‘Just where the hell we are going?’
I scratched my head as I stared, confused, at the departures screen in Stansted airport, keen to know which flight I’d be going on.
I was scared yet thrilled.
‘Well, you know, it’s a surprise trip! We won’t find out until two hours before…’
Jess of The Fly Away American piped up beside me. She would be my partner in crime on this quirky concept made by Surprise Trips and we both just couldn’t wait to see what exotic European city break destination we’d be flying off to.
She muttered:
‘It better not be Glasgow…’
I continued staring up. Could it Brno in Czech Republic? Amsterdam in the Netherlands? Or even Dublin in Ireland?
I confess I wanted sun. A relaxing experience even after a long few months at work.
Soon, she dragged me away so we could get a coffee while we waited on this busy Friday morning. Oh, how I envied the other passengers striding confidently to their departure gates, knowing just exactly where they were going.
That was it. That what was the beauty of this Surprise Trip was all about.
We just didn’t know where we were going and I wasn’t comfortable with that. This travel blogger always planned ahead, just knowing what sights to see, what activities to do and where to partake the local tipple.
It was a huge challenge for me to go to a random destination, blind to anything that could happen. And this certainly piqued my interest.
As I sipped the scalding froth of my latte, I remembered when I attended the Surprise Trips launch.
See more: Surprise Trips
The concept is this:
Pretty sweet, right?
As Jess disappeared to the toilet, I was scoffing my face full of pastries when the tell-tale ping of my phone rang.
This was it.
I got mail.
From Surprise Trips.
Wide eyed and my mouth still stuffed with the flaky chocolat du pain, I gestured widely at Jess, upon realisation why I could possibly be choking and being an idiot more than usual, ran towards me, dodging the wheeled suitcases dragged by fast walking passengers.
I spat out crumbs as I exclaimed to her:
‘I’ve got the destination!’
We both squealed, grabbing each other as we both jumped up and down. Slinging our bags over our shoulders, we raced to the departure screens yet again and began my very first foray in the newest look on social media.
Facebook Live.
Streaming live there and then, we could share our discovery just exactly where we would be going with you.
This is what happened:
So! Ljubljana!
The capital of Slovenia, one of the Balkans of Yugoslavia.
I was pleased. More than pleased! I was ecstatic! I would be going to a brand new European country that I hadn’t had the pleasure of setting foot in!
I kept rolling the name, Ljubljana, on my tongue. It sounded like an exclamation to me and I would finish off saying it with a flourish as an ‘naaaaaaaaaa’ like a squealing Eurovision presenter.
It was such a delightful surprise! I turned to Jess and found her to be grinning ear to ear that mirrored on my face too!
Offering my arm to her to take, we held out our passports in hand and stepped forward towards our departure gate.
Ljubljana. Here we come!
Just don’t be surprised by us!
Stay tuned for the next blog post about our time in Ljubljana soon!
