Gift Bellingham Experiences this year!

This isn’t my first year suggesting giving the gift of experiences instead of STUFF. (Here is last year’s blog.) I still HIGHLY recommend approaching the holidays with the same thought process.

Many of us downsize our lives as we get older. So many things that were important to our parents, and passed down generations, we no longer want, and our kids certainly don’t want. We attach value to things that they don’t deserve. Often those values are more about memories, history, and emotions than anything monetary. Guess what works just as well for those memories and emotions? Photos. We all have camera phones, use them. Take a bazillion photos, but don’t look at them while you’re out and about….save that for later. Delete the terrible ones, and enjoy the few gems you definitely got. You’ll appreciate the photos later.

Gifts to Enable Experiences

Sometimes you DO need stuff to do the THINGS. What kind of stuff? Not much, no need to be a “gear head” and to spend thousands at REI. (sorry REI) . But after my broken ankle last year and a need to acquire all of the needed STUFF that the PNW requires, here is what makes top of my list:

1. Shoes. You don’t need the best of the best, but you need decent shoes. Decent walking shoes, decent trail shoes, decent shoes for snow/ice (or end up like me), and decent rain boots. I haven’t worn heels since I moved here, but I seriously have worn out a couple of pairs of walking shoes. Getting injured isn’t fun, so don’t compromise on shoes.
2. Small backpack is perfect for a reusable water bottle, snack, and if you want to be like me, your wallet. They work well as a purse too.
3. Reusable water bottle is something we should all have with us instead of using one time use plastic bottles. I highly recommend Hydro Flasks. I have been a fan for more than a decade….they would keep ice in my kid’s water ALL DAY in Arizona. Seriously, they are amazing and worth the price.
4. Hat: Buy people you love a hat. Even though Bellingham isn’t know for its damaging sun, hats will help keep it that way.
5. Snow Tires I hear they are smart to have.

That’s it as far as stuff. Sure you could invest in walking sticks, a mountain bicycle, a SUP board, a kayak, or even a boat….but make sure you will use those things enough to make it worth the investment and storage. Also, if you or your loved ones want to backpack, ski, snowboard, snowshoe, or any of the other plethora of options for outdoor activity around here, there will be other must haves.

Things to DO

I gave a pretty good list of ideas last year, so read those. Here’s the link again. Here are some new ideas:

1. Go to Whistler B.C. for the weekend. Go in the winter and experience the winter wonderland, or go in the summer and experience a whole new place.
2. Go on the Whatcom Museum History tour on the boat. Lots of interesting tidbits of information, and almost always a sunset to die for. Totally worth the cost.
3. Pickford Movie Theater tickets…some seriously cool and unusual movies and documentaries.
4. GAME NIGHT! Start at The Local for shuffleboard and/or darts, walk over to The Ruckus Room for some intense air hockey, then finish the night out with a pinball at The Racket Bar & Pinball Lounge. Gift cards for all of the above, or just a planned SUPER FUN night out is a great gift.
5. YMCA membership. Do you know that they have an underwater hockey team? Worth joining just to play underwater hockey imo!
6. Village Books , books don’t count as clutter, they just don’t.
7. Tenant Lake and Hovander Park….I don’t care your age, it’s a great day.
8. Peace Arch Park is a really cool fun place to spend an hour or two.

I’m sure there are lots of other great ideas of fun things to do, and if you have any ideas, please leave them in the comments so we can all give them a shot!