Beyond the Box: Travel-Themed Experiences for Her That Make the Most Meaningful Gifts This Year

Ready to move beyond the typical gift cards and trinkets? In this episode of Untethered & Wanderwise, we're diving deep into the world of travel-inspired experiences that will make her heart soar. Whether she's a seasoned globe-trotter or dreams of her first big adventure, we'll explore thoughtfully curated experiences that create lasting memories.

From walking food tours and photography sessions in NYC to wild safaris, we'll share innovative ways to gift the magic of travel – even if you're working with a hometown budget. Learn how to transform simple ideas into extraordinary experiences and the best way to gift them.

Join us for an inspiring hour that will revolutionize how you think about gift-giving. Because sometimes the greatest gift isn't something you can wrap – it's a moment that changes how she sees the world.

Transcript

Beyond the Box: Travel-Themed Experiences for Her That Make the Most Meaningful Gifts This Year

Welcome back WanderWise women. I'm Nicky Omohundro. And I'm Heide Brandes. You're listening to Untethered and WanderWise, where we help seasoned adventurers make the most of their travels after 45. And today we're tackling something I know many of you have struggled with. What to gift that friend or family member who would rather collect passport stamps than things?

This is such a good topic, Nicky. Just last week, Emily, my friend asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told her, Oh God, you know, last thing I need is another thing or a scarf that's just going to sit in my drawer. Right. I have the same problem. My kids asked me what I wanted and I had no idea.

 Our generation is really embracing the shift from acquiring stuff to collecting experiences. And let me tell you, my favorite gift last year was when my brother, gave us Topgolf gift cards and I actually took the kids to Topgolf for the afternoon. We are horrible golfers, but it was so much fun.

Yeah, and you see that's the thing is it doesn't have to be big experiences. We talked in an earlier podcast about gifting plane tickets, but even if it's a pass to the local zoo or to a stage show that's happening in your town. That can make a great gift, but we're talking about travel. We have some great price points for every budget that we're going to be talking about today.

Experience Gift Ideas

So today we're sharing our top experience gift ideas for the wanderlusters in your life, plus some practical tips on how to actually gift those gifts without spoiling the surprise. And we've got price points for every budget because remember, not every meaningful experience has to break the bank.

Annual Park Passes

Let's start with our favorite budget friendly options under $100. Okay, first up annual passes to state or national parks. This is probably one of my favorites. They're usually around $80 bucks and they're literally the gift that keeps on giving all year long.

One really great tip is you can buy them from your national park or your local state park. But for national park passes, I like to go through REI. It's the exact same price and I'm a member of the co op. I've paid my $20, $25 back in the day, but purchasing through them, they actually make a donation to a charitable contribution. And that purchase counts towards your co op member benefits when that comes around every year. Nice. Yeah. I love that. 

And you know what else makes a great gift?

What? 

Language learning subscriptions
 
Oh, I love that one. Yeah, I think Babbel or Rosetta Stone. There's a couple out there. And they usually have special deals around the holiday, like for Black Friday or pre Christmas. Yes, and actually, I have both of these. And both are fantastic. They cater to different learning styles.

So it's, I think it's really important to know what type of learning style your person has. Personally, I like Babbel for certain ones. And when I bought it, it was a lifetime subscription to everything they had for a low price. I think it was under $200. Wow. 

That's great gift because anywhere you go or any language you want to learn. You'll have it right there. Yes, and you have the option to buy just one language as well. 

Moving up to our mid range suggestions between say $100 to $300, what's your top pick, Nicky? 

Food Tours

Well, without a doubt, it's going to be food tours. Of course it is. Me and food. 

What's really nice about food tours is I always recommend them for the first day in a new city. It's a great way to get oriented. You can meet other travelers, discover spots that you'll return to for your next trip. But also too, it could be some place you're traveling to, but could also be your hometown. 

There's nothing better than exploring where you live and there's always new places to check out.

Exactly. And food tours are so fantastic for solo travelers, which many of our listeners are. So you get that built in social experience while staying safe and then learning about the local culture. I always say the best way to get to know a new location is to walk it and to eat it. Yes. Those are my two love languages at least today. 

Photography Session

Yeah, so exactly. So another great option in this price point is a photography workshop. So I've done one while I was in New York city and it completely changed how I document my travels. 

Okay. I've always wanted to take one of those, but again, the price was a little out of my range. So yeah, that would be a great gift for me, Nicky.

Okay. Noted. Very well. Noted. So speaking of photography, I also have a great tip too, I haven't done this personally, but I know several people that have hired flytographers and it's something where if you're traveling, you can hire a local photographer to take your family portraits or your solo portraits with some of the main iconic backdrops.

[00:05:00] Let's say in New York city, you get Dumbo in the background. Oh wow. Yeah. Or the bull and wall street. And it's just something fun. And no one knows a city quite like a local. 

So where can you find flygraphers? It is a website called flyographer.com. If I'm wrong, I will put it in the show notes. And that's a really great option because they're going to take a better picture of you in front of the Eiffel tower than you're going to take on your smartphone, no matter how good you are on your smartphone. So now for those really special occasions, let's talk about some splurge worthy experiences. If you want to go all out.

