A woman whose parents used to take her on "mystery trips" when she was a child flipped the tradition on its head by telling her family she was going on a mystery trip of her own before traveling cross-country to surprise them. When Maddie, 29, from Birmingham, Alabama, was younger, her parents Trina and Ted would use their "mystery trips" to "make the mundane more magical," she said. Whether it be a simple journey to get an ice cream or traveling all the way to Disney World, the couple would always make the most of an opportunity to surprise Maddie and her sister ahead of the trip. And so, fast forward more than a decade, Maddie decided she wanted to surprise her parents with a mystery trip of her own. As she was leaving a job at Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, she had a large amount of paid time off to use up. Being a travel streamer and documenter of her RV life on TikTok @maddie.the.coddiwompler, she decided she would take a mystery trip of her own, asking for recommendations from her audience. After a few weeks of gathering suggestions, though, Maddie took stock: she didn't know when she would next get to see her parents, and she was aware her grandparents were getting older. As Trina had been following her daughter’s TikTok religiously, Maddie decided to instead use the mystery trip disguise to head home. She didn't tell anyone other than her dad and sister where she was headed, and on October 7, at her family's homes in Birmingham, Alabama, Maddie surprised her mom, grandparents and aunt, capturing the moments in a series of wholesome videos.