Gifts for the going-abroad

Story and photos by MELISSA HENNING

So your best friend tells you she is headed to South Africa for a year, the man in your life tells you his company is shipping him to France for the next four months and you are stuck at home. Your face flashes shades of envy green. After the initial shock wears off, you set aside your jealousy and realize you want to say “Bon Voyage” with a gift that says “Don’t forget me when you’re gone.” But what? This is worse than shopping for birthdays and Christmas combined—you have no idea what to get. There are no scripted fallbacks, like a watch or flowers, and the time until takeoff is ticking away. Here are a few suggestions that will help you look smart and insightful in the eyes of your favorite traveler.

1. Give green - or whatever the local currency color may be.
This is my favorite thing to do for globetrotters before they leave. Giving a small amount of the local currency is an ideal way to ease the stress of stepping foot on foreign soil. This one can take a little planning; usually you have to go to the main branch of a large bank, or the airport in your area to exchange to a foreign currency, but it’s worth the hassle. After getting off a long flight, the last thing you want to have to do is search for an ATM so you can grab a bottle of water. There’s nothing more frustrating than having a thirst-quenching beverage stare you in the face as you reach into your pockets only to produce quarters when a single euro is all you need. When I got of the plane at Gatwick airport in England, the first thing I did was hightail it to the loo - little did I know you had to pay for the potty in England. If not for the one pound I had been given the day before I left, there could be lasting bladder damage.

2. Think small, think light.
Whatever you might have in mind, make sure it can be packed easily. Often when people are traveling for an extended period of time, they have literally weighed their suitcases, made highly selective choices about what is an absolute necessity, and there is no way they’ll bust open their precisely packed bag to try and fit a 18 x 24 framed picture of you into the mix.

3. If one picture is worth a thousand words, two pictures are worth...
While the large framed portrait of you would never work in practice, the idea wasn’t all bad. Pictures can be small, light and a great way for those traveling to keep you close. When my best friend was a foreign exchange student for a year, we knew homesickness would eventually set in; so before she left, we made her small simple photo album: just a few pieces of paper bound with ribbon using pictures gathered from all her friends. She was able to flip through it whenever she missed us, and, best of all, it slid right inside of her suitcase.4. And all the rest… There are always other items that make good going away gifts: international calling cards, travel books specific to the place your explorer is headed, a travel journal to record the experience, or a St. Christopher’s medal to wish safe travels are just a few examples.

Being the one that gets left at the gate when the plane takes off pretty much sucks, but deep down, I like to believe we all wish those boarding the plane the best experience possible. Giving something that will make the trip that much easier for them, hopefully, will make you feel like a memorable part of their trip, and not so green with envy that you knock them over, steal their ticket and board the plane yourself.