FOR BEGINNING MOUNTAINEERS: For any friend who dreams of climbing the big ones, Cotsworld, a British outdoor retailer, is offering a series of videos for beginning mountaineers. The folks at Adventure Blog said they were, "excellent." You can choose "First Steps on Snow and Ice," "Your First Alpine Ascent," "Climbing Essentials," and "Climbing Hardware."
GIVE AND LET GIVE: This is for your friend whose passion is to make a difference in the world. This gift has three elements: First, a tin of green tea; second, the book "Three Cups of Tea," the true, amazing and inspirational story of Greg Mortensen who has spent the last 15 years building schools (especially for girls) in the most rural areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan; third, a donation to the Central Asia Institute, which funds Mortenson's work. The CAI website will help you print a card saying that you've made a donation in honor of your friend.
ADVENTURES IN GARDENING: Anyone can grow your basic zucchini and tomatoes but for the adventurous gardener there are sooo many more possibilities. Here's one your gardening friends may not have tried yet; mushrooms are available in indoor mushroom kits from Fungi Perfecti.
BAT BOXES: The Organization for Bat Conservation can teach you just about everything you and your giftee want to know about bats. They'll also sell you a nice bat house to attract lots of little flying mammals. If you're handy with a hammer, you can download bat box plans and build your giftee a homemade present or you could use the plans to create a bat box kit. Honestly, I know a lot of kids who would love this.
SEGWAY! LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL: I've said this before but it's worth repeating. Riding a Segway is the most fun you'll have on two wheels. Why not present your giftee with a certificate for a Segway tour of her favorite city. To find a guided tour near you, click here then go to "guided tours" at the very top of the page. You'll find links for cities across the US and around the world.
ROAD RUNNER: For anyone who keeps threatening to start running but needs a little push. How about a book about running and a Road ID. Road ID is a wrist band with an engraved plate that holds emergency contact information. You can choose from a variety of colors and non-wrist styles as well.
EXTREME TREE CLIMBING: Tree Climbers International offers all kinds of things for people who want to branch out from climbing the stuff in the backyard. Visit TCI's store for everything from instructional DVDs including, "Tree Climbing Basics" to books like "Tree Climber's Companion." Use the coupon code HOLIDAY at checkout for a 15% discount. If your giftee is in the Atlanta, GA area, TCI offers beginners' classes as well.
PASSPORT: Starting June 1, 2009, Americans will need passports to travel to Mexico and Canada. Many people want a passport but are intimidated by the paperwork or are too young to handle the process themselves. The gift of time and assistance is a wonderful way to help your giftee make a dream come true. You can help by printing out the paperwork, finding a passport office near you, looking into the passport fees (maybe you can cover the cost, maybe you can only cover the cost of passport photos), taking the giftee to have her passport photo taken and driving her to the passport office.
GET AWAY, FAR...FAR...AWAY: Unusual Hotels of the World lists the most astonishing hotels you've never been too. Click on the icon for underwater, rainforest, igloo, underground/cave, treehouse, etc. and find a selection of hotels ranging from "different" through "wacky" to "wow." Send your giftee on a one-of-a-kind weekend getaway that will never be forgotten.
BUT WAIT! THERE'S SO MUCH MORE: If you haven't seen what you're looking for, visit Discovery Experience and click through their enormous selection of adventurous options. You can make your purchase and Discovery will even provide a gift box. You just can't go wrong here.*These ideas are meant to inspire you and the sites listed here are starting points for your shopping. This listing is not intended to guarantee any product or service. Consumers are responsible for educating themselves before entering into any kind of agreement with any/all providers.
Image from Dreamstime
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