Experience Gifts: Non-Traditional Ideas for Holiday Shopping

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With the holidays approaching, what if I told you that you could have a gift that would last years? Yep, let me say it again – YEARS! Instead of getting a gift that a loved one might use for the next few weeks or even months, get them a gift that will give them memories. My challenge is this: Give your family members experience gifts this holiday season.  

A few of you may know that my family isn’t overly known for our traditional gift-giving or even celebration style. We like to think of meaningful gifts that are based on a comment a family member made months ago. We want to be creative and original, so our gifts mean more. That’s why we started giving experiences rather than physical gifts. It all started when I bought my dad a 5K race entry to a race downtown, near our house. He loves to run, and so do I, so I thought this would give us the perfect opportunity to have some 1-1 time while doing something we both love in an area that I run almost daily. And it was awesome! We were able to chat during the race (in between gasps for air), and we made a big breakfast afterward to continue the fun. We still talk about the first race we did years ago, and now I get him a race every year for his birthday, Christmas, or Father’s Day. He knows it is coming, but it is always a fun new race to try!

Seeing how much joy it brought him and how much fun we both had, I decided to start thinking of creative ways to give other family members experiences rather than random gifts they use for a few months that eventually collect dust. One of the ideas I had was to get my mom an afternoon tea experience. This is something we did together when I lived in England, so I wanted to recreate the memory here in Indianapolis. We reminisced over our tea experience abroad and compared it to our local experience, all while supporting local small businesses. Bonus!

And let’s not forget the benefit of choosing experiences over materials and what it can do for our environment. Getting a piece of paper for your membership each year is a lot better than the mounds of wrapping paper and plastic you accumulate over the holiday season and years to come. Another bonus!

Here is a list of some great experience gifts for this holiday season:

$25 or less

Between $26-$49

Between $50-$99

Over $100

*Final price may vary, depending on the type of membership, quantity of tickets, or even specific date/seating type of event.

The list of gifting through experiences is honestly endless. If none of these ideas worked for a loved one, think about what they are interested in and try to find a way to give them an experience targeted to their hobbies. Think of something you might enjoy doing together and make a list. And bonus points for local experiences too!

Now go on…start making memories with your loved ones!