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9 Reasons To Gift Experiences, Not Stuff This Holiday Season

It might remind you of a line from a Hallmark holiday movie, but I’ll go right ahead and say it: I LOVE December! Well, it’s not just that this is the best time of the year because of the festivities around Christmas and New Year’s Eve, December is also the month in which my birthday falls- and I couldn’t be happier that this time for me to reflect comes at the end of the year, when I can look back at the last twelve months and everything I could be doing better have accomplished.

December is also when like many others, I loosen my purse strings with carefree (bordering on reckless) abandon to buy holiday presents for my loved ones. And while I am endlessly grateful to the universe that I can afford to do that, and that these gifts can bring a smile upon their faces, as each year goes by, I realize that the stuff I give them has a happiness-giving effect that lasts for a limited time only. Clothing, scarves, and accessories will soon be forgotten, to be lost in the back of their closets by this time next year, until it’s time to do it all over again.

As someone who has consciously chosen to spend my own money on travel rather than things over the last decade, I’m a big fan of gifting experiences over things.

Over the past few years, I’ve loved gifting Tinggly Experiences to my adventure and travel-loving friends and readers. These gift vouchers let recipients choose from hundreds of experiences (from whitewater rafting and wine tasting tours to cooking classes and classical concerts) in over 100 countries and have lifetime validity. My own happiest memories in life come from experiences, not things that I’ve owned- and by gifting my friends an opportunity to go have their own little adventure, I hope they’ll have the chance to make their own special memories.

So if you’re still doing a bit of last-minute gift shopping for the holidays, or thinking about a gift for a special occasion in the next year, here are reasons why it might be a better idea to gift Tinggly experiences over stuff.

How much stuff do we really need?

I’m a recovering shopaholic- it takes a fair amount of restraint for me to remind myself that I live on a freelancer’s income (unpredictable, never to be taken for granted) and that I don’t need more stuff/clutter. Before you decide to buy a gift that your loved one has no real use for, or simply does not absolutely need, ask yourself: Do you just want to give them something because it’s nice, or would you rather give them something they can refer to as ‘truly epic’ for years to come? Why not increase their happiness by decreasing the clutter in their lives?

Experiences (not stuff) make the happiest memories.

My happiest memories? Going on a wine-tasting tour in Tuscany with my husband. Seeing the Northern Lights in Iceland for the first time. Seeing the colors of fall, north of the Arctic Circle, while hiking in Swedish Lapland. River-rafting in Slovenia. Happiness comes from moments when we feel truly alive, living our best lives, and when everyday worries are forgotten, even if for a little while. That is why experiences make the best gifts. Don’t just take my word for it- research shows that gifting experiences is more meaningful than gifting stuff.

Experiences make the best memories

Tinggly experiences offers something for everyone.

It doesn’t matter if your gift recipient is a hardcore adventurer, a foodie, an artist, or a lover of the finer things in life. With a Tinggly Experiences Gift Box, they can choose from hundreds of experiences- think dinner concert in Austria, desert safari in Dubai, and pizza making session in Italy to white water rafting in Scotland, canyoning in Portugal, extreme rooftop adventure in Stockholm and skydiving in London.

Tinggly experiences are available in over 100 countries.

A Tinggly voucher can be redeemed in over 100 countries- so your gift recipient can either use it on an amazing experience the next time they travel, or they can use it for an experience they’ve always wanted to do in their own hometown. Dubai, Milan, Stockholm, St Petersburg, Kerala, Ibiza, Cappadocia, Laos, Bora Bora, New Zealand, the Philippines- these are just some of the countries where you’ll find incredible Tinggly experiences.

Tinggly experiences are sustainable.

If sustainability and environmental impact are important to you (and they should be), you should know that Tinggly Gift Boxes are sustainable. In fact, Tinggly is a carbon positive company and their commitment to sustainability is so impressive, that I need to tell you the details so you have a whole bunch of solid reasons to consider Tinggly for your gifting needs.

  • Tinggly gift boxes are eco-friendly and made of 100% recycled materials. They’re printed with eco-friendly inks and are fully biodegradable.
  • If you choose to have a gift box delivered to your recipient, Tinggly offsets its shipping CO2 emissions.
  • Moreover, Tinggly contributes a part of its profit towards sustainable projects to remove polluting plastics from the environment. A single Tinggly experience removes 15kgs of plastic from the ocean. They’re removing 50 times the volume of what they’re producing! That, in my opinion, is a worthy example for companies to follow.
  • Every Tinggly experience also offsets 200% of CO2 emissions produced during that experience. So it isn’t just about having zero impact, it’s about having a positive impact on the environment when you gift a Tinggly experience.

Tinggly gift vouchers have lifetime validity.

Once your gift recipient gets a Tinggly gift, they can redeem that voucher whenever they like, thanks to lifetime validity. It’s great that you can give them the flexibility to decide when they’d like to do the experience- without the rush to do it within a certain timeframe.

Immediate delivery with zero delays.

A Tinggly Experience Gift Box makes for the perfect last-minute gift. With any other kind of gift, especially when bought last-minute, you’re never sure if it’s going to be delivered in time. But with a Tinggly Gift Box, you have the option have an e-voucher delivered immediately to your recipient, making the whole affair of gifting completely stress-free. If you want them to physically receive a gift box (that comes with a personalized greeting and an Experience Journal), you can choose to have it delivered to them (shipping takes 1-5 business days).

No other gift is as flexible.

What I absolutely LOVE about gifting Tinggly Experience Gift Boxes is that it lets you give your recipient the flexibility to choose exactly what experience they’d like to do, wherever they please, and whenever they want- while telling them that you want them to use this gift to do something fun and adventurous, and create amazing memories. So while this may be a gift voucher, it’s not impersonal at all- because you’ve actually chosen the best gift for them that you can possibly give to someone- adventure.

Adventure is the best gift

Tinggly offers gifts for every occasion.

While Tinggly is ideal for gifting during the holiday season, that’s not the only time of year to think of it for your gifting needs. From birthdays and anniversaries to gap year gifts, wedding presents, and bucketlist adventures, to skydives and Europe only experiences, they have a wide range of gift boxes suitable for every occasion and every level of adventure.

There are so many reasons why Tinggly experiences make the best gifts. They’re a company I truly love and am proud to have a relationship with as an Ambassador for the past few years. Most of all, I’m proud of the philosophy behind their business- the idea that gifting experiences can make people happier than materialistic possessions. As someone who didn’t always have a lot of stuff growing up but has had the good fortune of having lived through some amazing experiences in the last decade, I couldn’t agree more with this philosophy.

I hope you’ll consider Tinggly for your gifts this holiday season. If you have any questions about how it all works, leave me a comment below. If you like this post, please share it to Pinterest:

How to gift experiences not stuff this holiday season- plus gifts that are sustainable and eco-friendly.

Happy Holidays!