The Guide to Experience Based Gift Giving

So you’re looking for a gift for the man who has everything–or worse–you forgot to get Dad a Fathers Day gift and now you’re on the hook for a major make-up gift.

A recent study from Cornell University found that “people get more enduring happiness from their experiences than their possessions.” With this in mind, Alister & Paine spent the past month traveling North America to find three of the best experience-based gifts for the man (or very cool woman) in your life.

Check out these three favorites of ours:

BMW Performance Driving School | Advanced M School | South Carolina

For the Advanced M School BMW gets your gift recipient racing the M3, M5, and M6 at speeds approaching 170mph at either the Virginia International Raceway or Charlotte Motor Speedway. In order to get into the class BMW requires that the participant has completed either the One or Two Day M Course (See our experience at the One Day School), or have taken a similar performance driving course elsewhere. This two day high octane extravaganza is all about pushing these cars to their limits so if the apple of your eye doesn’t have any track experience it might be a good idea to send them to the Two Day M School first… all accommodations are included and the Two Day Course even includes a fancy BMW Racing Helmet.

Entrada Golf Resort | St. George, Utah

If you’ve never visited Utah we might understand your apprehension. It’s far from the beach, there aren’t any major cities nearby, and they keep their beer to 3.2% (shocking, we know). But if you really love someone you’ll send them to the Inn at Entrada, an award-winning Johnny Miller Signature Design gated golf community. The Casitas surpass any Villa you’ve stayed at in Puerto Vallarta, and the service is impeccable. Little Golf Elves, as we like to call them, detail your golf cart  nightly and have it waiting in your driveway for your tee time. We like to imagine that the back nine is what it’d be like to play golf on Mars… volcanic rock jutting up around the fairway makes a few holes near impossible for novices and gives the golf ball an anti-gravity effect for a few minutes while they bounce around in fields of shiny igneous rock. For dinner book a night, or every night, at the Painted Pony in St. George. They serve up Quail with Wild Mushroom Risotto, Bacon Wrapped Duck, New Zealand Lamb and some of the best cheesecake this New Yorker’s ever had.

Gotham Dream Car Tour | New York & Miami

When was the last time you had the chance to drive six of the most expensive–and fastest–cars on the planet? Four million dollars worth, to be exact. Gotham Dream Car Tours takes you on an experience of a lifetime–driving Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Aston Martins and Bentleys through the scenic back country roads of New York, where these beasts can climb from zero to sixty in 3.3 seconds. It’s easy to stay with the six car pack you roll with….it’s like a bag of skittles coming down the highway. Colorful, powerful, and sexy as hell. There’s a paparazzi effect when you drive one of Gotham’s exotic beauties on the highway–exclusivity has never felt faster.

So Happy Father’s Day, Dad. Sorry I missed your birthday, Uncle Joe. Cause you’re a pretty kick-ass Mom. Whatever the reason, take your pick. We approve of all of the above options–your loved ones will too.

*Tried & Tested. Alister & Paine practices old-school journalistic integrity. We only write from experience–never press releases. If we haven’t tried it and loved it you won’t find it in our magazine.

Gotham Dream Car Photography by Jason Thorgalsen.