WINNIPEG – A picture is worth a thousand words and in this case, thousands of memories. That’s a gift Megan Turner knows is priceless.
Tired of material holiday traditions, Turner decided to use the time and money she would spend at the mall in a different way.
“It’s really important for our son to have as many experiences as possible rather than things that just get tossed aside,” Turner said.
Every Christmas she saves money for family travels instead of shopping for things. Her son’s present is a photo book of his most memorable experiences that year.
Dr. Michael McIntyre says there’s plenty of data suggesting material objects don’t last as long as experiences.
“If the focus is on the relationship during the activity doing something fun together that’s engaging and meaningful, it’s going to be lasting and the satisfaction is more likely to endure,” McIntyre said.
His research shows that getting the object doesn’t always produce lasting satisfaction.
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“There’s something called the hedonic treadmill and that is when we pursue objects, the interest is in the pursuit, we want something, we get it, we want something else,” McIntyre said.
Experiences as gifts have become a trendy shopping alternative online. Now there are websites that package these memories for you to share with your loved ones for the holidays.
“We’re part of the daily conversation about what restaurant did you go to or what was your short term getaway that you went to… absolutely it’s picking up,” Alex Barseghian, the chief experience officer at LifeExperiences.ca said.
Barseghian started the website more than a decade ago after travelling around Europe and realizing how popular it was there to give experiences as gifts.
“When you see things like social media, people talk about what did you do last weekend and it’s usually about doing things rather than buying stuff,” Barseghian said.
Something the Turner family hopes to inspire other families to try.
“It’s important to give kids exposure to things outside of their little circle but also outside of this materialistic world we live in,” Turner said.
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