Experience Gifts: An Original Survey
We discuss experience gifts with a few of our favorite people—and find out what makes the best (and worst!) experiences for them.
When it comes to Experience Gifts, of course we’re not the most objective elves to ask. We’ve long believed that giving your loved ones an experience makes for a brilliant present—unbeatably brilliant, of course—it’s why we’re here! What you’re giving is an adventure, something they’ll always remember… and who wouldn’t want to be gifted happy memories, and a chance to try something new?
Naturally it helps to pick something you’re fairly sure your recipient will enjoy, but an experience can be almost anything, and needn’t be costly—pack up a picnic and spend their birthday in the park, or research the best holiday lights in your neighborhood and take them on a walking tour. And as another example, just wait ‘til you read Emily’s story, below, involving an unusual surprise for her sister!
Speaking of great stories, recently we’ve been interviewing folk, rustling up their thoughts about the best—and worst!—presents they’ve received. Without any prompting from us (honest!), often the gifts that made the best, and most lasting, impression were experiences. We’ve loved hearing about those, and thought we’d delve a little further, find out about successful—and unsuccessful—experience gifts, and what made them such a hit (or miss). So for some merry, entertaining—and hopefully, inspiring—tales, read on...
Abby Hitchcock
Abby Hitchcock is a Chef, and Owner of New York City restaurant, Camaje. She teaches cooking classes (see our Chef for a Day) and hosts Dinners in the Dark. In addition to food (of course!), her interests include Travel, Science, Photography, Art, Alexander Technique, plus Nature and Conservation.
Have you been given an Experience gift that you particularly loved?
At this point in my life, this is pretty much what I think is the ideal gift. I don't really need or want things but doing things is fantastic and new. I got given a helicopter ride and that's where my now husband Jason ended up proposing to me!
Have you been given an Experience gift that you really didn’t love?
Nope. But I can imagine I would hate getting a gift of going to an Escape Room.
Is there an Experience gift that you’d really like to be given?
I'd like to go to a make-your-own-perfume place.
Have you given an Experience gift that the recipient particularly loved,
and why do you think it was successful?
Well I have to say that people love receiving our cooking classes! It's the gift that keeps on giving!!
Emily Gordon
Emily Gordon is an editor, writer, and self-proclaimed internet person. She works in media relations for an American business school and is writing a book about cavemen. Her favorite things include movies, music, theatre, swing dancing, the weird corners of the internet, design, art, and pies.
Have you been given an Experience gift that you particularly loved?
I got a trip to a beautiful mountaintop where they served warm chocolate chip cookies at 4pm every day. The sidewalks were warmed up so your feet never got cold. I sat in a hot tub drinking a hot toddy among snow-covered branches, and thought, Oh, THIS is how rich people live. How do I get rich again?
Have you been given an Experience gift that you really didn’t love?
I once got an acupressure massage as a gift that felt like I was being brutally beaten up in an alley (but by an incredibly tiny woman who jumped all over my back like a crazed kangaroo). I wanted to call an abuse hotline afterward. It was very expensive.
Is there an Experience gift that you’d really like to be given?
I would love to be given a weekend at Cold Antler Farm in upstate New, which is run by an incredible woman who runs it all by herself, has a falcon, makes goat’s-milk sheep, and teaches you how to fashion your own bows and arrows and shoot them. I am ready to return to my wild nature!
Have you given an Experience gift that the recipient particularly loved,
and why do you think it was successful?
I got about a dozen people on my flight to see my sister in San Francisco to memorize a ridiculous song that we used to sing to each other as children. As she met me at the gate, we all started bellowing the absurd lyrics. She was horrified, yet thrilled.
Fiona Stocker
Fiona Stocker is a writer who recently published the memoir, Apple Island Wife—Slow Living in Tasmania. She lives in Australia with her husband and children, and is co-owner of a small family farm and food business.
Have you been given an Experience gift that you particularly loved?
A friend in my writers’ group gave me use of her holiday home on the north coast of Tasmania, when I was finalizing my manuscript. It was perfect. The only distraction was the beach, where I walked every day. The rest of the time I spent in pajamas and track pants, writing, watching TV, writing, eating, writing, cooking, writing – you get the picture. I finished my manuscript in a week. Job done.
Have you been given an Experience gift that you really didn’t love?
I was given a month’s membership of the gym that my colleagues at a recruitment firm went to, en masse, three mornings a week. I only worked at that firm for a short time, as it really wasn’t for me. I hated most of the people who worked there – grasping, money hungry, corporate yes men! At the time I was a yoga devotee and the last thing I needed was to go to a sweaty gym with a load of people I despised and have them shout ‘Go hard or go home’ at me.
