Sending a gift to your best friend who lives overseas shouldn’t be so difficult in 2019. We live in a world that’s more connected than ever, yet we still pay exorbitant fees to send small packages long distances and having to wait for weeks (sometimes months) for them to arrive.
It’s time to face the facts, sending flowers and gift baskets has become a bit predictable and well, boring. That’s where we come in. At Gifting Owl we believe that the perfect gift is an adventure experience you’ll remember forever. And if you have friends and family living abroad, it’s likely they’ll share our love for these experiences too.
If you didn’t already know, us Aussies as avid travellers. It doesn’t take long in a new destination to find us at least one of us roaming around! With that in mind, we knew that we wanted our activities to be scattered all over the globe, just like many of our friends and family. Today, we have tours, activities and hotel getaways to gift in over 100 countries and 1,000 cities!
The Best Gifts For Friends Abroad
We all have one of those globe-trekking friends who loves exploring new places and meeting new people. If you’re reading this thinking ‘I never even know what country they’ll be next week’, then you’ll be happy to hear they can use their gift voucher on any experience in any country. For example, some newly engaged friends of mine will be travelling in Europe in a few weeks, so a Gifting Owl experience became the perfect engagement gift idea. I decided to give them a romantic hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia, but just in case they run into bad weather, or simply run out of time, they can choose to do an experience in Italy instead!
Here are some more of our favourite global gifts:
1. Hotel Stays & Getaways: Contribute a night or two in a luxury hotel to top off their epic trip, or help them explore their new home with a hotel stays gift voucher.
2. Photography Tours: Even more content they can use on social media to brag about the beautiful places they’ve visited!
3. Food and Drink Experiences: Because odds are they love one or both of these things, and we have PLENTY of options to choose from around the world.
4. Spa Days and Pamper Packages: All that travelling must leave them needing a good massage.
5. Wildlife Encounters: If they’re in a new place they’ll also have some new flora and fauna to get to know. Koala? Dolphin? Great White Shark? Take your pick!
6. Adventure Experiences: This one needs no explanation…
Long Distance Family Gifts
I grew up sending and receiving parcels from my family in Canada, especially around Christmas time. The task itself requires a lot of pre-planning, no last-minute gifts allowed! No one wants their gifts arriving late. But as a kid, I was certainly not complaining. Double Christmas? Amazing!
This year, whether it be for Christmas, a birthday, or that wedding you, unfortunately, can’t make it to, we have plenty of experience gifts you can send as last-minute as you like. If they’re planning on visiting you soon, you can gift them an experience in your hometown to get them excited. Or perhaps you want to plant the idea of a family trip to Queensland when you finally reunite? Wherever the adventure, we’ve got one for you.
If you’re looking for a gift suitable for children we recommend you check out our gift ideas for kids, and make sure to organise a skype call to hear all about their experience and see the huge smile on their faces! In a digital world, a great gift idea for your overseas niece, nephew or cousin is an experience they’ll remember forever.
See our top picks for family gifts below:
1. Kids experience gifts: Ok, kids are often the ones spoilt with the most gifts (I’m not jealous), but from surfing lessons to indoor skydiving, there are plenty of experiences suitable for kids that will make their day. And better still, no wrapping!
2. Animal encounters: An experience for the whole family to enjoy, gift an iconic animal encounter and create a memory for life.
3. Couples experience gifts: Perfect presents for weddings, engagement parties and anniversary gifts. The lucky recipients will be all loved-up after this experience.
Gifts To Take With You Abroad
It’s common to brainstorm gifts to bring with you for when you visit your friends and family abroad. You know the ones, often themed with your national flag or native animals. A little treat for the kids in particular, but also some thank you gifts packed to give to the adults for hosting you on your stay. For me, I always stock up on mini koala stuffed toys for the kids, a classic ‘Australiana’ gift that millions have received before. And a few good bottles of duty free wine for the adults of course!
Let’s be honest, that duty free wine won’t be the only wine I buy on my trip, so I’ve decided to think a little more creatively next time. I realise it’s not appropriate to bring an actual real-life koala overseas with me. But arranging an experience to enjoy together when you arrive is both more thoughtful and more fun!
Here are my favourite experience gifts to take abroad:
1. Winery and Vineyard Experiences: Most countries around the world are blessed with a wine growing region. Enjoy a fun adults day out enjoying the local produce and catching up with friends and family.
2. Authentic Culinary: Make your first meal abroad one to remember. A local cooking class learning how to make a traditional meal will stay with you – perhaps for your whole life as you use those new skills in your cooking forever after.
3. Getaway Gifts: We know, you’re already on holidays. But the friends and family you’re visiting aren’t. So why not treat them to a mini-vacay you can enjoy together.
No matter what the occasion, or who you may be buying for, Gifting Owl is the leader in providing global experience gifts. We hope you (or they) enjoy your adventure!
