The Ten Year Anniversary of Secret Trip

I just wanted to take a moment to celebrate Secret Trip, which started the blog, and offer up that I’m in the process of planning a sequel.

What was Secret Trip?

I know many readers haven’t kept up with the early makings of this blog, so it’s worth a brief introduction. The long and the short is that Secret Trip was the name I gave the month-long journey with Jenn. What made this trip different from others we’ve taken was that Jenn had no idea where she was going. In fact, she had no idea where she was going until arriving at the airport or train station. On the day of travel, I gave her some clues to make a game out of where the next destination would be. But all future locations would still be hidden.

It was an omakase style of vacation for her. She just had to trust me. In some ways, it was easier for me to plan because I didn’t need to consult with her on what she wanted to see or do. I could just book what interested me and it added intrigue for her because it was all a big surprise.

How did I handle packing? I consulted her sister. We had both cold destinations (Zermatt) and warm destinations (the Maldives) on the same trip. She thought it was a red herring that I would bring both warm and cold weather clothes on the trip.

Where we went

I had original plans to visit a total of 10 destinations during our month-long trip. However, due to a bombing in Bangkok right next to the Hyatt Regency I booked, I had to cut that portion of the trip at the last minute. So where did we go?

Vienna, Austria
Florence, Italy (including a daytrip to Pisa)
Milan, Italy
Zermatt, Switzerland
Zurich, Switzerland
The Maldives (our first visit to the Conrad Maldives)
Singapore
~~Bangkok, Thailand~~ (just staying in the airport during transit doesn’t count)
Hong Kong
Seoul, South Korea

Both Europe and Asia were well-represented.

What we flew

This was a rather luxurious trip for us, and thankfully I didn’t spend an arm and a leg to get it all booked.

Lufthansa first class

Our first intercontinental flight was in Lufthansa First (IAH to FRA), booked at the time for just 85,000 Lufthansa Miles & More points (plus $470 in fees) per person. We also had a nice visit to their First Class Terminal.

Singapore Suites

We spent most of our time in Europe taking the train between destinations. Our next major flight was in Singapore Suites (old version, ZRH to SIN), booked back then for 91,375 Singapore miles (plus $254 in fees) per person. At the time, this was the only way to get a double bed on a commercial flight. Singapore would eventually update their suites product, but the old version was still excellent.

Thai first class

The next noteworthy flight was in Thai first class (BKK to HKG), booked with cash. What? I didn’t use points? Well, the flight was only $612 per person in first class. It was so ridiculously cheap that it didn’t make sense to use points. And thankfully, I was able to change the date of my flight to bypass entering Bangkok for free with the cash fare booked. The best part was the ground service, getting that free hour-long massage in their lounge. If Jenn wasn’t impressed with the trip up to this point, this would have done it for her.

Cathay Pacific business class

From there, we took Cathay Pacific business class (HKG to ICN), booked for just a small 20,000 British Airways Avios (plus $39 in fees) per person. What did Jenn like the most about this flight? The milk tea ice cream served. She ordered so much milk tea that the flight attendant even mentioned how much of a fan she is.

Asiana first class

Our final flight of the journey was in Asiana first class (ICN-LAX), booked for just 75,000 Avianca Lifemiles (plus $44 in fees) per person. Asiana never had the most aspirational of first class flights, but if you were a fan of Korean food, you’ll end up getting quite a feast onboard.

Can I just say that I miss airline pricing (and availability) from 10 years ago? While some of the best deals were already gone by this point, there were still some good deals out there to be had.

Where we stayed

I won’t touch on every hotel we stayed at but rather the more notable ones. (Spoiler: that’s almost all of them.)

Vienna, Austria

Our first hotel stay was at the Park Hyatt Vienna. I booked a base room ($330/night) and upgraded to a suite using a suite upgrade award. I remember thinking that room rates in the $300-range were a little expensive–my, how times have changed! The hotel is a gem and we would definitely come back if we find ourselves in Vienna again.

