Experiences vs Things

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I've read a number of articles lately describing how experiences rather than things will make you happier. For me, this doesn't seem to be true and I'm wondering how others feel. I like experiences, don't get me wrong, but when it comes to spending money, I'd rather buy a thing that I can get continued use and enjoyment from rather than an experience that lasts a limited, usually short time. I might really enjoy taking a trip, but once the trip is over, I'm out a lot of money and living situation is pretty much the same prior to the trip. Whereas if I use that money to buy something new for my home theater, I'll get months if not years of enjoyment from it.

Yeah I've read about that too, and felt like it didn't apply much to me either.

I haven't had a real vacation in years. If I had plenty of disposable income, I would probably travel more. But on a limited income, I'd rather buy things I can use at home over a longer period of time.

Most of the vacations we went on when I was a kid were not fun at all. I think it kind of soured me on taking trips. And there's the stress of finding places to eat, as I'm very picky, have a ton of sensory issues with restaurants and also have a very sensitive gut. Even just going out to eat locally can be aggravating.

I would rather go on trip than buy things, mostly because I don't get a lot of enjoyment out of things, but going on a trip means seeing things I haven't seen before, and usually I go on roadtrips to nature places, and this more fun for me than buying something even if I get to use the thing often. I do enjoy buying books, some can cost as much as one night's hotel on a trip.

I guess it's because I'm not much of a sight seer. I'm a doer instead. People tell me I should travel to some place and I tell them I'm not interested and they say, "Oh, but you can see X!" To which I say, "I can see X online." Seriously, seeing something in real life isn't really any different than seeing a picture of it. For me to want to travel, there has to be something specific I want to do at the specified location that I can't do at my current location. Yes, I'd really like to go salmon fishing in Alaska so I might do that someday. I can't think of anything I'd want to do in Europe so I can't honestly see myself traveling there.

I prefer looking at pictures rather than traveling, due to the sensory overload.

'Things' can qualify as 'experiences' too. My computer is a 'thing', but I enjoy the 'experience' of using it, learning things from it, and finding entertainment in a way that limits the sensory overload.

I suppose I like things too. My posters and dvd's make me feel happy.

A lot of what I have experienced gives me kind of PTSD sort of symptoms and so I find it hard to look back at experiences.

Also, I would say the majority of my life has been spent alone and in a world of my own. It's not really the sort of experience that I can share or document and I have no real feelings about my own world apart from it is just there.

I hate travelling to places because I have zero interest when I get there. I'd rather just come back home.

I think seeing a picture of a place is totally different from going to the place and seeing it around you and using other senses to feel it and get to know it. Sightseeing is only small part of traveling, I would say that traveling is much doing, esp. nature trips involving hiking, camping, making fires, canoeing, amateur astronomy, etc. Also trips to foreign countries are fun, because customs are different, people do some different things that I am not used to, architecture is often interesting, there is different feel from being there that is not like seeing pictures or watching movies.

I'm almost shamed to admit this but I enjoy things more than I do people. I have a lot of things in my life that I'm strongly drawn to and enjoy. My things are notebooks, my devices, a small wooden box for my tea. I mean, buying things and enjoying them are experiences as well. I do have SOME experiences or would like to take part in, but a lot of the time, I'm more drawn to things over experience.

Then there's the goal to travel... I think that's the only thing to change my experience over things viewpoint.

the way you talk about things is in the way you experience with them, I think the articles you are describing focus on literal non-material experiences and maybe don't understand the power of material experiences.

The non-thing experiences that matter to me are very important to me.
The things that are important to me are things that make experience something. For instances, the games, books and movies I enjoy make me experience the fiction they're about and make me feel and be captivated and lost in that world.
So I would say I value both specific experiences and things, but it seems like they all come down to inner experience for me.

I prefer having various, new and interesting experiences...