Sometimes when
Christmas rolls around, we go from enjoying the holiday seasons to panicking about what we should get loved ones. It can be
grueling coming up with gift ideas.
You don’t want to give your dad, mom, husband, or wife the same old presents that seem so cliché year after
year. Now you don’t have to. There’s a new trend that you can count on to really hit one out of the ballpark.
It kind of plays into the whole thought process of having a bucket list. In fact, you could give each of your friends
and loved ones a bucket list sheet to fill out for you. Tell them it’s for a survey or something.
When you get
it back, tap into the trend of “experience gift giving.” This is where you give someone an experience,
rather than a tangible present –- but I’m going to show you how to combine both elements for an amazing and unique
gift idea!
It’s our life experiences that stay with us as memories forever. Tangible gifts get
old and outdated. This is one gift they’ll never forget -– it will be irreplaceable. I’m going to show you
several top experience gift ideas to choose from as examples, and share with you some tangible gift ideas you could pair with
them.
If last year is any indication, experience gifts will be hot items again this year. The top five experience
gifts are as follows:
Food Tours
A food tour gift can be a fantastic gift that keeps on giving. Food
tours are where you go around the city, the state, the country, or even the world sampling the cuisine from different places.
If you wanted to do it on a budget, then you could put together a picnic basket filled with a bottle of wine and
a picnic set, but include a few gift cards from local restaurants that your friend or loved one enjoys.
You can find
inexpensive and high dollar picnic baskets online, with an array of restaurant gift cards to chains such as Outback Steakhouse,
P.F. Changs, Macaroni Grill, and dozens more.
You could put together a breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert gift
that included a gift card to a place that serves breakfast like Cracker Barrel. Include a Subway Sandwich gift card for a
quick lunch, put an Outback Steak House gift card in for dinner, and top it off with a dessert gift card to the Cheesecake
Factory!
Your loved one could make it a full day doing a food tour, or break it up into separate food
events.
Now you can also make this an amazing and more expensive gift, too! How about buying a new
piece of luggage and filling it with some travel items, along with the menu from the local cuisine stops of another area that
you’ll drive or fly to? Maybe throw in a couple of airline tickets to an exotic getaway!
Race Car Driver
This is primarily a perfect gift for men -– but if you know who Danica Patrick is, you’ll know it’s
perfectly suitable for women, too. If you know someone who has a need for speed, then you can find a local or nearby
racing facility that lets you give the gift of race car driving.
For instance, you can buy someone a Nascar
racing experience where they get to drive a real Nascar race car that’s been driven by famous race car drivers. There
are a variety of packages.
For example, you could get them a ride-along package where they get to ride with an
instructor to see how it’s done. There’s the driving experience where they get to drive it themselves. And there
are even more all-inclusive packages.
A race car driving experience includes things like meeting with the
crew chief, getting clear instructions and training about driving a race car, radio communication inside the race car with
your pit crew, a timed racing session, and a certificate that reminds you of your achievement.
So what could
you wrap under the tree to go with this experience? If you have to fly in to the Nascar track, then it might include airline
tickets to that. But as far as tangible items, you could start with a sleek racing helmet.
Racers also
wear a support element for the helmet in case they wreck. In addition to these items, you could get the fire suit, which are
coveralls, gloves, and driving shoes –- all in a fire resistant fabric!
You might even personalize these
items with your loved one’s first or last name and their favorite number. Order it all in their favorite color schemes,
too!
Flying Lessons
Many people
have “flying a plane” as one of their bucket list items. This is a very popular experience gift -– and you
can make a loved one’s dreams come true this Christmas season!
Most larger communities have municipal airports
where you can buy a package of flying lessons for someone. If you’re not quite sure, then you may be able to find flight
simulator gift packages, so they don’t really have to go up in the air just yet.
In the real flying
packages, your loved one will typically get some hands on training about the basics of aviation. They’ll be riding in
the co-pilot’s seat, but once the craft is up in the air, they get to handle the plane more -– as much as they’re
comfortable with.
Most flying lessons are approximately 30 minutes long, but they can be longer. It starts
with a lesson on flying safety, followed by flight tutorials. Then they take off into the deep blue sky!
