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Out of gift ideas? Consider providing your loved one with an experience

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Still haven't found that perfect gift?

There's no need to wander the mall looking for something a loved one has probably received five times before.

Instead, consider an experience gift this holiday season.

Indoor skydiving

Nedra McDaniel is a travel writer who writes the Adventure Mom Blog.

She showed offiFly, a chain with two dozen locations nationwide from Florida to California.

For about $75 a person, customers get a training session, flight suit and helmet, and then a skydiving session in a 30-foot wind tunnel.

"I loved it, it was so much fun," McDaniel said. "They will always look back and remember that time they had and the person who gave them that gift!"

But indoor skydiving is just one of several experience gifts that a loved one will remember for years to come.

McDaniel says a simple Google search for "experience gifts" will turn up dozens of activities in your area.

Axe throwing, indoor archery

She recently tried indoor axe throwing. Customers throw real axes at a target as if they are an actor at a Renaissance fair.

Not for you? How about combat archery?

Don't worry, they train you and it's all supervised. Real arrows also aren't used.

"Combat archery is sort of like a Nerf war, except you have an arrow with a soft tip at the end," McDaniel said.

Cooking, drinking, and afternoon tea

If that's all a bit too extreme, consider a gift of cooking classes or a food tour.

"You can learn more about the city and great restaurants in the area, and you are guided through the experience for two hours, and visit multiple restaurants," she said.

Pub tours are also offered in most cities.

And if that loved one is not a drinker, consider an afternoon tea session, available at British-themed restaurants and tea rooms in many cities.

Grandma would probably prefer tea to skydiving.

She will feel like royalty, and you don't waste your money.

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