Give an experience for a unique holiday gift

It’s that time of year again when delivery truck drivers and Santa’s elves are extra busy and working overtime to bring toys and other presents to the good little girls and boys. Sure they’ll appreciate the thought, but that gift you fought your way through traffic and parking at the mall to buy often gets stashed in a drawer or dropped in the donation box by spring.

That might be be why experiences like a day as a fighter pilot or a recording star are more popular than ever.

It’s a booming trend. Michelle Geib, president of Xperiencedays.com, says her company has grown over 20 percent per year since she started back in 2004.

“You are always going to remember the time that you got to drive a racecar or the time you got to learn how to be a barista, or something that sticks with you forever,” Geib says.

You can send your spouse, brother or boss sea kayaking in the San Juans, fly casting in Seattle, or hovering in a helicopter over Puget Sound.

And if it doesn’t turn out as planned? Great! Even frustrating experiences – like getting lost on a trip – can become great stories later, and often get funnier with each retelling, say University of British Columbia Psychology Professor Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton at the Harvard Business School, authors of the forthcoming book “Happy Money: The Science of Spending.”

Experiences that give the best return for the buck? Those enjoyed with others.

“The food tours, painting classes and dinner cruises, where both the purchaser and recipient get to spend time together, are the most popular,” Geib says.

The researchers says even for introverts, shared experiences are a great source of happiness as well.

Shiny new things are fun for a while. But in the minds of many, an experience is the best gift that lasts a lifetime.

By Maura Gallucci/KIRO Radio