Private, International
Mystery Tours
Discover the thrill of the unknown when you have a group of four or more travelers.
Dear Adventurous Traveler,
It’s natural to feel the most comfortable when things are certain, but research shows you feel the most alive when they’re not.
If you love the idea of a mystery trip but don’t want to join a group of strangers… or you already have a group of family, friends or fans who want to join you, our private mystery tours are the perfect option.
Beijing, Ecuador, South Africa, Thailand, Abu Dhabi, Jordan, Europe, Peru…
You’ll have no idea where you’re going, only that you’ve never been there in the past.
When booked as a private experience, each trip is uniquely crafted to suit your individual or group preferences.
You and your travel companions will complete a comprehensive survey about your interests and travel history. Then, using this information, we'll select the perfect destination based on your travel dates and keep it a secret until the day before departure.
To create unforgettable itineraries, we collaborate with local artists, food bloggers, and photographers, ensuring your trip caters to your passions and interests.
Hassle-Free Travel Arrangements
We take care of every detail, from booking flights with your preferred airline to arranging on-the-ground transportation from your chosen departure location and nearby airports. You can relax and focus on the anticipation of your mystery destination.
For flights exceeding 5 hours, you'll have the option to upgrade to business class for an additional fee. We handle all flight arrangements, ensuring a stress-free experience.
Extraordinary Accommodations
The accommodations we choose are part of the adventure. We can’t always stay in luxury properties but where we can, we try.
Past accommodations have ranged from bubble hotels in Jordan to high-end luxury glamping tents in Tanzania and charming chateaux in France. Your survey responses will help us understand your comfort level with various accommodations and it affects the trip we design for you.
Remote locations often feature more basic accommodations.
Private Mystery Trip Pricing
Our pricing includes nearly everything – hotels, flights, guides, and activities – for a comprehensive and unforgettable experience.
6+ guests - $7,500 per person
4 guests - $8,500 per person
2 guests - $10,000 per person
Apart from the trip fee and travel insurance, budget approximately $30/day for alcohol, laundry, small gratuities for porters, and miscellaneous expenses. Pre-trip vaccinations may also be required or recommended for your destination.
Should you prefer not to get vaccinations, you can let us know in your pre-trip survey and we’ll be sure you’re not sent to a country that requires them. See below in the FAQ for more details.
Photogenic Destinations Off the Beaten Path
All Focused Escapes focus on photogenic locations and a break-away from the traditional tourist path.
Gratuities on the ground are not included on private tours.
How to Secure Your Private Mystery Trip
Complete the form below with your contact information and desired trip details to initiate the process.
Our team will contact you with further information and a link for each group member to complete the trip survey within a specified deadline.
Upon receipt of completed surveys, we'll select a destination and plan your trip, including specific dates. You'll have 7 days to accept the dates and confirm with a contract, deposit, and payment schedule.
Once confirmed, you'll receive a packing list and a hint about your destination. Enjoy guessing where you're headed, but the grand reveal will only happen just before your trip during an online meeting!
Private Mystery Trip Request Form
We're excited to offer you the opportunity to plan a personalized mystery trip. Please provide us with some information about yourself and your travel preferences, and we'll be in touch to start planning your dream trip!
If you’re up for the ultimate adventure, look no further.
You’ll gain spontaneous experiences, unforgettable memories, and bragging rights for years to come.
When you have the ability to handle uncertainty, you become a real explorer.
Our team has been leading and crafting tours for more than 20 years with an entire network of travel writers, bloggers and photographers around the world!
This is truly a unique way to travel.
FAQs
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The price provided is for single or double configurations.
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No. Our Mystery Trips are picked to be spontaneous, exotic, off the beaten tourist path and extraordinary. If you want to go somewhere specific, you should do that. That’s not what this is.
Mystery Tours are for the kind of traveler who realizes they only live once. They’re for the traveler who values experiences AND destinations. Not just the destination itself.
We encourage you to keep an open mind and know that this world is incredibly beautiful and we have bloggers and photographers all over it who capture the most unusual things.
These trips include all their favorite experiences.
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Once you submit your interest and we confirm we can provide a trip for you, you will pay a 20% deposit for your entire trip (each participant) and complete an extensive survey. It’s here where you'll list everywhere you've been, any mobility issues you have, and what dates you have available. You’ll also be asked if you ski, scuba, or horseback ride along with a myriad of other fun things we may incorporate into the tour.
Surveys will have a completion deadline and all guest surveys must be in by the deadline.
You will then get an email with trip dates and you’ll have 7 days to respond and confirm.
The balance of your fee can be split into payments or paid all at once at your request. Everything must be paid in full 60 days before your trip. Trips can be scheduled for travel from October 2023 forward.
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If you respond within the 7 days but you can’t make the trip because something came up or you forgot about a prior commitment, we may be able to change your dates. This may come with an additional fee depending on several factors.
