Whether you’re a wannabe minimalist, trying to help yourself and others be clutter-free, or struggling to come up with a creative gift idea for someone, choose experience gifts!
Experiences teach us things. Experiences become memories. And, experiences can grow our relationships. There are countless valuable experience gifts that anyone in your life will love.
I’m not at all against material gifts. I love to give and receive them! (In fact, I made a guide of physical gift ideas for any woman in your life!) But when you don’t know what physical item someone would like to have, but you know what they like to do, giving them an experience as a gift is a perfect solution!
If you’re trying to come up with a gift for a busy mom, a massage might be a luxury to her that she wouldn’t buy for herself. Or if you’re trying to shop for your significant other, an escape room or theater tickets would make a perfect gift that could become a special date night for the two of you! If it’s a gift for a teenager, a Spotify subscription or online class could be perfect for them. These sorts of gifts might mean more to them (and become a good memory) more than a piece of clothing or accessory would.
Plus, choosing experience gifts means we aren’t adding to other people’s clutter. You know when you feel like you should keep something just because it was a gift, not because you like it or use it? I don’t want my gifts to be that to others. And if you’re in process of decluttering your home (or you just know you should be), you can help others simplify theirs as well by not giving them more possessions.
I’ve put together this list of experience gifts ideas, with something each person in your life would enjoy!
Fun Experience Gifts
- Movie Theater Tickets – You can get Fandango and AMC Theatre gift cards on Amazon.
- Community Theater, Symphony, Opera, Concert Hall, or Broadway Tickets – Either get them tickets for one show, or a season membership!
- Restaurant Gift Card – These are perfect for date nights, especially to restaurants more expensive than they’d normally visit. Many restaurant gift cards are available on Amazon.
- Escape Room – Ryan and I have done two escape rooms together and loved them! We did both with larger groups of people. It’s a fun bonding experience and we definitely came away knowing each person in the group better. These are popping up all over, so a quick Google search will tell you if any are in your area.
- National or State Park Pass – If it’s an outdoorsy or active person, they will love having an annual pass to a nearby park.
- Zoo, Amusement Park, or Museum Membership – These are especially great for parents with kids!
- Ski Pass
- Extreme Sports – For the adrenaline junkie, give them tickets or training to go scuba diving, skydiving, bungee jumping, hot air balloon flying, parasailing, paragliding, etc.
- Tour – Ryan and I went on the most incredible food tour while we were in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. You could give someone a food tour for their next vacation, or see if there is one in your city. Other types of tours might include city tours, art tours, or historical tours.
- Sporting Event Tickets
Pampering Experience Gifts
These gift ideas are especially great for moms, or for friends or family members whose finances are tight and who wouldn’t otherwise buy these for themselves.
- Massage
- Spa Day
- Manicure or Pedicure
- Haircut or Color
Practical Experience Gifts
So these aren’t exactly experiences, but also not material things. They’re useful and add real value to people’s lives, so they’re still making my list. It’s a good idea to know whether the person you’re buying for loves or hates practical gifts. I personally love them!
- Store Membership – A lot of people (myself included) LOVE Costco, Thrive Market, or Amazon Prime memberships! If you’re unfamiliar, Thrive Market is an amazing online store with discounted organic and natural foods, home products, and health products.
- App or Online Subscription – Audible, Kindle Unlimited, or a Spotify gift card
- Professional Photo Shoot – Many couples or families would love this!
- A Service – Check Groupon for gifts like custom framing, cleaning services, moving services, and handyman services. Just make sure they don’t think you’re being passive aggressive, telling them they need to clean better or something. This could be a blessing, though, to someone who is super busy or on a tight budget.
Learning Experience Gifts
Give a Class
If you know there’s a skill your friend or family member would like to learn or already enjoys doing, buy them a class! Groupon often has great deals on local class offerings, including classes on:
- Cooking
- Painting
- Fitness
- Musical Instruments
- Pottery
- Language Learning
- Learning a new skill
FluentU shares 30 online language learning classes. And thanks to Tico and Tina, I just found out about these three online class websites as well:
- Lynda: Software development, design, web development, business, and photography classes
- Skillshare – Design, business, technology, photography, entrepreneurship, film, and writing classes
- Craftsy – Cooking and baking, photography, art, sewing, knitting, and quilting classes
Vacation Experience Gifts
When your friend or family member is already planning a vacation, or if you want to make a vacation possible for them, you can give them flights, an activity, or lodging for any location!
- Flights or Airline Miles – You can give the gift of money towards flights, or airline miles for a trip they’ve been wanting to take.
- Vacation Package – If you’re willing to go all out for this person, you could get them a full on vacation package! TravelPirates is a site I love that finds the best travel deals and puts them together in vacation packages – worth checking out. (I explain it more in my post, 4 Ways to Get Cheap Flights Sent to Your Inbox.)
- Airbnb Gift Card – Staying in an Airbnb is the best way to travel, in my opinion. They’re often less expensive than hotels, and they can include all sorts of amenities that hotels don’t include. Plus, you can meet locals if you want to who can help you find your way around their city. An Airbnb gift card is a gift most any traveler will love!
- Airbnb Experience – Airbnb now also offers “experiences” in many major cities around the world. Experiences are where you meet up with a local who then leads you through you a wide variety of tours or activities. This would be a unique and really fun gift for someone going on a trip to a big city!
2 comments
I WILL TAKE THE MASSAGE!! ahahaha!
Right? Me too! 😉