Sliding, Sampling, Scrambling and Smiling - Experience Days

Gifts should be memorable, shouldn't they?

Ideally, any gift bought for someone you care for should be something that they probably wouldn't buy for themselves – or they would probably already have one.

When do you see people buying a big box of chocolates with a huge flouncy bow wrapped around it and then going home and eating them while they watch Coronation Street?

Or going into a music shop, buying £20 worth of gift vouchers and then grabbing a few CDs and redeeming them?

The answer is never. People generally aren't that weird.

The whole point of gifts is that they are a treat, a special, personal treat straight from the heart. Is someone special due an incredible treat?

The internet might just have the answer.

Most of us have an ambition burning inside of us that threatens not to be fulfilled, simply because it would seem a little indulgent to do so – something that lasts only a day but stays with us for the rest of our lives. Wouldn't you just love it if somebody just dropped it on your lap as a gift? You would be simply thrilled! You would have no reason not to fulfil your dream and experience something that challenges, excites or relaxes you. Welcome to the world of experience days.

If you associate experience day Gifts with white knuckle thrills and white water spills, you're probably only half right. Experiences are supposed to match the recipient's personality, not permanently impair it.

For every sideways screech in a Lamborghini there is the reassuring glug of a wine tasting day; for every stint at the controls of a light aircraft there is the breezy buzz of a balloon trip; and for every splat of paintball there is the greasepaint of a West End show.

On the internet, experience days come in all flavours. They cover the whole range of human emotion from time-stopping calmness to heart-stopping thrills. If you know someone who loves life, you'll be able to find an experience gift to satisfy them. If they have a particular hobby or interest, you will almost certainly be able to find one that takes it a little bit further.

What is especially perfect about experience days is that they have such a long life, from being given it on the special occasion, through choosing the best date and having the growing sense of anticipation, on to the day itself and all the absorbing fun that it includes, and then when it's over but you're itching to tell everyone about it, especially whoever bought it.

Some of the experiences on offer might cost more than your usual spend on a present. These gifts are perfect opportunities for whole families or groups of friends to club together and treat the lucky recipient to a truly special day. Or perhaps they would suit a really big one-off occasion like a 50th birthday or a silver wedding anniversary – yes, there are experience days for couples, too.

Whatever the occasion, whatever the age, whatever the threshold of terror there are experience days just waiting to be enjoyed and remembered for the person who has truly earned your love and affection.