This post was sponsored by Tinggly.
As Christmas approaches, consumerism reaches a frenzied peak egged on by societal expectations, peer pressure and clever marketing. With the purchase of gifts, food and drinks, decorations and single-use drinkware and tableware, Christmas is undoubtedly the most wasteful holiday of the year.
However, pushing back on gift giving particularly can sometimes feel awkward and opens yourself up to being judged by family and friends. One way to give gifts without adding to the piles of unwanted stuff donated to charity shops or sent to landfills is to give an experience gift – and that’s where Tinggly comes in.
Tinggly is the world’s leading experience gift platform listing 1000+ amazing travel experiences and other unique adventures that you can order online. When choosing an experience gift through Tinggly, you have the option of sending a physical gift box to the recipient (which can take two to five days to be delivered anywhere in the world by DHL) or have the experience eVoucher emailed directly to the recipient instead. The recipient books the travel experience or adventure by visiting the Tinggly redeem page, selecting the experience and waiting for confirmation by email which will contain all the relevant details. And that’s all that’s needed for your recipient to enjoy an experience and create memories they’ll remember for a lifetime!
Not sure whether to book a high-octane bungee jumping activity, snorkelling, wine tasting, thrilling bridge climb or rafting experience for your travel-loving recipient? Don’t stress, Tinggly has done the work for you by curating experience collections. At the time of writing, there are 35 experience gift packages to choose from; each package is designed around a particular theme or location and allows the recipient to book an experience or adventure in a destination of their choice. For example, the ‘Merry Christmas’ gift box ($129), has over 600 experiences and activities to choose from, for one or two people, in more than 100 countries. The ‘Discover New York’ collection ($299) curates handpicked experiences across NYC and the entire state of New York. The ‘Best Skydives’ collection ($299) curates the best skydiving experiences in the best locations.
This eco-conscious travel company also removes 11lbs (5kg) of polluting plastics from oceans and waterways for every Tinggly gift purchased. And all carbon associated with the shipping of gift boxes as well as the experiences booked through the platform themselves are offset by 200%. And as if it couldn’t get any better, Tinggly gifts have no expiration date – the experience gift is valid for a lifetime so your recipient can redeem the gift anytime they want.
As part of this collaboration, I got to experience Tinggly for myself. After browsing the easy-to-navigate platform, I selected the ‘Bucketlist Collection‘ ($239) and received a beautifully-packaged recyclable gift box which contained instructions of how to redeem the gift and book an experience as well as an ‘Experience Journal’ made from 100% recycled and biodegradable materials.
Since the partnership coincided with my significant other’s birthday, I booked the ‘Stunning Moreton Island Cruise with Lunch for Two’ experience which included a guided tour, a lunch, a full-day boat cruise to Moreton Island (the island’s Aboriginal name is Mulgumpin), an opportunity to see whales, dolphins and turtles and the chance to snorkel and see coral and tropical fish up close. The experience sounded sufficiently romantic whilst allowing us to explore a part of our home state that we hadn’t had the chance to see.
After booking and receiving email confirmation of the experience, I double checked that there were vegan options for lunch (there was) but was advised that I could also bring my own vegan snacks if I didn’t think the salads would suffice (I didn’t, and it turned out, I didn’t need to).
The day of the experience finally arrived, and on one Saturday in November, we excitedly set out for our trip to Moreton Island to enjoy a day filled with sun, snorkelling and sightseeing. My partner Ben had a blast, we got to enjoy some much-needed time out together after COVID-19 threw a huge spanner in the works for us this year, and at the end of the day Ben even said that the day was probably one of the best days he’s ever had in Australia. (Note: You can watch a quick video of this trip on Instagram here).
In conclusion, the Tinggly gift was a huge hit and I plan to give a Tinggly experience gift again and again. It is one of the best and most sustainable, experience gifts you can give to others – as well as yourself.
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Tinggly. All details and prices are correct at the time of publication. All opinions expressed are that of the writer’s. Learn more about our policies.
Recommending reading:
- How to Host a Zero Waste Christmas Celebration This Year
- 15 Simple Eco-Friendly and Upcycled Ideas for Christmas Decorations
- A Guide to the Best Ethical and Eco-Friendly Phone Cases, Tablet Cases and Laptop Sleeves
- 5 Ways to Normalise Outfit Repeating
- The Anti-Consumerist Guide to Christmas Gift Giving
- The Best Sustainable Fashion Memes That Ethical Fashion Advocates Will Relate To
- Not All Wines are Vegan and Organic. Here are 9 Australian Brands Making Natural Wines and Eco-Friendly Alcohol