow themselves to be whisked away on an unexpected adventure.

The “surrender seekers”

Travel site Booking.com surveyed 27,000 travellers across 33 countries and some 52% said they’d be “keen to book a surprise trip where everything down to the destination is unknown until arrival”. They say 2024 will be the year of “surrender seekers”.

Instead of spending hours deliberating over destinations and accommodations, travellers are relinquishing control and escaping the burden of decision fatigue by putting their vacation into the hands of trusted travel planners. 

Read Next: 7 Travel Trends to Watch in 2024

Chasing the unknown

“The problem is that you can find videos on anything now,” says Epic’s founder Charlie Shepherd. “At the moment, there’s so much information out there that it could spoil the experience and destroy the surprise of seeing something for the first time.”

With the internet at our fingertips, have hyper-connected modern travellers lost the joy of discovery? Is the solution to leave every single decision about your holiday in the hands of others?

“Some people like the adventure of going into the unknown. That’s one of the things that a lot of us find very special about travel – and that’s the reason why I don’t look into anything when I travel,” Charlie says. “I don’t want to watch a YouTube video for two hours on something. I want to discover it when I’m there.” 

The spectrum of surprise

From something being a total mystery to knowing the destination, there is a spectrum to surprise travel. If you asked Epic to plan you a surprise holiday, we’re focused on just a few destinations so you’ll have some idea about where you’re going. Global companies, however, have a literal world of options to choose from. It’s just a matter of trust. 

Charlie says the great challenge is understanding what people want and figuring out how to exceed someone’s expectations. 

“There’s an element of surprise about what we do – because we’re trying to do things differently,” he says.

“I think there could be something in that idea of, you know, you’re coming to Morocco or Portugal, and when you’re there everything is a surprise.”

Read Next: The Epic Hot List: The Must-Do Experiences in Portugal in 2024 

Romance Vs reality

Surprise travel encapsulates the spirit of adventure in its purest form. It invites travelers to surrender themselves to the unknown, release control of knowing every tiny detail, and embrace the spontaneity that travel so often romanticises. 

While 52% of people surveyed said they would book a surprise trip, how many would actually put money on the table for an unknown holiday? It’s that romantic ideal versus reality that Charlie says may set people up for disappointment.

“My feeling is that it’s quite tricky, because it’s an art to get travel right. It’s about really understanding people and understanding what their expectations are,” he says.

“That’s what we do anyway. We try to understand our clients as best we possibly can. And in some ways, it’s not so different to the process of planning a mystery trip. Because what we’re doing is we’re designing travel for them that’s highly differentiated from what’s out there.”

The challenge of planning a surprise trip

Relinquishing control alleviates the burden of decision-making and allows travelers to fully immerse themselves in the excitement of the unknown. But how can a travel company get to know what makes you tick? 

Some people love to travel slow, others fast. Some want lots of free time, others want wall-to-wall fun. Some love food, others prefer hiking. When designing and curating a trip, there are dozens of questions that a planner will need to ask you – so it’s not exactly a one-click surprise vacation.

“To come up with a perfect solution for a completely surprise trip is challenging,” says Charlie, who takes a very practical stance on the matter. “In the end, it may end up a disappointment.”

Read Next: The Epic Hot List: The Must-Do Experiences in Morocco in 2024

Building surprise into the average trip

At the heart of surprise travel lies a fundamental act of faith: trust. Surrendering control and embracing the unknown requires a serious leap of faith – so you want to know whose arms you’ll be landing in.

“If somebody came to us and said, ‘Right, I just want you to do a real surprise trip for us. We’re going to Morocco or Portugal, but we want the rest to be a complete surprise’. Yeah,  I’d say we’d do it,” says Charlie, but more realistically Epic builds elements of surprise into every trip. 

“We generally don’t plan every single moment of people’s trips, so imagine you’ve got an afternoon free and we say, ‘Oh, well, this is an opportunity for us to deliver a surprise experience’,” he says. 

“That can be risky as guests might have something else planned or just want to relax. So instead we prefer to surprise and delight people by making their planned experiences even better.” 

When the romance of surprise travel meets reality

While the idea of surprise travel is an appealing concept, we suspect that few will actually leap into the unknown. While surprise trips might be the fad of 2024, we feel curated trips – like the ones we plan – with elements of surprise offer a better balance. 

Whether it’s a surprise trip or curated travel, Epic is well-versed in trying to understand what each individual traveller wants – and it’s always about trying to exceed expectations. Over the past 20 years we’ve designed and curated hundreds of custom trips for clients and our feeling is that it’s about balance.

We add elements of surprise and wonder to every trip, even if the structure and activities are established in advance. That keeps every adventure fresh and exciting without room for disappointment.

As experts in Morocco, Portugal, the Azores and São Tomé and Príncipe, we know these places inside out and can plan the best trip – surprise or not. Reach out at info@epic.travel and we’ll create and curate your dream trip.

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