Do you want things, or experiences? Bucket lists are chock full of experiences, while things are scarce. So why are companies so busy trying to sell us stuff, when they could be selling us memories? More often these days, that’s just what they’re doing.
Leading the way in a new category of experience-making is IfOnly, which helps people finish that phrase with panache: “If Only… I could sing with Madonna, cook with Emeril, run with the bulls, etc.” And what better way to experience your experiences than with your beloved? So here are 3 of IfOnly’s superstar couple’s fantasy experiences, just in time for Valentine’s Day. (And with every experience sold, IfOnly makes a charitable donation, too.)
The World’s Most Extravagant Chocolate Box
A Coast to Coast Intimate Dining and Traveling Experience — “10 Nights, 6 Chefs, 1 Private Jet.” In between chocolate and Champagne on your private jet, you’ll stay in supreme luxury as you prepare yourself to feast on the finest cuisine and wine in the world. A guided tour that includes the restaurants Le Bernardin, Barbuto, Quince, Chez Panisse and more, plus “tastings with the ‘first lady of chocolate’ Alice Medrich 
Balloon Flight Over The Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon lives large in the American imagination — older and grander than the great cathedrals of Europe or the palaces of Asia. It’s also — because of the age, the light, the sky, the rocks, the river, the air — one of the most romantic places on earth. It takes your breath away, just like love. Now take that pleasure and quintuple it by soaring over the Grand Canyon in a hot air balloon, rising to 12,000 feet. A dazzling journey for two, plus your pilot — ballooning legend Chris Dewhurst. (Price $17,500.)
Farmer’s Market Trip and Cooking Session with Chef Alon Shaya
The Big Easy for two as the mastermind behind New Orleans dynamite restaurant Domenica, Chef Alon Shaya, shows you behind the curtain of creative cuisine. A combination of pleasure and education, as Chef Shaya teaches you how to select the ultimate ingredients from produce to seasoning. You’ll accompany the chef to market and see what it really means to go farm-to-table, as he’ll teach you how to make the dish, too. Who knows, maybe it’ll be Domenica’s Calabrian Chicken “ALLA MATONE” — creamed leeds, fennel, potato, truffle pate.(Price: $2,000.)
