The Hawks are firmly entrenched in the AFL top four after banking a third straight win in their 13.13 (91) to 7.14 (56) victory over Melbourne on Saturday.
But they are wary of their next assignment, having copped a 67-point hiding from the Suns on their only previous trip to TIO Stadium in 2022.
"We went there a couple of years ago and we didn't handle it as well as (we'd like) as a club," Mitchell said.
"We are going a little bit earlier to do a bit of training and spend a bit of time there.
"We'll go up Monday, we'll be really well prepared. It's a five-day break for us, but it is for Gold Coast as well.
"It's the same for both teams and we're looking forward to going up to Darwin and giving one of the in-form teams in the competition a real shake."
Key defender Tom Barrass will be part of an extended Hawks squad that travels to Darwin, returning to action after being rested in round nine.
Calsher Dear is a chance to play his first senior match of the season, having made three VFL appearances on return from injury, while in-form veteran Jack Gunston could be rested.
Jarman Impey is certain to miss the Suns clash as he and wife Annabelle await the arrival of their first child.
"His due date is fast approaching and (Darwin) being that far away, it's not a risk we want to take with someone like him," Mitchell said.
"Family is first and we've got Mother's Day (on Sunday), so we want to make sure this is a really good week for him.
"He's known that he wasn't going to play in this one for a while.
"Whether we do that with a couple of others, we'll make that assessment in the next 48 hours."
Hawthorn have beaten bottom-half sides West Coast, Richmond and Melbourne in the past three weeks to improve their record to 7-2 for the season.
But they are yet to hit top gear and have lost their past two meetings with Gold Coast by an average of 10 goals.
"We've set our season up quite well at this stage, as far as the ladder goes," Mitchell said.
"Have we played absolutely scintillating footy? A couple of times this year for some quarters and periods of games I think we have.
"But we haven't put together this striking, amazing footy that's blowing teams away.
"That's every coach's hope and utopia that we're looking for.
"But we've been close to the highest pressure team in the competition, so we are getting down and dirty when we need to, and we're being able to win in a really tough and physical manner most of the time."
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