I have a friend that is very hard to shop for. One day, for his birthday, I tried to make a list of everything he likes. After an hour, I had this:

He likes to tell stories

He’s one of the more prolific and interesting story tellers I know. So, from then on, it was a lot easier to think of ideas — I just tried to find a way for us to spend a few hours doing something weird. Fencing lesson, new restaurant (with food he hasn’t tried), kayak to an eagle’s nest — every one of these things has made it into his story repertoire (enhanced for the listener’s pleasure, of course).

Probably, there’s a story-teller in your life to help with a new experience. Really, though, couldn’t we all use that?