Is there an Experience gift that you’d really like to be given?
I’d love to be gifted a yoga retreat on a Mediterranean island!
Have you given an Experience gift that the recipient particularly loved,
and why do you think it was successful?
We give my daughter vouchers for a beauty salon. She is fourteen years old. Whilst we don’t necessarily want to teach her that being a young woman is all about the way you look, we recognize that nails are a thing with her. She loves nail art. She paints her nails regularly, leaving the evidence all over the dining room table. And going to the salon, sitting in that lovely environment amongst the lovely aromas, joining in the banter, having fun and coming out with a great set of nails, makes her feel very pampered. Even more pampered than she is at home.
Julia Kite
Julia Kite is a transportation policy advisor in the New York City government, and a writer. Her debut novel is The Hope and Anchor.
Have you given an Experience gift that the recipient particularly loved,
and why do you think it was successful?
I treated my husband to a scuba dive…in the shark tank of the Sydney Aquarium. We were on our honeymoon, we’d traveled halfway around the planet, might as well go big. Ever since we met, he’s been lovely to my pet parrot, so I wanted to treat him to something involving his favorite animals. They were completely gentle, almost as curious about us as we were about them.
Ellen Gilkerson (Xperience Days)
Have you been given an Experience gift that you particularly loved?
I have never been given an Experience gift.
Is there an Experience gift that you’d really like to be given?
Since I have never received an experience gift, I would be happy to get any of them! The best would to be able to do the experience with the person who gave it to me. I’d like to share the fun with someone!
Have you given an Experience gift that the recipient particularly loved,
and why do you think it was successful?
The only time I have given an Experience gift was when I gave one to my sister when I started working here and she seemed unsure. The gift was for a tour of Chicago for her and her bf but they both live in Chicago. They thought they would look dorky but they ended up having a blast.
Had to interject here and mention a Chicago tour that a bunch of folk recommended to me, which was entirely brilliant—the River Architecture Tour—it’s a super way to see the Windy City!
Oli Jacobs
Oli Jacobs is author of a number of sci-fi novels and eclectic short story collections. His upcoming horror novel, Deep Down There, is currently available for pre-order.
Have you been given an Experience gift that you particularly loved?
This is a bit of a bone of contention, as my wife and I have been given experience days, and invariably never use them. The last one came on our wedding anniversary where we were going to go to a posh steak restaurant, and instead had a nap. The pub round the corner was equal to our tastes.
Have you been given an Experience gift that you really didn’t love?
As I am terrible at actually going through with them, I’ve never had the option to think either way!
Is there an Experience gift that you’d really like to be given?
Chiropractor. My back is a mess…
Have you given an Experience gift that the recipient particularly loved,
and why do you think it was successful?
My wife loved the steak restaurants I gave her, but as mentioned above, we never quite got to the table…
Tommy Stewart
Tommy Stewart is a Freelance Comedy Writer/Producer and Broadcaster. His interests include sports, TV, comedy, music, American history, politics, and travel.
Have you been given an Experience gift that you particularly loved?
Yes. Tickets to see my favorite band, Tears For Fears, in concert.
Have you been given an Experience gift that you really didn’t love?
No, I cannot say that I have.
Is there an Experience gift that you’d really like to be given?
Yes. Attending and participating in Atlanta Braves Fantasy Camp. The Braves are my favorite baseball team and it would be a dream come true to put on the uniform and play games with and against some of my favorite past players.
Have you given an Experience gift that the recipient particularly loved,
and why do you think it was successful?
I have never given an experience gift. Maybe that should be one of my New Year’s resolutions.
Lucy Stevenson
Lucy Stevenson is a Pub waitress, mental health support worker and keen photographer.
Is there an Experience gift that you’d really like to be given?
I’d love to receive a pottery lesson or flying lesson experience gift.
Have you given an Experience gift that the recipient particularly loved,
and why do you think it was successful?
I think experience gifts or packages are tailored and carefully thought out to cover many different people’s interests and aspirations. I gave a friend a jewelry making gift experience upon her graduation/birthday so that she could personalize her own keepsake for such a milestone moment in her life.
Michael Daniels
Michael Daniels lives in London and works in Marketing research. He’s a fan of exploring the city on foot (and subsequently getting lost), and eating.
Have you been given an Experience gift that you particularly loved?