If you don’t respond… and we try to contact you through multiple channels and it’s been 7 days and you aren’t responding to any of our calls or emails, you’ll forfeit your deposit. We will do our best to reach you or members of your party multiple times before this goes into effect.
Exceptions will be made if you notify us in advance that you’ll be without phone and email for 7 days due to surgery, travel, or grievance.
We highly recommend purchasing cancel for any reason travel insurance to cover any potential issues that may arise.
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We will do our best to manage your dietary needs. If you have multiple food allergies or strict dietary preferences (for example vegan diets), you may need to bring supplements in case your restrictions can’t be managed at every stop.
We will do our best to choose destinations that are safe and offer a multitude of options. Keep in mind some countries handle food allergies very well. Other countries mean well but they don’t see things like this in their country often so have limited understanding.
If you have strong dietary restrictions we may discuss options with you in advance to make sure you are safe.
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If this is the case, simply mark those places as “already been” on your application and we’ll be sure not to send you there.
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Yes! Just add them to your already-been locations and we won’t take you there.
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If we can’t accommodate you because you’ve been to too many places or we can’t find a destination that fits your group, we’ll refund your deposit.
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As with all international travel, it’s recommended that you are up to date on all your typical travel vaccines. These include MMR, tetanus and polio as well as Hep A, B and C.
In addition, it’s also recommended that you be up to date on your yearly flu shot, Covid and chicken pox/shingles.
Typhoid is a common recommendation for places throughout Africa and Asia. It’s basically another strain of salmonella that comes from kitchen staff (or yourself) not washing hands before they touch food.
If this vaccine, yellow fever or malaria meds are recommended in the location you’re going, we’ll notify you in advance.
Unwillingness to take any of these vaccines/medications should be documented in your pre-trip application. It will limit the countries you can go to but it won’t stop you from traveling to countries that don’t have these recommendations or requirements.
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It depends on the destination but most tours will be between 6 and 10 days.
For private trips we also can adjust the dates depending on your needs however your trip fee will not cover trips that are more than 10 days.
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No, unfortunately not.
You will, however, be able to collect the reward points from your travel when you see who you’re flying and where we’re staying.
You’ll receive your boarding pass 24-48 hours before departure. You can then log into the company’s website and attach your loyalty number at that time. Your points should accumulate when your flights are completed.
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We have a reputation of running tours for the last 20 years, and you can rest assured that we never take a profit of more than 20% on a tour.
We work in partnership with a team to look up flights and secure the best deals. We also work with insiders to create supreme experiences with whatever budget remains.
We can do more with your money than you can on your own and our network around the world is vast.
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Bhutan, Beijing, Egypt, Thailand, Abu Dhabi/Dubai, Uganda, Peru, Ecuador, Iceland, South Africa and Japan are Mystery Destinations we’re excited about.
We can also curate Mystery Tours in Bali, Croatia, Georgia, Tanzania, Morocco, Namibia, Jordan, France and Spain to name a few spots we love.
It depends on the applications we receive.
We look forward to expanding this list with more countries as we grow.
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This will also be addressed on our very lengthy application. If there are certain places that make you feel uncomfortable, you can note that and we won’t send you there.
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No. Please note your passport country on your application and we’ll ensure you can get in and out of the country.
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Focused Escapes has an Ambassador Program where participants can apply to repeat a trip (for only the cost of their flight) if they become the next trip’s group leader. This means, if you come on one of our tours, and you really like the destination, you can go again as group lead.
To be an Ambassador, you must have good leadership and conversation skills.
Your job on the free trip includes: Pre-trip communication with the incoming participants (answering questions on what to pack, weather, gear, flights, etc). Hosting the Grand Reveal on Zoom. Coordinating schedule changes with our ground team during the trip. Resolving issues that turn up on the ground (twisted ankles, sickness, weather delays, construction, missed reservations). Taking pictures for our social media. Creating a slideshow at the end. Creating a shared folder for photo collection after the trip.
Apply here!
Fill out this survey if you’d like to be considered for 2023 trips and add your name to this below list if you’d like to be considered for 2024. We’ll send you details for our next round of applicants in July 2023.
Important dates.
TODAY!
Add your name to the waitlist and watch your email inbox in July for the survey which tells us where you’ve been. The next round of applicants won’t be processed until July 2023.
July 2023
Look for an email with the survey and 1-2 weeks later, look for an email with dates for the trips you qualify for.
7 days after trip dates rec’d
Deadline for accepting the trip you’ve been assigned to.
3-6 months before your trip
Confirm the flights details we send you and request an upgrade (if you want).
Two months before your trip
We’ll send you vaccination requirements (if needed) and a packing list.
1-3 days before your trip
We’ll surprise you with the destination and you can make changes to the things you intended to pack.