Gift Guide: For Long Distance Love, Moving Abroad, and Missing Home

Every gift on this site starts from the same idea: two places, one piece. But "long distance" means something different depending on where you are in it — a relationship stretched across a border, a friend who just moved, a life you're still settling into somewhere new. This guide is organized by situation, not occasion, so you can skip straight to what actually applies to you.

Each section links to a full post with more ideas, plus the products almost everyone here ends up looking at.

If you're in a long distance relationship

Whether you're a few states apart or a few time zones, the ideas below cover birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and the in-between days that don't have a name.

Long Distance Anniversary Ideas — for the specific day you're counting toward, including ideas broken down by milestone year.

Long-Distance Birthday Gift Ideas That Feel Like You Were There — for the birthday you can't be at.

Long-Distance Care Package Ideas: What to Put in the Box — for a box packed by hand, with a small piece of art that fits.

9 Long Distance Relationship Gift Ideas for Any Occasion — for everything that isn't an anniversary: birthdays, "just because," apology gifts, the works.

Gift Ideas for a Long-Distance Boyfriend and Gift Ideas for a Long-Distance Girlfriend — for the person on the other end of the call.

Long-Distance Relationship Tips That Actually Help — not a gift guide, but practical advice for making the distance feel smaller.

9 Christmas Gift Ideas for Long Distance Couples — for the holidays, when being apart tends to hit hardest.

If someone you love is moving abroad

Whether it's a partner, a friend, or family, a move changes what a gift needs to do — it's less about the moment and more about giving them something to hold onto once they land.

Meaningful Gifts for Someone Moving Abroad — for the person who's leaving, from the people who love them.

8 Goodbye Gifts for a Friend Who Is Moving Away — for a going-away gathering or a last coffee before they go, whether the move is across the country or across the world.

Relocation Gift Ideas for a New Job, New City, or New Country — for a coworker, neighbour or sibling on the move.

Gift Ideas for an Exchange Student or Someone Studying Abroad — for a semester or a year away, and for the host family too.

Host Family Gift Ideas: How to Say Thank You After Your Stay — for the family that took you in.

If you're missing a friend or family far away

Distance doesn't only happen between partners. These cover the friendships and families spread across cities and countries.

9 Long-Distance Friendship Gift Ideas for Your Best Friend Who Lives Far Away — for a friendship that survives on calls and visits.

Gift Ideas for Family Who Live Far Away — for parents, siblings and grandparents in another time zone.

If you're an expat missing home

Once the move has happened and the new-city adrenaline wears off, what helps most is usually smaller and more specific than people expect.

Best Gifts for Expats Who Miss Home — for the everyday version of homesickness, not just the big milestones.

8 Christmas Gift Ideas for Expats Away From Home — for the first (or fifth) holiday season spent somewhere new.

Moving Abroad Checklist: The Practical Steps and the Feelings — not a gift guide, but a starting point if you're the one packing.

Expat Communities in the Netherlands — not a gift guide, but useful if you're the one who just moved and are looking to build a life there, not just decorate it.

If it's a wedding for an international couple

Best Wedding Gifts for International Couples — for when two people, and often two families from two countries, are becoming one household.

If you're choosing a gift or decorating a shared home

Best Custom Map Gifts for Couples: How to Choose — star maps, city posters, pin maps and two-city pieces compared.

Wall Art Inspiration for a Home That Holds Two Places — where to hang it and how to style it.

Best Housewarming Gifts for a Couple Moving In Together — for when the distance finally ends.

The products behind almost every idea here

Most of the posts above point back to one of these. All three start from the same question: which two places belong in this piece?

Custom Two-City Artwork — one piece blending both cities into a single skyline design. Browse the full Custom Artworks collection.

Two-Location Poster Set — a matching pair of prints, one city each, meant to be framed and hung together. Browse the Two Location Poster Set collection.

Two City Landscape Canvas — new: the same two-city idea, but blended into one flowing landscape connected by the rivers and waterways that run through both places, instead of a skyline.

FAQ: Finding the right gift

I'm not sure which category fits — what if more than one applies? Read whichever post matches the day you're shopping for. Someone can be an expat in a long distance relationship; in that case, the anniversary or any-occasion post usually has the more specific ideas, since it's built around the relationship rather than the move.

Do I need to know both cities before ordering? No. You choose both locations when you order, and you'll see a free digital preview before anything is printed, so there's no pressure to decide in advance.

What if the two places aren't cities I've lived in — can it still work? Yes. Customers use where they live now, where they met, where they grew up, or where they hope to end up together. The two places just need to matter to your story.

What's the difference between the artwork, the poster set, and the landscape canvas? The artwork blends both cities into a single skyline piece; the poster set keeps them as two separate prints meant to be hung side by side; the landscape canvas blends both cities into one flowing landscape rather than a skyline. All three represent the same two-places-one-story idea — it's mostly a matter of which look you prefer.