Christmas Gifts for a Long-Distance Boyfriend

Christmas apart is harder than most days apart, because everyone around you seems to be in the same room. A good Christmas gift for a long-distance boyfriend does one of two things: it makes the distance feel smaller, or it gives him something to count down to. Shipping deadlines matter too, so plan early for anything physical. Our top pick is a song about the two of you, because it needs no shipping and you can listen to it together on a call.

Press play on a real Songbond song

This one was made for another family. Yours would carry his name and your stories.

12 Christmas gift ideas for a long-distance boyfriend

1. A song about your miles ($39.90). The airport goodbyes, the time difference, the thing he always says at the end of a call. Songbond turns your stories into an original song, ready within 24 hours, and there is nothing to ship, so nothing gets lost in the holiday mail.
2. A ticket to come and see you. The gift every long-distance couple wants most. Even a date in March makes December easier. Usually $100 to $500.
3. Your hoodie, worn for a week. Wear it before you mail it. It costs nothing, and he will not be washing it any time soon.
4. A watch or clock set to your time. A dual time zone watch, or a small desk clock that always shows your hour. Usually $40 to $150.
5. A pair of touch lamps. Two lamps linked over Wi-Fi: when one of you taps yours, the other lights up. A quiet goodnight across any distance. Usually $60 to $150 for the pair.
6. Open-when letters. A bundle of sealed envelopes marked open when you miss me, open when you cannot sleep, open after a bad day. It costs a pack of envelopes and an evening.
7. A care package from your city. The coffee you drink, the snack from your corner store, a postcard of your street. Usually $30 to $60 including postage.
8. Dinner together on a video call. Order the same takeout on both ends, or send him a meal kit to match yours, and eat together on screen. Usually $30 to $80.
9. A game you play online together. Two copies of a co-op video game, or a word game you keep going all day between messages. Usually $20 to $60.
10. A countdown to your next visit. A tear-off calendar or a jar of numbered notes, one for each day until you see each other. Usually $10 to $30.
11. A print of both your cities. Two street maps side by side, with a line between them and the miles in small type underneath. Usually $30 to $70.
12. A photo from your last visit, framed. The one where you both look happy and a little tired, with the date on the back. Usually $20 to $50.

How to choose across the miles

Think about what is hardest about the distance for him. For some people it is the quiet evenings. For others it is not knowing when the next visit will be. Pick the gift that answers that.

• If he misses you most at night: the hoodie, the touch lamps or the open-when letters.
• If he needs something to look forward to: the ticket, the countdown or the song.
• If he loves routine: the dinner call, the online game or the clock set to your time.

Plan the Christmas call like a real date

The gift is only half of a long-distance Christmas. The other half is the call. Pick a time that works in both time zones and put it in both calendars. Mail his gift with a note on the box saying not to open it until the call, so you get to watch him open it live. Dress up a little. Make the same hot drink. If you are giving him a song, wait until the call and press play at the same moment on both ends. It turns a gift into something you did together, even from a thousand miles away.

Send him a song this Christmas

Create a Christmas song for your long-distance boyfriend. There is no shipping and no cutoff date. It is ready within 24 hours, and express delivery gets it to you in about an hour.

Also in the Journal: long-distance relationship songs and romantic Christmas songs.