If you want
to avoid the plane gift, you can opt for a helicopter flying lesson instead. Light aircraft is a bit different, so the gift
recipient will get instructions about the differences in takeoff, landing, and in-flight elements.
If the person
you’re buying for may someday want to get their pilot’s license, then these training sessions often count toward
their flight time. But these aren’t the only flying experience you can choose!
If the person you
want to buy for needs even more thrills, then look for a "dog fight" experience...
NOT a
real dog fight -– a flying dog fight in the air! There are true Top Gun flight experiences you can buy where
they get to go in a fighter plane and learn about tactical maneuvers.
They get to actually take the
controls and do spirals, loops, and other pulse-racing maneuvers. These are typically recorded for you from the ground so
that you can relive the moment over and over again.
Now, when it comes to flying lessons -– what can
you put under the tree for Christmas? You’ll definitely want to start with some wings. A little pin that looks just
like pilot’s wings will be perfect.
Other ideas include a pilot’s logbook. This is where they’ll
record the details of their flights. You could get them a set of flight training videos or a book that discusses it.
If you’d like to give them some apparel, you could wrap a shearling pilot’s jacket to put under the tree.
Or, give them a pair of aviator sunglasses to wear when they’re up in the sky.
Sports Experiences
There are many different types of sports
experiences. You can give your golfing loved one a series of lessons from a PGA Pro. They’ll get to lower their score
using the instructions the pro gives them after analyzing their swing.
If this is the gift, then there
is no end to the number of golfing gifts you can give. From golf apparel to new clubs to the myriad of gadgets like electronic
scorecards or golf GPS systems –- they’ll love them all.
Is your loved one a baseball fan? Visit their
favorite team’s website and see if they offer any VIP fan packages. Take the Yankees, for instance -- they have something
called the Inside Experience (it sells out fast, so shop smart).
This package gives your gift
recipient the ability to meet and greet one of the fans’ favorite players. Then they get to tour the stadium and take
a picture of themselves posing with the World Series trophy.
They get to attend a luncheon at the stadium
if you add that onto the package –- and they can also get a Yankees replica jersey. When game time comes, they get a
special ticket to the game in the MVP section right between the bases.
Before their experience is over,
they go home with a Yankees gift bag. It includes a baseball cap, a baseball, and a copy of Yankees Magazine. This will be
a wonderful experience for your friend or loved one.
For Christmas, you could get them a bunch of different
sports gifts for the baseball experience. It could include collectibles that have been autographed, fan apparel, or one of
the other hundreds of gift options available online.
Dinner
Cruise
In many major metropolitan areas, you can find dinner cruises that range from simple and fun
to elegant and amazing. Of course, the more special it is, the higher the price tag.
For example, you can
give your gift recipient a showboat dinner cruise in Branson, Missouri. They’ll enjoy a three-course meal and entertainment
like dinner and dancing.
Or, buy someone a gift like a private gourmet sail in Corpus Christi, where the evening
is reserved for two on board a yacht. A fabulous meal will be served right at sunset, and if they want to, they can even take
the wheel and steer the yacht themselves.
You might wrap an all-weather jacket for under the tree.
If you just want to make the gift cute, it could be a life jacket. Any nautical gifts would be fun -– like apparel with
nautical themes.
More Experience Gift Ideas
There are so many ideas you can choose from –- not just the five listed previously. Here’s a list of
other experience gifts you could consider, below.
Airborne Experiences:
· Hang Gliding
· Hot Air Ballooning
· Paragliding
· Scenic
Flights
· Sky Diving
Food and Wine Experiences:
· Cooking
Classes
· Wine Tasting Tours
Driving Experiences:
· Dragster Races
· Off-Roading Adventures
· Storm Chasing
Classes, Lessons, and More:
· Art
classes
· City tours
· Dance
lessons
· Fishing adventures
· Glass blowing
· Pottery classes
· Train rides
· Segway tours
· Surf lessons
· Horseback
riding
· Kayaking adventures
· Whale watching
· Whitewater rafting
Go online and
look to see what kinds of physical gifts could go with each experience so that you can have the tickets to these experiences
wrapped up with something tangible they can use while enjoying it!
