What better way to bring strangers together than to celebrate milestones like a family. This not only honors and delights the person being celebrated it gives an excuse for everyone to join together for a cause.

Some Reasons to Celebrate:

• Birthdays (often listed on passenger manifest, passport details, or just listen as most people will tell their birthday is coming up)
• Anniversaries
• Graduations
• 50^th state
• Veterans
• Mother’s/Father’s Day
• National Holidays
• Regional Holidays
• And the list goes on. You don’t want to get annoying with it, but there is always going to be an excuse to have a little celebration during your trip.

Generally speaking just having a few birthdays or anniversaries that you celebrate will be enough to make a trip memorable. But if you are hurting for a celebration simply google to find out that it is national ________ (give a high five) day then go for it.

No need to blow your budget on these celebrations.

Anniversaries:

I use masking tape and tape up some toilet paper from the back of the coach (always ask the driver if they are fine with you taking some). I drape it like streamers going over their seats and I make a construction paper sign with their name in a heart. I do this either first thing in the morning or while we are at a stop so that as people come on they all see it and congratulate the couple. Once everyone is onboard I say that today is a very special day, ask the couple how many years they have been married, and ask them each to give their best advice for marriage (it is usually funny like the man just says “yes dear” or it is touching). Then I lead everyone in singing happy anniversary to the tune of happy birthday.

Very simple, yet I have had couples that will travel with me years later and the first thing they tell me is how special they felt and how much they loved the toilet paper decorations. The crazy thing is they will often say, “I can’t remember which trip that was but we remember you doing that for us”. A little toilet paper made more of an impact than seeing the Canadian Rockies or wherever we went!

If you want to step it up a notch. You can get a pack of cards from the dollar store, or I just make my own with construction paper (it looks like a 5 year old made them a card and they loooooove it). Then pass the card around on a clipboard and have the group sign it for the couple and ask them to write advice (generally very funny). Send it around after singing happy anniversary so you don’t have to try to sneak behind the couple to do it. Then when it comes back around you and the driver sign it with the tour name and date and give it to the couple. Again this makes a big impact, I have had couples who said they kept that card on their fridge for years.

Birthdays: Most people love to be celebrated and recognized. There are a few people that do not like the attention or get really anxious and do not enjoy it at all. As a tour guide it is our job to sense these things and respond accordingly. With an anniversary usually you are fine because if one of them does not like the attention the other does. With individuals often you can tell by how many people they have told their birthday is coming up.

I had one woman who told everyone every day that her birthday was coming up at the end of the trip. It was a “big number” birthday. Since she clearly wanted everyone to know I made a big deal about it. I decorated her seat, we sang to her, and I gave her a birthday hat and a card. In all seriousness she looked at me after we sang and said, “How did you know?’ But she wore that paper birthday hat all day and even the next day. 

If you do have someone that you can tell is not enjoying the attention you can cut it short. Wish them a happy birthday and take the decorations down right then. Once you have celebrated someone on a trip generally you will have people tell you if they have something coming up or will tell you if they don’t want it mentioned. If I see their birthdate on a form and I get a vibe from them that they may not enjoy it, I will just ask them. “Hey, I love to celebrate when someone has a birthday on one of my trips. I saw on your passport that you are having one on Thursday would it be okay for us to sing to you?”

---

**A Note on Decorating Seats

First, always ask the driver if they mind. I always show them that I am using masking tape/painters tape that will not hurt anything. But if they do not want you to use the tape, you can just drape stuff over the seats and set the sign on the top (fold the paper like a tent and it will sit on the headrest).

Secondly you never want to obstruct people’s views on the coach. So I generally take the decorations down right after we sing. I offer to take a photo for them in the seats with the decorations if they would like and then I say I need to take them down so people can see out. If the people really love them and want them to stay up a bit, I will leave them up if we are not in a scenic area (but the people around have heard you say that you will take them down and they know they will not be up all day).

---

Keep the Party Going! Not only can you celebrate on the coach but many places will announce special occasions. If you are going to a show ask if they do announcements and give them the names (what a treat to have your name announced on the Grand Ole Opry). Also most restaurants will be more than happy to sing and put candles in a dessert. Often times they will do a free little extra dessert, but if they will not ask them to just put it in the included dessert.