Taken to a five and a half hour 1927 film about Napoleon at the Royal Festival Hall for my birthday by three friends. Apparently, the film is rarely shown; my mates had seen it 10 years earlier and thought it was impressive. That & the fact it was at the Royal Festival Hall (of which I'm rather fond) made it a good choice. An unusual and surprisingly inspiring day. Vive la France.
Have you been given an Experience gift that you really didn’t love?
Is there an Experience gift that you’d really like to be given?
Stay in a lighthouse during a storm.
Have you given an Experience gift that the recipient particularly loved,
and why do you think it was successful?
Treated my gran to a trip on The British Pullman for her birthday. I gave her the brochure on her birthday (in February) but the trip was in the summer so she had several months to buy a suitable hat. My reasoning was the woman had clocked in 80 rather rocky years under her belt and deserved a bit of a treat. Also knew it was something she would never do herself but wouldn't be too intimidating. Paid for an aunt to go with her (I, apparently, was once flush), and I believe a good time was had based on my gran’s casual bragging to the other folk in her sheltered accommodation. Of course she could have been feigning gratitude & behind my back might have been cursing me for not buying her a new shopping trolley instead. Who really knows the mind of others?
Mia Underwood
Have you been given an Experience gift that you particularly loved?
Yes! Just received an early Christmas present to see Cirque du Soleil at The Albert Hall in January! Very exciting!
Have you been given an Experience gift that you really didn’t love?
Is there an Experience gift that you’d really like to be given?
To go on an exotic holiday to Bali or Sri Lanka… I can dream.
Have you given an Experience gift that the recipient particularly loved,
and why do you think it was successful?
Yes, I bought an all day spa treatment for my mom and I. So we both benefited from a very indulgent day together in dark and gloomy February. That was the best present as it gave us something to look forward to.
If a spa retreat sounds like something your nearest or dearest would look forward to, why not nab one of our SpaFinder Gift Certificates, and give the gift of utter relaxation!
Ryan Shrime
Ryan Shrime is a multi-talented actor/writer/producer. His hobbies are woodworking, writing, movies—and eating!
Have you been given an Experience gift that you particularly loved?
Woodworking. A Japanese steakhouse cooking class that was a lot of fun. Two weeks at a meditation center. Those are the only experience gifts I can recall.
It was about 5 years ago I asked for a woodworking class, and my brother got me one for Christmas, and I’ve been doing it ever since. My dad made a nativity scene before I was born, but it was made out of particle board and painted brown, so you’d get splinters, and it had started falling apart. Ever since I was a kid, I said I was going to make a nice version. My third project was the nativity scene.
Have you been given an Experience gift that you really didn’t love?
I haven’t been given a lot of them, so not yet!
Is there an Experience gift that you’d really like to be given?
I think the joy of experience gifts is not knowing what they’ll be. Generally if there’s something I’d like to do, I end up doing it myself. That being said, I tend to be very routine-based, and I don’t leave my nest very easily, so any experience gift that involves travel or new adventures would be very exciting. I’m up for doing a lot of things; I just don’t tend to think about them very much.
Have you given an Experience gift that the recipient particularly loved,
and why do you think it was successful?
I don’t believe I’ve given experience gifts that were particularly extraordinary. Mostly things I thought the person needed, classes, etc. I’ll up my game this year.
That was jolly, right? We hope it’s given you some ideas for great experiences you can gift your own favorite folk. If you’re unsure what they’d most like, consider whether there’s anything they’ve ever wanted to do, or learn, as with Ryan and his woodworking class (you could ask discreetly, say under the guise of whether they’re making/have made any New Year’s Resolutions). Or think of some of their favorite things, and find an experience relating to that, such as Julia buying her husband a scuba diving encounter with sharks. Similarly, tickets to a show by a band they love, or an exhibition by an artist they like is also a winner—as with Tommy’s Tears for Fears concert, and Mia getting to see Cirque du Soleil—plus it gives your recipient an event to look forward to! Something indulgent is always a treat, too—as with Mia and her mom, and Fiona’s daughter receiving spa experiences.
Keep in mind, however, that one size doesn’t fit all—acupuncture might sound like an ultimately stress-reducing present, but for Emily it had the opposite effect, and Fiona was not a fan of the company gym membership. Having said that, we should note that at Xperience Days you can buy in confidence as—handy tip!—we’re happy to exchange any gift certificate for an alternate experience if the adventure you choose doesn’t quite hit the mark... though we’re sure you’ll pick a good ‘un!
Happy gifting!