Sometimes when
Christmas rolls around, we go from enjoying the holiday seasons to panicking about what we should get loved ones. It can be
grueling coming up with gift ideas.
You don’t want to give your dad, mom, husband, or wife the same old presents that seem so cliché year after
year. Now you don’t have to. There’s a new trend that you can count on to really hit one out of the ballpark.
It kind of plays into the whole thought process of having a bucket list. In fact, you could give each of your friends
and loved ones a bucket list sheet to fill out for you. Tell them it’s for a survey or something.
When you get
it back, tap into the trend of “experience gift giving.” This is where you give someone an experience,
rather than a tangible present –- but I’m going to show you how to combine both elements for an amazing and unique
gift idea!
It’s our life experiences that stay with us as memories forever. Tangible gifts get
old and outdated. This is one gift they’ll never forget -– it will be irreplaceable. I’m going to show you
several top experience gift ideas to choose from as examples, and share with you some tangible gift ideas you could pair with
them.
If last year is any indication, experience gifts will be hot items again this year. The top five experience
gifts are as follows:
Food Tours
A food tour gift can be a fantastic gift that keeps on giving. Food
tours are where you go around the city, the state, the country, or even the world sampling the cuisine from different places.
If you wanted to do it on a budget, then you could put together a picnic basket filled with a bottle of wine and
a picnic set, but include a few gift cards from local restaurants that your friend or loved one enjoys.
You can find
inexpensive and high dollar picnic baskets online, with an array of restaurant gift cards to chains such as Outback Steakhouse,
P.F. Changs, Macaroni Grill, and dozens more.
You could put together a breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert gift
that included a gift card to a place that serves breakfast like Cracker Barrel. Include a Subway Sandwich gift card for a
quick lunch, put an Outback Steak House gift card in for dinner, and top it off with a dessert gift card to the Cheesecake
Factory!
Your loved one could make it a full day doing a food tour, or break it up into separate food
events.
Now you can also make this an amazing and more expensive gift, too! How about buying a new
piece of luggage and filling it with some travel items, along with the menu from the local cuisine stops of another area that
you’ll drive or fly to? Maybe throw in a couple of airline tickets to an exotic getaway!
Race Car Driver
This is primarily a perfect gift for men -– but if you know who Danica Patrick is, you’ll know it’s
perfectly suitable for women, too. If you know someone who has a need for speed, then you can find a local or nearby
racing facility that lets you give the gift of race car driving.
For instance, you can buy someone a Nascar
racing experience where they get to drive a real Nascar race car that’s been driven by famous race car drivers. There
are a variety of packages.
For example, you could get them a ride-along package where they get to ride with an
instructor to see how it’s done. There’s the driving experience where they get to drive it themselves. And there
are even more all-inclusive packages.
A race car driving experience includes things like meeting with the
crew chief, getting clear instructions and training about driving a race car, radio communication inside the race car with
your pit crew, a timed racing session, and a certificate that reminds you of your achievement.
So what could
you wrap under the tree to go with this experience? If you have to fly in to the Nascar track, then it might include airline
tickets to that. But as far as tangible items, you could start with a sleek racing helmet.
Racers also
wear a support element for the helmet in case they wreck. In addition to these items, you could get the fire suit, which are
coveralls, gloves, and driving shoes –- all in a fire resistant fabric!
You might even personalize these
items with your loved one’s first or last name and their favorite number. Order it all in their favorite color schemes,
too!
Flying Lessons
Many people
have “flying a plane” as one of their bucket list items. This is a very popular experience gift -– and you
can make a loved one’s dreams come true this Christmas season!
Most larger communities have municipal airports
where you can buy a package of flying lessons for someone. If you’re not quite sure, then you may be able to find flight
simulator gift packages, so they don’t really have to go up in the air just yet.
In the real flying
packages, your loved one will typically get some hands on training about the basics of aviation. They’ll be riding in
the co-pilot’s seat, but once the craft is up in the air, they get to handle the plane more -– as much as they’re
comfortable with.
Most flying lessons are approximately 30 minutes long, but they can be longer. It starts
with a lesson on flying safety, followed by flight tutorials. Then they take off into the deep blue sky!
