We all know that person who seems to have everything, and for whom buying a gift for seems near impossible. If the thought of a manic afternoon panic shopping for the perfect gift makes you want to refrain from getting them anything at all, you’re in luck - we’ve done the hard bit for you and come up with a list of 8 experience based gifts we can assure you no one else will have thought of.
1) Host Them a Dinner Party Night
Instead of splurging on a fancy new book about mindfulness or the way in which indoor plants can enrich your life (the likes of which your friend will undoubtedly already have been gifted ten of), present them with an invitation to a dinner party night cooked and organised by yours truly.
To make the gift, well, a gift, and not just an invitation to a typical hang out at yours, ensure you’ve enclosed a dress code and start time, as well as a sneak peak of a carefully thought out menu of some of their favourite meals (don’t spoil everything though, some of the food should remain a surprise).
On the evening itself, deck the dining room out in as many fairy lights and fancy candles as you can possibly get your hands on (remember every dinner is a candlelit dinner if you just light some candles), and ensure you’ve organised a personally curated playlist of your friend’s favourite -yet dinner party vibe appropriate- tunes.
2) Take Them On a Mystery Picnic
Although undoubtedly overused, the saying “buy experiences, not things” well and truly holds up. While a materialistic gift may bring joy in the moment, this joy is short lived, while a positive and enjoyable experience creates memories to last a lifetime. Luckily for you, we’ve got just the experience to gift your friend who has everything; a Mystery Picnic.
Brought to you by the kind folks over at AmazingCo, the Mystery Picnic combines adventure and intrigue with -drum roll please- lots of food (and honestly why wouldn’t anybody want that?). The experience basically consists of you and your friend (or partner or family) solving a number of clues and riddles, each of which lead you to a boutique food store at which a delicious piece of your picnic awaits you. Once you’ve collected all your goodies, your final clue will lead you to your ultra secret picnic location where you’ll be able to enjoy the fruits of your labour.
Interested? We thought about as much.
You can check out AmazingCo’s Mystery Picnics here.
3) Treat Them to Glamping
Glamping (glam camping, for the uninitiated) is the ultimate getaway retreat, perfect for those who enjoy the finer things in life. Treat your SO (or well deserving friend or family member) to a glamping escape and watch as scratchy, paper thin camping mattresses make way for actual mattresses, while sleepless nights made of unbearable heat are replaced with AC units.
Perhaps best of all, there’ll also be no need to spend two nerve wracking hours pitching the tent (only to discover a missing and structurally integral peg); there’ll be a sturdy and framed shelter -with plenty of fluffy pillows and blankets to go around- waiting ready for you so you can get right on with relaxing.
Glamping has, to say the least, exploded in popularity in the past decade, and their sites are prominent on the outskirts of most major cities - scour the internet for your nearest glamping region and let the good times roll.
4) Take Them On a Mystery Food Walk
Got an indecisive foodie in your life in need of the perfect present? Look no further than AmazingCo’s Mystery Food Walk.
During the course of the evening, you and your foodie friend will need to solve a number of clues and riddles, leading you to 4 different food establishments where mouthwatering (and prepaid) tasters await you.
Perfect for the foodie whose indecisiveness somehow always leads to hours of walking past potential eateries until everyone’s feet are sore (and they inevitably settle for that old Italian restaurant that they always go to), the destinations of the evening are pre planned depending on what cuisine you choose - all you two need to worry about is solving the clues and riddles leading you to your food.
Check out the Mystery Food Walks here!
5) Enjoy a Foodie Fun Night
If you’re seeking a gift that allows you and your foodie partner (or family member or friend) to spend more quality time together - boy is the Foodie Fun Night the experience for you.
Brought to you by AmazingCo, the Foodie Fun Night is perfect for those who love to spend quality time with their loved ones from the comfort of their own home. But what exactly does this experience entail, I hear you ask inquisitively? Well my dear friend, over the course of the evening, you and your loved ones will make your way through no less than 10 food related activities consisting of games, trivia and tastings. You’ll be in for roughly 3 hours of fun, and will be able to complete all the activities under one roof, or over video call with friends and family in other households.
While an excellent stand alone activity to gift your friend (for use whenever they seek an alternative to the run of the mill dinner with friends), the experience provides a nifty way to liven up a birthday party too.
Interested in the Foodie Fun Night? Check it out here.
6) Take Them On a Drink Discovery Walk
Likening itself to an adults only, alcohol involving scavenger hunt (yep, really), AmazingCo’s Drink Discovery Walk really is what dreams are made of.
Gone are the days of walking aimlessly through the city, searching for the perfect watering hole to enjoy a vino at with friends after work (only to find yourselves slumped down on the unsettlingly soft couch of the smoky pub you’ve been frequenting for years) - with a drink discovery walk you and the lucky pal you’re gifting the experience to will be making your way around the best bars your city has to offer.
To find your watering holes however, you’ll both need to solve a number of clues and riddles; the answers to these (provided you solve them) will lead you to four bars where prepaid, delicious drinks await you. It’s kind of like a bar crawl but with a lot more mystery.
If the Drink Discovery Walk is tickling your fancy, find out more here.
7) Bake Them Something
It is said that the key to a man’s heart is through his stomach, however I’d like to weigh in on this overused and doubtfully anatomically accurate quote by adding that the key to everybody’s heart is through their stomach. With this in mind, I hereby pronounce that everyone can benefit from being gifted some heartfelt and delicious baked goods.
Be it chocolate cookies, jelly slices or a full blown cake, edible gifts are without a doubt the best kind of gift. In lieu of an Amazon voucher or the newest crime novel, cook up a storm of your friend’s favourite sweet treat, taking time to wrap the baked goods in clear cellophane and a bow, and present them with this personable gift instead.
8) Treat Them To Date Night At the Movies (With Dinner)
There’s a reason why dinner and a movie is so heavily represented in pop culture as the go to date experience. It’s classic. It’s cute. It provides for somewhat potentially awkward arm draping ~casually~ over your shoulder type situations. And while notoriously depicted as a run of the mill date idea, dinner and a movie shouldn’t be considered exclusively as a romantic thing, but as something you can treat your friend or a family member with too.
In substitution for a typical present, gift your pal with a homemade movie and dinner voucher and when the event does arrive, go all out. Ensure you’ve made a reservation at a fancy restaurant (or if you’re a cooking whizz, whip up a culinary delight at home) and after you’ve both filled your bellies, embark to the movies for the second part of your date night. If you’ve got absolutely no cash to spare (and let’s face it, going to the cinema will cost you at least one arm and a leg nowadays), set up a Netflix movie at home but ensure it’s still like the real thing - whip up some home made popcorn, dim all the lights and rush to the pantry to grab some chocolate during the intermission.