Giving Gifts

As for giving gifts, I have found that passengers appreciate an experience (taking time out of the day to sing, decorate, sign a card, etc.) more than a gift. Mainly because you do not know them well enough to get them something they will really use. Also since you are paying out of your pocket it can get expensive quickly if you try to get someone something nice, only to discover then you have five more birthdays coming up and you don’t want it to look like you are playing favorites. If you are going to go for gifts, go for unique little things from the tour (handmade bookmark from local artisan, postcards, etc.) You also can give free gifts, like allowing them to get off the coach first at a stop or getting to sit in front of the carriage rides you are doing that day.

Holidays: People really enjoy celebrating holidays when they travel. They will dress in holiday sweaters, wear green on St Patrick’s Day, and red on Valentine’s Day. Anything you can do to add to the festivities is a bonus. Even if it is as simple as having shamrock stickers for your passengers so no one is without green. Or having American Flag stickers or red white and blue leis for Fourth of July. Or glow necklaces if you are going to fireworks (this also lets you find your group easier). All of these things can be very cheap but add to the experience and I find that you make the money back in better tips because people realize that you have gone above and beyond in your duties.

Anytime you can continue a “family” tradition on the coach for a holiday it is fun.

• Thanksgiving- Ask for volunteers to share something they are thankful for this year.
• Easter- Hide some plastic eggs with candy (not chocolate if it can melt) in the coach.
• Veterans Day- Acknowledge your veterans and allow them to get of the coach first with their spouses.
• Mother’s Day- Read some famous quotes about mothers and share how important they are. Once I had a small group and thought it would be fun to give all the women flowers for Mother’s Day. I did not know how difficult they would be to acquire on tour so I just got flowers from the dollar store. It was like three bucks and many of the women teared up when I gave them to them after talking about how great moms were….again they were from the dollar store, it is the thought that counts!
• Think through fun traditions, even ones that are unique to you and see how you can share those with your guests.

Create a “Celebration Folder”

Obviously there are many events and ways to celebrate. Instead of having to prep for each tour, I simply have a folder that I always have with me that has some of the essentials so I am ready for whatever celebration may arise. All of these things can be acquired at the dollar store or any craft store.

• Birthday Hats- Probably 50% only wear them for a photo, but they still think they are fun. If they are the paper ones I send them around and have everyone sign it, so it doubles as card. I really like the ones that are shaped like Birthday Cakes/Candles because you can hold it out like a cake as you sing.
• Balloons- I tape them above the seat. You can get balloons that say “happy anniversary” or “happy birthday” or you can write their names on them with a sharpie. If you are really artsy you can get and make balloon animals (just practice enough so you are not popping a lot of balloons on the coach, no need to scare the passengers).
• Streamers- These are a little classier than toilet paper, but just as cheap. There have been occasions where I have streamed the entire center of the coach (not in the way of windows) and it looks very fun.
• Construction Paper for signs- When I have some free time on the coach I will make signs for future use just leaving a space to fill in the name. You also can buy happy birthday certificates premade.
• Scissors and tape- I use masking for ceiling and scotch for windows. While tape does not always stick to the fabric I generally tape on the vents or lights since it stays a little longer.
• Cards- bought or handmade. If you are a photographer you can stick one of your favorite printed photos on the front of the cards.
• “It’s my birthday” stickers

*This is what it looks like when you go overboard. I had a little time off a few years back and went crazy at the dollar store, then made these folders. You can see how I just taped the little plastic sleeves that items came in to the folder so when I opened it I had everything there and nothing was falling out. You can see some Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary signs there, even some Chinese lanterns, again this is too much. Think through what works for you and have a little stash that you only need to refill every once in a while instead of doing it for every trip.

The Possibilities are Endless: One of my favorite random celebrations was beside an old car on the former site of a now defunct stretch of Route 66. As passengers got off the motor coach I handed them a cup with no explanation and had them gather around the car. I then pulled a box of Kix cereal out of a bag and poured some in all of their cups. We then toasted Route 66 and had our Kix on Route 66. Then I gave them the box to do individual photos. By their reactions you would have thought that I gave them the finest champagne on a free hot air balloon ride over Paris at night. I actually did it to kill a little time but in the end I had to drag them away from their socializing and photo taking so we would not be late to our next stop!