If you want
to avoid the plane gift, you can opt for a helicopter flying lesson instead. Light aircraft is a bit different, so the gift
recipient will get instructions about the differences in takeoff, landing, and in-flight elements.
If the person
you’re buying for may someday want to get their pilot’s license, then these training sessions often count toward
their flight time. But these aren’t the only flying experience you can choose!
If the person you
want to buy for needs even more thrills, then look for a "dog fight" experience...
NOT a
real dog fight -– a flying dog fight in the air! There are true Top Gun flight experiences you can buy where
they get to go in a fighter plane and learn about tactical maneuvers.
They get to actually take the
controls and do spirals, loops, and other pulse-racing maneuvers. These are typically recorded for you from the ground so
that you can relive the moment over and over again.
Now, when it comes to flying lessons -– what can
you put under the tree for Christmas? You’ll definitely want to start with some wings. A little pin that looks just
like pilot’s wings will be perfect.
Other ideas include a pilot’s logbook. This is where they’ll
record the details of their flights. You could get them a set of flight training videos or a book that discusses it.
If you’d like to give them some apparel, you could wrap a shearling pilot’s jacket to put under the tree.
Or, give them a pair of aviator sunglasses to wear when they’re up in the sky.
Sports Experiences
There are many different types of sports
experiences. You can give your golfing loved one a series of lessons from a PGA Pro. They’ll get to lower their score
using the instructions the pro gives them after analyzing their swing.
If this is the gift, then there
is no end to the number of golfing gifts you can give. From golf apparel to new clubs to the myriad of gadgets like electronic
scorecards or golf GPS systems –- they’ll love them all.
Is your loved one a baseball fan? Visit their
favorite team’s website and see if they offer any VIP fan packages. Take the Yankees, for instance -- they have something
called the Inside Experience (it sells out fast, so shop smart).
This package gives your gift
recipient the ability to meet and greet one of the fans’ favorite players. Then they get to tour the stadium and take
a picture of themselves posing with the World Series trophy.
They get to attend a luncheon at the stadium
if you add that onto the package –- and they can also get a Yankees replica jersey. When game time comes, they get a
special ticket to the game in the MVP section right between the bases.
Before their experience is over,
they go home with a Yankees gift bag. It includes a baseball cap, a baseball, and a copy of Yankees Magazine. This will be
a wonderful experience for your friend or loved one.
For Christmas, you could get them a bunch of different
sports gifts for the baseball experience. It could include collectibles that have been autographed, fan apparel, or one of
the other hundreds of gift options available online.
Dinner
Cruise
In many major metropolitan areas, you can find dinner cruises that range from simple and fun
to elegant and amazing. Of course, the more special it is, the higher the price tag.
For example, you can
give your gift recipient a showboat dinner cruise in Branson, Missouri. They’ll enjoy a three-course meal and entertainment
like dinner and dancing.
Or, buy someone a gift like a private gourmet sail in Corpus Christi, where the evening
is reserved for two on board a yacht. A fabulous meal will be served right at sunset, and if they want to, they can even take
the wheel and steer the yacht themselves.
You might wrap an all-weather jacket for under the tree.
If you just want to make the gift cute, it could be a life jacket. Any nautical gifts would be fun -– like apparel with
nautical themes.
More Experience Gift Ideas
There are so many ideas you can choose from –- not just the five listed previously. Here’s a list of
other experience gifts you could consider, below.
Airborne Experiences:
· Hang Gliding
· Hot Air Ballooning
· Paragliding
· Scenic
Flights
· Sky Diving
Food and Wine Experiences:
· Cooking
Classes
· Wine Tasting Tours
Driving Experiences:
· Dragster Races
· Off-Roading Adventures
· ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc
Classes, Lessons, and More:
· Art classes
· City tours
· Dance lessons
· Fishing adventures
· Glass
blowing
· Pottery classes
· Train rides
· Segway tours
· Surf lessons
· Horseback riding
· Kayaking adventures
· Whale
watching
· Whitewater rafting
Go online and look to see what
kinds of physical gifts could go with each experience so that you can have the tickets to these experiences wrapped up with
something tangible they can use while enjoying it!
