2022 “Less Stuff”: The Ultimate Experience Giving Guide
Last year, I worked really hard on my 2021 Eco-Friendly Holiday Giving Guide – pulling out all the stops to compile a list of the most practical, utilitarian, sustainable items I could find to help people find “stuff” to gift their friends and loved ones during the holiday season. Despite the solid list of eco-friendly items, I was still left with a feeling of…this is great but it’s still just “stuff.”
When you give an experience, you help friends or family remember to prioritize relationships and time together, self-care, and curiosity and creativity over consumerism. Whether it’s crafting an outside-the-box, all-inclusive date night or spending the day together volunteering, it’s likely to be more meaningful and memorable than socks.
Here are some “Less Stuff” ideas for your 2022 holiday giving:
Spend Time in Nature
Gift someone a U.S. National Parks Pass – there are strict rules for ordering a pass for someone else, make sure to follow the rules on the site or consider purchasing a digital gift card instead.
Local Metropark or State Park Pass: Check your local parks to see what’s available in your area.
Reservations at a state park or national park campground – booking windows often open six months in advance so now’s a good time to start planning your spring/summer trips. Recreation.gov is a great place to start looking for your next adventure.
Learn Something New
Check your local library, community center or community college for art, language or skills classes. Sometimes you can find one or two day classes for things like bread baking, jewelry making or fly tying or 4-6 week courses in things like creative writing, learning the banjo, or beginning Spanish language. For online options, give the gift of Masterclass.
Get Curious
Entry tickets, a day trip or a membership to a local science or art museum, butterfly garden or nature center. Memberships also help these places stay funded and open for the community to enjoy for years to come.
Get Out of Town
A Night at a Special Hotel or Bed & Breakfast or airbnb gift certificate. Budget option: Find a nearby KOA and rent a cabin! These rustic little cabins are a nice upgrade from tent camping and feel like a little taste of Little House on the Prairie.
Get Trashy
Adopt-a-Highway and spend a couple days a year picking up trash with your family or a group of friends. This is a special way to help take care of your community while spending time with the people you care about. To find out how to adopt-a-highway where you live, check your state’s motor vehicle or department of transportation website.
Note: This one isn’t for everyone! Due to the inherent danger of picking up roadside trash, programs often don’t allow younger children to participate. This is a great activity for older, teenage kids with lots of energy to burn. It can take several hours to complete a trash pickup and involve 2-4 miles of walking while bending over repeatedly to gather trash.
Do Good
Donate to your local food bank or homeless shelter. In lieu of spending money on gifts or stocking stuffers, consider giving a monetary donation or clothing or food items to those in need. Always check your local nonprofits to see where the greatest need is.
Sometimes a $50 donation goes further than spending $50 on canned goods and mac n’ cheese.
Budget option: Food banks often need volunteers just as much as they need cash and food donations. Check your local food bank for their volunteer opportunities.
Get Out & About
Find tickets to a concert, sporting event, play or comedy show. Sometimes these are the types of nice-to-do’s that we fail to treat ourselves to.
For larger acts and events, check Ticketmaster.com or StubHub.com.
For local event listings try Eventbrite.com or Facebook Events.
Be a Tourist in Your Own Town
Chances are, you don’t have to go too far to find something near home that you’ve never seen or done before. Go to that dive bar you always drive by but never stop at, go back in time and browse the dusty rooms of the antique mall. You could even check local listings to find guided tours, self-guided tours or for ideas for new adventures. Try sites like Viator.com or airbnb experiences to see if there are any tours happening in your town.
Budget option: Check your local historical society or state capitol to see if they offer free or low-cost tours.
Take a Sunday Drive
Grab your atlas and pack a picnic with extra special snacks like the $15 creamy brie you never let yourself buy and get lost in your own backyard. If you want something to wrap as a gift, make and print a little itinerary with maps and photos along with a basket filled with your extra special snacks.
Budget option: if you have local public transit, pack a lunch and pick a route you’ve never taken before and visit a new neighborhood.
Get Cooking
Gift a date night to your parents, significant other or the culinary couple in your life. Places like Williams Sonoma and Sur la Table always have cooking classes with intriguing themes, Or, if you don’t live near either of these places (I don’t!) try a simple google search for cooking classes in your town.
Budget option: Check your community rec center or library to see if they do cooking classes or workshops.
Get Cosmic
Give the gift of space and plan a trip to a planetarium. A lot of university astronomy and physics departments have programs open to the public on certain nights. What questions and conversations will you be left with after experiencing a piece of space with friends or loved ones?
Self-Care
Plan an outing, book a treatment or give a gift certificate for a spa day, trip to the nail salon, or an hour-long massage. Self care is something we often neglect doing for ourselves, so when it’s gifted to us, it’s extra special and reminds us that the gifter cares about our health and well-being.
Budget option: Plan a spa night at home with friends, treat yourself to some new (formaldehyde-free) nail polish and soak your toes in some lavender bath salts for a DIY pedicure. Then have a good laugh while you try these 5 Natural Face Masks You Can Make With Ingredients From Your Kitchen.
Give a Gift Subscription
Some ideas include National Geographic Magazine (my parents did this for me last year and I love it), OnX Maps for navigating outdoor adventures, Audible for audiobooks, a DisneyPlus subscription where kids and adults can watch classic movies and enjoy some educational shows.
Gifting experiences isn’t a new concept, but the more we prioritize experiences and personal connection over material things, the more widely accepted it will become for our culture to value time, place, our Planet and each other. Let’s make “less stuff” giving the new normal.
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I’m Margo! A graphic designer who works with conservation-minded nonprofits and brands on projects like logos & branding, annual reports, maps, and infographics. I work with my clients to create beautiful and meaningful design that amplifies the marketing efforts it takes to ignite action and change. If you need help getting started on your next project to save the planet, let’s set up a time to chat.