The holiday season is here and that means it’s time to start thinking about Christmas gifts. Unfortunately, the vast majority of full time RVers simply don’t have space for more stuff, making giving gifts to these individuals a little bit more challenging. But The good news? There are ways around this problem, and in our opinion, experience gifts are the way to go about it.
Giving the gift of a new experience is an absolutely wonderful way to show someone you love them, especially if you can tailor that experience to their interests. Not sure what sort of experience gift you might give the RVer in your life? Here are the 10 best experience gifts for RVers. Choose one of these and you’re sure to win!
National Parks Annual Pass
We’ve met a lot of RVers and we’re not sure we’ve ever come across one who didn’t enjoy visiting national parks. Even those nomads who are less outdoorsy than the average RVer still enjoy driving through these gorgeous places and taking in the sights. Therefore, it just makes sense that nearly any RVer would love to be able to access all of these beautiful parks without paying admission fees. This is where the “America the Beautiful” Pass comes into play.
The “America the Beautiful” Pass is essentially an annual pass to all of the National Parks as well as a number of other government-owned lands. The card holder can enter these parks without paying admission fees, giving them free access to all kinds of amazing places!
Reciprocal Museum Membership
If the RVer in your life enjoys learning new things, you might consider a reciprocal museum membership. These memberships are fantastic experience gifts because they give you free admission or deep discounts at a huge number of museums all across the country. To join, you simply have to grab a membership to a museum that is part of the network you wish to access.
There are a number of reciprocal networks out there. Some of the best ones include ASTC, NARM, and ACM. One of our favorite memberships to grab for this purpose is the Kern County Museum Travel Membership. This gives you access to both ASTC and NARM as well as the Time Travelers history museum reciprocal network.
AZA Membership
Similar to the reciprocal museum memberships mentioned above, there is also the option of a zoo pass that gets reciprocal benefits through AZA. This network offers members 50% off at a huge number of zoos and aquariums, and some memberships offer free admission to select locations.
This is a great pick for traveling families, as kids are pretty much always going to love a day at a zoo or aquarium. It also might be a good pick if you know a wanderer who loves animals.
The Ellen Trout Zoo offers a good membership with all of the AZA reciprocal benefits.
Season/Annual Pass to a Theme Park
Theme park annual or seasonal passes are also great experience gifts that your RVing friends and family members might appreciate. If the RVer in your life is stationary, pick a theme park that is nearby and pick up a pass there so they can visit often.
If your friend will be traveling, consider a theme park pass that offers reciprocal benefits. These include:
- Merlin Pass
- Cedar Point All Park Passport Add On
- Six Flags Diamond Pass
- Busch Gardens Florida Platinum Pass
Admission Tickets to a Show, Attraction, or Experience
Don’t want to invest in an annual pass, or you don’t see an annual pass that would suit your loved one? No worries! You can still give your friend or family member a great experience. Find out where they are headed and seek out a cool performance or attraction in that area. They are sure to appreciate having something awesome to look forward to as they travel on to their next destination.
Gas Station Gift Card
Motorhomes and big trucks are gas guzzlers, meaning RVers go through gas like nobody’s business. It may not seem super exciting, but trust us when we say the RVer in your life will absolutely appreciate a fuel gift card. They will be able to fuel up and get a little further down the road to explore something new, and we really can’t think of a better gift for someone with wanderlust.
Restaurant Gift Card
Cooking after a long travel day is never fun, and sometimes you just don’t want to pack a lunch to go out on a field trip. This is where a restaurant gift card can come in really handy, making it one of the best experience gifts for RVers by far. Grab one to a chain restaurant that you know they’ll run into (Cracker Barrel is a good pick since they offer RV parking) or choose a local place in an area you know they’ll be visiting, so they can try something new.
Gift Card for Movie Theater, Bowling Alley, Etc
Travelers might spend a lot of time exploring new places, but that doesn’t mean they don’t like to have some typical fun as well. Gifting a movie theater or bowling alley gift card allows them to enjoy a night out as a family. Choose a chain so you can be sure they will be able to use the card no matter where they roam.
Classes or Lessons
Classes, lessons, workshops, and tours are all amazing ways that nomadic souls like to learn about the places they visit and connect with the locals. Unfortunately, these things can get expensive quickly.
Help your traveling friend out by paying for a workshop or class along their route. They’re sure to love learning something new, especially if the class is specific to the area they are visiting (ie: surfing in California or a jazz music workshop in New Orleans).
A Day Out with You
As much as we RVers love to travel, see new things, and meet new people, we truly do miss our family and friends and we want to spend as much time as we can with you when visiting your area.
If your traveling loved ones will be near you, consider making your gift to them a day out with you. Go out to eat, enjoy bowling together, head to a class, or just go on a hike. We promise, the time spent with you is what matters more than the activity itself!
As you can see, there are tons of amazing experience gift ideas out there. These are the best experience gifts we’ve found, but there are likely even more great options out there. Whether you pick something from this list or keep searching for a different sort of experience that perfectly suits your wandering friend or family member, we know they will appreciate the thought that went into the gift as well as the awesome experience that they get out of the deal!