And gift your favorite person with something that's going to blow their socks off. What do you recommend Nicky? 

Book a Trip

My absolute favorite in this category is gifting someone a spot on a small group adventure tour. Companies like Intrepid Travel, G Adventures, Exoticca have women only departures, which many of our listeners love.

 I did a recent trip with Intrepid Travel. That's when I went to Botswana and was camping adventure. And this was co ed but the process was very seamless. They arranged the flights, arranged transportation. So if your loved one is one of those people who wants it easy. I recommend Exoticca Go Portugal has great packages, includes airfare, hotels, transportation, some experiences included as well.

It's just a great gift to give someone. And as we're recording this, we are in the week of Thanksgiving, even though this is going to be publishing in early December, these companies at the moment have some great Black Friday deals, travel Tuesday deals, holiday deals. New Year's, you name it. You don't have to pay full price for one of these tours.

No. Exoticca, for example, the one you're going to be going on here to Turkey, is offering up to 70 percent off certain trips, which is fantastic. And that's all through 2025. I know there's several that I'm looking at. You know what? I think I'm going to get one of those for my brother and his wife.

Oh, they would love that. Yes. And I've seen different price points. I saw something in, I believe it was Portugal for around $800 and that includes airfare . Which is incredible. Yes. So price points $800 for a five day trip all the way to African safari with the really pretty canvas tents for about $3, 200 for a 14 day trip. You can't beat it. No, you absolutely cannot beat it. 

Another luxury option that's becoming more popular is booking unique accommodations. So if your friend or your family member, you knows where they're going, a great Christmas gift would be their hotel a couple of nights, but get something really interesting. Things like glass igloos in Finland or those Gorgeous bubble domes in the Ireland or those amazing tree houses in South America.

Go all out and really impress them with something more than just A hotel room. Exactly. And there's a range of accommodations too. Yeah. You can go more rustic like the tree house idea, or you can do a covered Conestoga wagon, live out your frontier fantasy. You name it, it's possible.

Yeah but you did mention the bubble domes, and that's on my wish this year. I've always wanted to stay in one, hint, hint, hint, but let's, noted, very well. 

So let's talk about practical tips for actually giving these experiences, because that can be a little tricky. Right.

You don't want to accidentally commit someone to dates that don't work for them. So I usually create a beautiful card with photos of the experience and include a note saying we'll plan the specific dates together later. 

If you're in person around Christmas, so you can still take advantage of those holiday deals, that might be the perfect time to do that.

Yeah, and that's a perfect approach. And for someone looking at a cooking class or a food tour, I would really recommend a gift card rather than booking the specific date. And most companies are happy to arrange that.

Another tip, always check the expiration dates and the cancellation policies. You want to give your loved one plenty of flexibility. So for instance, if a food tour is definitely something they hate. Maybe they can cancel it and trade it for a walking tour to see local art. That's the sort of thing. 

And two, and if you're not sure where to look for things like a food tour, a walking tour, a cooking class, there's a few websites that Heide and I both use that we would highly recommend, and they gave you a wide range of options.

[00:10:00] One of my favorites is Get Your Guide. This is just a website. It covers all sorts of destinations around the world, different activities. It's easily to search. You can pick your date or you can do a gift card. 

You are telling me about another one you like, Virgin Experiences. Yes, this is a new one. I haven't used them yet, but I like the range of activities. I liked them because you could do everything from a spa experience in New York City which I personally was looking at for January for yourself or myself. Yes. That was my special gift to myself.

They also had theme park tickets, Disney World, Disneyland, Universal Studios. It ran the gamut. For more family experience gifts, see Nicky's article. 

Yeah. And, remember the best gift is contributing to someone's existing travel plans. So say your brother and his kids are going to Disneyland.

That's a perfect time to boost for an experience like that. You can, if you have somebody who's going to Canada, maybe upgrade their regular train ticket to a luxury cabin on the Rocky Mountaineer or a luxury cabin on Amtrak, that sort of thing. Oh, that's such a great way to enhance someone else's adventure that's been planned.

So now before we wrap up, let's share our quick fire list of experience gift ideas under 50. Okay, ready, go. Walking tour gift cards, annual museum memberships, travel journal subscription boxes, and my favorite budget option, creating a custom food tour map of a city they're visiting with all your favorite recommendations and prepaying for the first cup of coffee or gelato. I love that personal touch because you can really have fun with it. 

Wanderwise women, we hope this gets your gift giving creativity flowing.

Remember to check out our show notes for the links to all the companies and experiences we mentioned today. And if you're listening to this thinking, I need to share this with someone who's always asking what to get me, go ahead and forward this episode along. We won't judge. No.

But we'll say thank you. Yes. In fact, we do appreciate it. Yes. So don't forget to follow us on Instagram at @untetheredwonderwise. There's no and. Or find Untethered and WanderWise wherever you get your favorite podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review. It really helps other WanderWise women find our community.

So until next week, keep exploring and stay WanderWise.