Whale Watching Gift
Certificates

To purchase a whale watching gift certificate please have the following information ready

 Your name
 Your credit card # (MC, Visa or Am Ex)
 Your phone number with area code
 To: The person(s) name who will receive the certificate
 From: The person(s) who is giving the gift
For: How many adults? Children 2 - 12 years old?
 The address of where this gift certificate is to be mailed
 The address where you would like the receipt mailed
Would you like this gift certificate customized? Bow? Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday?

We guarantee that you will take
home life-long memories. ©

Give The Gift Of Experiences (CNN)By Elizabeth Landau -- Even in tough economic times, you may find yourself with a bit of cash to spare. You've been working hard, and you want to treat yourself. Should you spend it on an experience, such as a baseball game or concert, or a material object? An experience may generate positive memories that outlast the allure of a new material possession. An experience may generate positive memories that outlast the allure of a new material possession. Psychological research suggests that, in the long run, experiences make people happier than possessions. That's in part because the initial joy of acquiring a new object, such as a new car, fades over time as people become accustomed to seeing it every day, experts said. Experiences, on the other hand, continue to provide happiness through memories long after the event occurred. Ryan Howell, assistant professor of psychology at San Francisco State University, presented his findings this week at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual meeting. Video Watch for more on the study » The study looked at 154 people enrolled at San Francisco State University, with an average age of about 25. Participants answered questions about a recent purchase -- either material or experiential -- they personally made in the last three months with the intention of making themselves happy. Don't Miss * Why your brain can't always make good decisions * Putting a price on procrastination While most people were generally happy with the purchase regardless of what it was, those who wrote about experiences tended to show a higher satisfaction at the time and after the experience had passed. The most striking difference was in how participants said others around them reacted to either the purchased object or experience. Experiences led to more happiness in others than purchases did. A sense of relatedness to others -- getting closer to friends and family -- may be one of the reasons why experiences generate more happiness. "When people spend money on life experiences, whether they also take someone with them or buy an extra ticket or whatever, most of our life experiences involve other individuals," Howell said. People were fulfilling their need for social bonding while having these experiences, he said. Visit CNNhealth.com, your connection for better living Another reason for increased happiness in experiences, the researchers found, was that people felt a greater sense of vitality or "being alive" during the experience and in reflection, Howell said. "As nice as your new computer is, it's not going to make you feel alive," he said. Most psychologists who study the phenomenon say people adapt to a new purchase in six to eight weeks, up to a maximum of three months, Howell said. That means the initial pleasure we get from a new possession generally fades in a matter of months. Howell's study builds on earlier work by Thomas Gilovich, professor and chairman of the psychology department at Cornell University. Gilovich and colleague Leaf Van Boven's seminal 2003 paper "To do or to have: That is the question" found similar results about possessions bringing less happiness than experiences. Experts also point out that people are less self-conscious when comparing experiences than they are about possessions. It will probably bother you more that your friend's home theater is better than yours than if your friend saw more sights on her South Seas vacation, Gilovich said. Experiences form "powerful and important memories that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world," Gilovich said. It's not just individuals who should be thinking about investing in experiences when making purchasing choices -- policy makers should also keep this reasoning in mind for their communities, he said.

You are welcome to email us a question or better yet, talk to a human! Our office is open 10 - 2 in the winter and 8 - 8 PT in the summer. There is voice mail should you miss us.
800-450-6858 or 360-378-1323
Click here to email us

Tell a friend:

Breaching Orca - photo contest winner Ernie Westle of Canada, taken near San Juan Island with a telephoto lens


Our whale watching boat MV Sea Lion- 55 foot, new and fast with walk around deck and bathroom


2008 by guest Frederick Kohler taken on a whale watching tour of a mature bald eagle


Stellar Sea Lions and Cormorants share a rock by guest Sasha Mattew 2010 taken off the southern end of San Juan Island


Guests viewing whales and wildlife from the MV Sea Lion


Guest Forrest Frank (winner of the photo contest 2006) sent this one in of two resident orca whales off San Juan Island taken with a telephoto lens


Sent in to us by David Erlich in 2007 near San Juan Island


Orca whale just finishing a breach off San Juan Island.. Snow capped mountains in the back ground. Taken with a telephoto lens.

sanjuansafaris.com is the copyrighted intellectual property of San Juan Safaris, Inc., Friday Harbor, WA, USA
updated: