Gifts for a Long-Distance Girlfriend

Loving someone who lives far away means most of your relationship happens on a screen. A good gift for a long-distance girlfriend puts something real into her hands, or into her week, that keeps you close between visits. These 12 ideas range from free to a real commitment. Our top pick is a song about how you found each other, because she can play it anywhere and it sounds like the two of you.

Play a real Songbond song

This one was made for someone else. Yours would carry her name and your stories.

12 gift ideas for a long-distance girlfriend

1. A song about how you found each other ($39.90). Tell us how you met, the town she lives in and the joke that only makes sense to you two, and Songbond turns it into an original song. She can play it on the bus, at her desk or before she falls asleep.
2. A digital photo frame you fill from your phone. You send a photo from your day, and it shows up on her nightstand a moment later. It keeps her in your everyday life, not just your visits. Usually $80 to $180.
3. A weekend in the town halfway between you. Pick a place neither of you has been, split the drive or the train ride, and meet in the middle. It turns the distance into an adventure.
4. A simple promise ring. If you both know where this is going, a simple band says it plainly. Keep it plain enough to wear every day. $50 to $250.
5. Your voice reading her a book. Record a chapter a night of a book she loves, or one you want her to hear, and send her the files. It costs nothing, and she can fall asleep to it.
6. A charm bracelet with a charm for each visit. Start with one charm for the city where you met and add another every time you see each other. $40 to $150 to start.
7. A monthly tea or coffee box for both of you. Order two of the same subscription, so you are drinking the same thing on your Sunday call. Around $20 to $35 a month.
8. Writing paper and stamps so she can write back. A box of good paper, envelopes and a book of stamps, with your address already written on a few. It makes letters easy. $25 to $40.
9. Pressed flowers from your last walk, framed. Pick a few flowers or leaves from somewhere you walked together, press them in a heavy book and frame them. $30 to $60 for the frame.
10. A class you both log into every week. A language, drawing or cooking class online, at the same hour in both your homes. It gives you something new to talk about. $50 to $150.
11. A spare key on its own ring. Put it on its own ring with a small tag. It says she is welcome any time, and it says a lot for very little money.
12. Showing up on an ordinary weekend. Not a holiday, not her birthday. Tell one of her friends, so someone can make sure she is home when you knock.

How to choose for her

Listen to what she says at the end of a hard week. If it is some version of "I just wish you were here", pick something that brings you into her room. If it is "I need something to look forward to", pick something with a date on it.

• If she wants you in the room: the photo frame, your voice reading a book or the song.
• If she needs a date to count toward: the halfway weekend, the surprise visit or the weekly class.
• If she keeps things: the charm bracelet, the pressed flowers or the writing paper.

What to put in her song

The details that make a song land are small and specific. Words like kind and beautiful are true, but they could describe almost anyone, and they make a weak song. What makes it hers is the name of the street she lives on, the station where you always say goodbye, the time difference you joke about, or the dog who barks every time you call. Before you order, write down three things only the two of you would recognize. Those are the lines she will play again on the nights she misses you most.

Make her a song about the two of you

Create a long-distance song for your girlfriend with her name and your story. It is ready within 24 hours, and express delivery gets it to you in about an hour, wherever in the world she is.

Also in the Journal: long-distance relationship songs and songs for a promise ring.