It’s the season of giving and the pressure to find just the right gift can be stressful. When it seems like everyone on your list already has everything they need, what do you give?
One option is the experience gift. Here on the Shore, we have been seeing more and folks looking for experience vacations where they can come for a week and really get to know the history and culture of our unique area.
A researcher named Thomas Gilovich at Cornell University has spent more than a decade trying to understand why experiences have the ability to contribute to happiness so much more than material purchases. Along with another researcher, Matthew Killingsworth, he published this research in the Journal of Psychological Science showing that experiences provide more lasting happiness than material possessions.
The beauty of giving an experience is the special value they have in creating lasting memories, which is something that most material objects cannot do.
The Mirror has been asking what kinds of things people would like for an experience gift. Below are a few of the responses. If you have your own ideas, please comment!
1. Theater season passes
2. Gift card to restaurant for the family
3. Trampoline jump passes
4. Zoo membership
5. Full session for new sport (gymnastics, football camp, etc.)
6. Trip to the bookstore to pick out new books
7. Local + national state park passes for a year
8. Plane ticket to visit someone special (grandma, aunt, etc.)
9. Pass to an art museum
10. Cooking class for kids
11. A farm stay
12. Tickets for child + friend for a local play
13. Pottery making classes
14. Out of country airfare + accommodation (if you want to be truly indulgent)
15. Swim lessons
16. Aquarium yearly pass
17. Subscription box
18. A train ride to somewhere they’ve never been
19. Musical instrument + lessons
20. Flower or herb seeds to plant a garden
21. Ballet classes
22. Ceramic painting class
23. Payment for summer camp
24. A language learning app or software
30. Gift for charity, let the child decide where to give
31. Miniature golf adventure
32. Indoor climbing excursion
33. Mommy + me music classes
34. Tickets for Disney on Ice
35. Passes to the local waterpark
36. A book bundle
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