Valentine's Day has come and gone. But for me and Kristal it is one that will never be forgotten. It took about 3 months in the making but I was able to fly halfway across the world, without Kristal finding out, to surprise her and celebrate Valentine's Day together...in person. I have had a lot of people ask me..."How did you do that?!?!" So I figured I can give a little breakdown here in 7 easy steps...(7 just sounded like a good number)
Step 1: Idea
I got the idea for the trip just before Kristal and I were getting ready for our Christmas trip. We were struggling with going 3 months without seeing each other and I thought it would be nice if we could see each other before 3 months for the next trip. It ended up that Valentine's Day was exactly 6 weeks from the end of our Christmas trip...so the timing was perfect.
Step 2: Book Flights
After a bit of price hawking, I stumbled on what must have been an airline error. I found a roundtrip ticket to NZ at about 30% off the normal ticket price. The dates perfect lined up around the Feb 14 holiday so without much thought...I booked the sucker!!!
Step 3: Plan Trip
Once I had my ticket it was decided I would have about 72 hours of actually being in Auckland. So I started to plan out of trip. It ended up being a B&B in Auckland followed by a little road trip to an area called Whangarei Heads on the North Island. I had some help from one of Kristal's friends, Kate, in making great reccomendations!
Step 4: Deception
Once it was all set up I had to keep my mouth shut. I started dreaming up ways to keep her from finding out, which is no easy task when you need to account for 24 hours of travel and a 10 hour time difference. I decided I couldn't do it on my own and started looking for conspiritors.
Step 5: Accessories
There were two main accessories to this plan. On the NZ side, there was Kate. Kate helped plan the trip and then was a trooper in helping set up a scavenger hunt to lead her to our meeting location. She also make "plans" with Kristal for the weekend to make sure she would be available. On the Doha side we had Kevin. Kevin had made arrangements with Kristal to take me out on the 14th to celebrate. The two of us decided to go out a week earlier, save the photos, and send them while I was in the air from his phone. He also used my email account to send her messages I had drafted while I was flying. As far as she knew, there was NO possible way I was not in Doha.
Step 6: Make Her Work For It
I couldn't just show up at the front door and yell SURPRISE!!! Where's the fun in that?! Once Kristal was done with work, Kate had taped a set of clues that would take Kristal all around Auckland before arriving at our B&B. While she was on the hunt it was time for me to "wake up" in Doha so I was messaging her as she got to the end. When she arrived at Bella's B&B she had no idea what would be waiting for her there.
Step 7: SURPRISE!!!
As Kristal opened the door her face was pure shock, mixed with joy. After a long, weary day of travel it was SO refreshing and I would have gotten on the next flight out of Auckland and it still would have been worth it. She was speechless, confused, and most of all wanted to know "What happened?!?!" As I explained it all to her she continued to be in disbelief. In all the entire weekend was this euphoric, blissful experience as we enjoyed "bonus" time together. Usually we look forward to our trips for so long and then know it will be quite a while until the next one. That weekend was basically free time so we cherished every second.
The Surprise will go down as one of the best weekends of my life. Incredible hikes, home cooked meals, more B&Bs than we knew that to do with, and of course great company. We are so lucky to get these kind of opportunities and it looks like our next trip will be in 4 short weeks! I will be going back to NZ in March after a conference for one more hoorah!!! So thank you to all of those who helped with the Surprise, kept their mouths shut, and cheered us on from all around the world. We appreciate your support!!! Until next time!!!
Step 1: Idea
I got the idea for the trip just before Kristal and I were getting ready for our Christmas trip. We were struggling with going 3 months without seeing each other and I thought it would be nice if we could see each other before 3 months for the next trip. It ended up that Valentine's Day was exactly 6 weeks from the end of our Christmas trip...so the timing was perfect.Step 2: Book Flights
After a bit of price hawking, I stumbled on what must have been an airline error. I found a roundtrip ticket to NZ at about 30% off the normal ticket price. The dates perfect lined up around the Feb 14 holiday so without much thought...I booked the sucker!!!
Step 3: Plan TripOnce I had my ticket it was decided I would have about 72 hours of actually being in Auckland. So I started to plan out of trip. It ended up being a B&B in Auckland followed by a little road trip to an area called Whangarei Heads on the North Island. I had some help from one of Kristal's friends, Kate, in making great reccomendations!
Step 4: Deception
Once it was all set up I had to keep my mouth shut. I started dreaming up ways to keep her from finding out, which is no easy task when you need to account for 24 hours of travel and a 10 hour time difference. I decided I couldn't do it on my own and started looking for conspiritors.
Step 5: Accessories
There were two main accessories to this plan. On the NZ side, there was Kate. Kate helped plan the trip and then was a trooper in helping set up a scavenger hunt to lead her to our meeting location. She also make "plans" with Kristal for the weekend to make sure she would be available. On the Doha side we had Kevin. Kevin had made arrangements with Kristal to take me out on the 14th to celebrate. The two of us decided to go out a week earlier, save the photos, and send them while I was in the air from his phone. He also used my email account to send her messages I had drafted while I was flying. As far as she knew, there was NO possible way I was not in Doha.
Step 6: Make Her Work For It
I couldn't just show up at the front door and yell SURPRISE!!! Where's the fun in that?! Once Kristal was done with work, Kate had taped a set of clues that would take Kristal all around Auckland before arriving at our B&B. While she was on the hunt it was time for me to "wake up" in Doha so I was messaging her as she got to the end. When she arrived at Bella's B&B she had no idea what would be waiting for her there.
Step 7: SURPRISE!!!As Kristal opened the door her face was pure shock, mixed with joy. After a long, weary day of travel it was SO refreshing and I would have gotten on the next flight out of Auckland and it still would have been worth it. She was speechless, confused, and most of all wanted to know "What happened?!?!" As I explained it all to her she continued to be in disbelief. In all the entire weekend was this euphoric, blissful experience as we enjoyed "bonus" time together. Usually we look forward to our trips for so long and then know it will be quite a while until the next one. That weekend was basically free time so we cherished every second.
The Surprise will go down as one of the best weekends of my life. Incredible hikes, home cooked meals, more B&Bs than we knew that to do with, and of course great company. We are so lucky to get these kind of opportunities and it looks like our next trip will be in 4 short weeks! I will be going back to NZ in March after a conference for one more hoorah!!! So thank you to all of those who helped with the Surprise, kept their mouths shut, and cheered us on from all around the world. We appreciate your support!!! Until next time!!!
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