To Gift or not To Gift?

Recently, I started making more efforts to accumulate as little stuff as possible, to own only what I really need or want (inspired by this and this). I strongly feel stuff is much less important that we've been led to believe, and I love the sense of freedom that comes from not having to place, store and worry about stuff. Space is freedom.

As part of those efforts, Ive decided to encourage my friends and family to join me in rethinking the concept of Gifts. In my experience, the best gift I could receive is time with someone (a good call, a meal together, etc), so I will try to give these instead of things. Family, friends, if you are reading this, I invite you to do the same for me.

If despite the above invitation, you really want to materialize your intention, allow me to make a couple suggestions that should make your life easier. I encourage you to write a similar list and make it visible to your friends. It should simplify our gifting experience.

Masks
Most of my friends know we collect masks. The thing is, we already have a lot! So, if you find yourself in an exotic corner of the world, and see a very special mask, and have extra space in your bag, go for it. Otherwise, keep reading.

Gift certificates
Even though they may seem impersonal, a gift certificate has two fundamental advantages: a) It allows me to choose something I really need, and b) It's easy to accumulate more than one gift for buying something pricey. I don't expect you to hand me a 900$ lens for my birthday, but I can build up with a few gift certificates to help me get closer.

So, what stores do I really like right now?

• Vistek (I love photography, and could spend a fortune here)
• MEC (I love the outdoors and most of my gear I get from here)
• Canadian Tire (Very Canadian home owner, I know, but I will always need one more thing from here)

Charity Donation
There are millions of people that are more in need than I am. A donation in someone else's name is a great gift to give. I am particularly fond of Free The Children, CODE and Prevent Cancer Now.