Milan, Italy

The next major hotel stay was at the Park Hyatt Milan (the second of four Park Hyatt’s we stayed at on this trip). This one I booked with two Category 1-7 free night awards obtained from opening the Hyatt credit card. Yeah, I miss that sign up bonus too.

Zermatt, Switzerland

One of the less obvious hotels we loved was the Hotel Matterhorn Focus in Zermatt, booked for $260/night. This was by far the cutest town and hotel of the trip. Something about Swiss mountain towns is so charming.

Zurich, Switzerland

The Park Hyatt Zurich was next up, booked using two more Category 1-7 free night awards from Jenn’s account. She didn’t have Hyatt Diamond status (I miss calling it “Diamond”) but the hotel extended the benefits to us because I was staying in the room with her. Always awesome when hotels go above and beyond the stated terms. I’m not so sure the hotel would be so generous these days.

The Maldives

In the Maldives, we stayed at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, booked for 380,000 Hilton points for five nights (plus $197/night to upgrade to an overwater villa). At the time we visited, you couldn’t book directly into an overwater villa with points without a cash supplement. The hotel isn’t one of the best options with points nowadays in the Maldives, but you’re still going to have a good time here.

Singapore

The Grand Hyatt Singapore was surprisingly pretty awesome. I booked it for just $200/night and used a suite upgrade award to clear us into a two-story suite. It’s not often we stay in a room that spans two floors. Elite recognition at the hotel, and through all of Asia, is excellent.

Hong Kong

The Grand Hyatt Hong Kong quickly became one of our favorites. I booked it for 25,000 Hyatt points/night and paired it with a suite upgrade award. I timed this stay with when Jenn’s parents and two of her siblings would be in town. As I played the role of travel agent, I made sure everyone got lounge access thanks to the Guest of Honor program. Staff in the lounge took it as an honor to serve us, constantly topping off our champagne glasses.

Seoul, South Korea

The last hotel was at the Park Hyatt Seoul. At the time, it was just 15,000 Hyatt points a night. That was an incredible value and the hotel took care of us. Once again, I used my Guest of Honor benefits to make sure Jenn’s family also received the same treatment we got. At one point, I had hopes of visiting all Park Hyatt’s in the world (hence four on this trip) but I’ve since come to my senses.

How to book your own Secret Trip

First of all, you’ll want to make sure that your travel partner is fine with trusting your decisions. It’s not going to be for everyone, and if your partner is going to be stressed the whole time, it might be a memorable trip for the wrong reasons. So get the approval first, plus figure out a rough time frame when the trip can happen.

I planned the trip more than 12 months out. Why so far in advance? Because I needed to know exactly which flights I needed to book when award seats first open. The most important flights are the long haul flights that connect continents. Get those and you should be fine. Using train travel through Europe is a good cheat code since you can edit your destinations based on the flight you’re able to secure (Zurich was a destination of necessity since that’s where I got the Singapore Suites flight).

Stay flexible. This holds true not just with the flights you can secure, but also because things can happen that make you need to pivot after you booked. Sure, maybe the bombing in Bangkok was an anomaly, but even airline strikes or mechanical delays could derail your plans. So put in a little bit of buffer and don’t plan expensive dinners or events on the day you land in a country.

And have fun with it. Even if you don’t get your preferred routing, try to turn extra stops into mini-adventures. If you don’t get the preferred cabin, it’s not going to ruin the trip. Remember that your travel partner doesn’t know where you’re going along the way, so just going there is going to be exciting enough.

I’m currently planning Secret Trip 2.0

It’s not Secret Trip 2.0 because it’s intending to be better than the original. I’m not going to top the month-long vacation with plenty of first class flights. We’re both at a spot in our regular work life where it’s going to be hard to take off that much time and not get fired. I’m thinking something closer to half the amount of time will be good.

I’m not going to drop hints at this point on where we’re going other than to say that every destination will be one not touched by the original. Saying anything more would be giving away too much to Jenn.

And the kids will be coming with us this time (the original journey was before they were born). With the kids in the mix, it will mean a longer average stay at each destination than we had in the original Secret Trip. Hopefully it also means we get a good chance to fall in love with each destination.

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experiencing the world via gastronomy with our children