Christmas Gifts for a Long-Distance Girlfriend

When she is hundreds of miles away at Christmas, the gift has to do the work your arms cannot. The best Christmas gift for a long-distance girlfriend puts something of you into her day: your voice, your handwriting, your plans for the next time you are together. It helps to think in two parts, something that arrives and something you share. Our top pick is a song about your story, because it needs no shipping and it sounds like the two of you.

Listen to a song made for someone else first

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

12 Christmas gift ideas for a long-distance girlfriend

1. A song about your story ($39.90). How you met, how you make it work, the goodnight line you always use. Songbond turns it into an original song, ready within 24 hours, with nothing to ship and no post office queue.
2. Flowers from a florist in her town. Order from a local shop near her rather than a national site, and ask for delivery on Christmas Eve. Usually $50 to $120.
3. A twelve-day advent box. Twelve small wrapped gifts, numbered, to open one a day up to Christmas: a tea, a lip balm, a photo, a note. Mail it by late November. Usually $40 to $100.
4. A book you read first, with notes in the margins. Underline the lines that made you think of her and write small notes beside them. She reads it with you in every chapter. Usually $15 to $30.
5. A soft toy that plays your voice. A small bear with a recordable heart, holding a thirty-second message from you for the nights she cannot sleep. Usually $20 to $40.
6. Bracelets with each other's coordinates. She wears where you are, and you wear where she is. Usually $30 to $80 for the pair.
7. A photo book of your visits. One spread per visit, with the dates and a line about what you did. It fills up the gaps between trips. Usually $30 to $70.
8. A big soft blanket for your phone nights. For the long calls on the couch, when she wants to be wrapped up while you talk. Usually $40 to $90.
9. A treat from where you first met. The bakery, the candy shop, the coffee roaster in that town. Mail a box of it. Usually $20 to $50.
10. Your next trip together, booked. Print the confirmation and put it inside her card. Usually $150 to $600, depending on the distance.
11. A movie night in two boxes. Two identical boxes of snacks and cocoa, with the movie already picked, one for each of you to open on a call. Usually $20 to $40.
12. A handwritten letter, mailed early. Real paper, a real stamp, posted in early December so it reaches her before the holiday rush. It costs a stamp, and she will keep it.

How to choose for her

Ask what she would want if you were there. If she would want to be held, send comfort. If she would want to make plans, send a plan. If she would want to talk all night, send something you do together.

• If she needs comfort: the blanket, the soft toy with your voice or the letter.
• If she loves a plan: the booked trip, the advent box or the flowers on Christmas Eve.
• If she wants closeness: the book with your notes, the movie night boxes or the song.

Be part of her Christmas morning

Distance makes it easy to become the person she calls once Christmas is over. Try to be in the day instead. Ask about her family's schedule and find a slot for a short call during the morning, not only the evening. Leave a message timed for when she wakes up. If her family is warm to you, send something small for them as well, like a box of cookies from your town. She will notice that you thought about her people, and they will start to feel that you are part of the day.

Send her a song for Christmas

Make a Christmas song for your long-distance girlfriend. It is ready within 24 hours, and express delivery gets it to you in about an hour, so it arrives on time wherever she is.

Also in the Journal: long-distance relationship songs and thinking of you songs.