Make Your Goodbye A Beautiful One: 9 Endearing Gifts to Your Friend Going Abroad

Friends are the family that we choose for ourselves. these are people whom we place our trust, affection and support system in. They are there to hear you out when you don’t want to tell things to your family. You must have made some amazing memories with them.

When a dear friend of yours, decides to embark on a new and wonderful journey which includes travelling to another country then, even though you may feel sad about them leaving you alone, you should stretch your hands and show your support. Keeping away the thoughts of no longer being together to do all the weird and fun stuff you two did, focus yourself on how you can make his decision a pleasant one. By gifting him something you find necessary for him, you give him a token of your love that he can always look up to, whenever he feels lonely. A gift at such a moment will be much more than just an object; it will be the remembrance of you, travelling with him.

While you may flow along the lines of emotions and memories, always make it a point that the gift has some purpose attached to it. You wouldn’t want to gift him an out of place extravagant box of gifts that are neither useful to him nor fitting in his travel luggage! Pick up a gift that helps him with his life when he moves to the other country. For example, if your friend is visiting a cold country, gift him a posh jacket and a muffler with his name stitched in small font at the end. Such a gift will be a perfect blend of usefulness and carving a niche in his heart.

While it is extremely thoughtful of you to look for things he likes and uses, it is also important for you to take note whether your gift will be able to pass through all the international security check-ins or not. Before you start with the search for a mesmerizing gift for your pal, check out the rules and regulations on the objects that are allowed to pass the airport security of the country he is going to. It will be the nearest of making a fool of yourself and causing a great ruckus for him if your gift gets him getting in trouble at the security regions. Therefore, to avoid any such embarrassment, have a look at all the dos and don’ts before you start looking for a gift.

The art of gifting is all about placing the other person on a pedestal. Don’t pick up something for your friend just because it pampers your taste. Try and match your gifting options to what he or she likes and dislikes. Most people also have a thing for collecting certain kinds of products. If your friend has such a near and dear collection, understand his love for that product and look for gifts along the same lines. If there’s something he deeply wished to have but could not buy for various reasons, step ahead and give your friend the pleasure of actually having that. Look for his favourite colours and patterns if you’re shopping for some clothes for him. Make him the epicentre of your gift search, not the sideline.

When travelling to another country many of us try, with all our might, to adjust the whole house in the little luggage carrier that we have. Since your friend is travelling to a new place and will stay there for a long time, he might get included in the above category. Luckily you can find these amazing space saver travel roll-up compression storage bags for suitcases on Amazon for a reasonable price of Rs.349. It can help you save up to 75% of space in your luggage bag, making room for more products in less space.

With technology knocking our doors in various forms, one can’t work smoothly without having a power backup at all times. Phones, laptops, or even tablets can drain out of energy at any given moment, and if you’re travelling to another country, these devices become extremely important and need to be active for use continuously. Thus, gift your friend a powerful energy backup device so that he or she does not have the ‘low battery anxiety’ all the time.

There are numerous power banks available in the market with the top ones being: Pebble PB44 10000mAh Power Bank at a price of Rs. 1,499; Xiaomi Mi Power Bank 2i costing Rs. 899 or Rs. 1599 depending upon which size you prefer; Ambrane P-2080 16000mAh Power Bank at a price of Rs. 2,599. These power banks lead in terms of the number of variable outcome voltage they can give, how many ports are available for the user, battery life, fast charging and appearance.

As your friend gets ready to experience a new life, making new friends, living in different circumstances and coping up of different set of issues all together, give him/her a vintage-looking journal diary, in which he/ she may write down all the amazing things that brush past him, once he enters the new land. The new place can get extremely lonely for your friend considering it takes time to adjust yourself to a different cultures and society. A handmade antique looking leather bound diary can be his best friend at such a time, and when he visits you back, you can relive his experiences by reading what he has written! You can purchase a Double Dragon Leather Bound Journal at a cost of Rs.1,250 from Amazon.

If your friend is an introvert or even an extrovert who loves finding new books to drown into then, pamper him with a Kindle E-reader – White or black, which comes with no glare glass and battery that is powerful enough to last for weeks! Your friend will be able to have thousands of books at his disposal within minutes, and will not have to be distracted with messages, emails, and notifications hanging through the upper bar like in mobile phones. It’s the best way to read on the go and the lightweight it carries helps in accomplishing one-handed reading. A 6" Glare-Free Touchscreen Display and Wi-Fi Kindle E-reader starts with a price of Rs.5,999 which is readily available at Amazon. There are other variants and improved in technology models available as well.

A photograph is much more than a picture. It is about the memories behind it, the people in it and the thoughts that rush through your mind when you see one. It is like an automatic slideshow, powerful enough to crack you directly into a reverie. In the weakest of moments, your friends and your family are the support systems, you look out for. But, since your going-away friend might not have the privilege of seeing someone close to him/ her on a routine basis, gifting him a complete family and friends photograph might serve as a blessing in disguise for him/her. It might seem an inexpensive gift when in your hands, but, in reality, it might be priceless in his eyes. So, search for a good photo of everyone together or create a small collage for him to take with him!

Plain and subtle is boring. If your friend shares this mantra and so do you, here is a quirky little gifting option that will also serve a great purpose. The Travel Diaries Blue Passport Holder is a slick case for your passport which is adorned with ample space and sections for you to store your cash, papers, cards and passport in. This case will ensure that all your important documents and cash remain safe and dry, while the vibrant appearance of it is enough to make the heads turn. The dimensions of each travel passport holder are 24 cm x 16 cm. You can lay your hands on these amazingly handy holders on the website of chumbak.com at a reasonable price of Rs.995 only.

When you travel to a new place, it is obvious that you will need time to adjust and get going with the new culture, the new trends and the new customs of that place. It will take time for you to understand how people are and how you can make friends or relationships. Till the time you gel well with the place and its beings, there will be times you want to drown yourself in the harmony of your favourite music and block out the world for some time. Thus, gifting a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones is a brilliant idea. While there are numerous headphones available in the market, the companies with leading ratings are Sony, Philips and Bose. You can purchase noise cancelling headphones anywhere in the range of INR 1000 to INR 35,000.

If you are still extremely confused about what to get your friend, put your money blindly on a travel hamper which rules along the lines of his or her likings. If your friend loves personal care or herbal and organic products, gift him/her the Khadi Natural Herbal Mini All Purpose Travel Kit which comprises of Neem Tulsi soap - 50 g, Herbal face wash - 30 ml, Green tea aloe vera hair conditioner - 30 ml, Amla & bhringraj shampoo - 30 ml, Rose & honey moisturizer - 30 ml & sandalwood soap - 50 g; all of this for a reasonable price of Rs.150 only on Amazon.

Similarly, if your friend loves to read and collect physical copies of books then present him with sets of books in the genre he or she loves. Like, The World's Favourite: And Then There Were None, Murder on the Orient Express, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a set of three amazing novels from the renowned Agatha Christie, available on Amazon for a fiery deal of Rs.635 only!

If you’re worried about how difficult it might get for your friend to cope up with the new place, then this gift might help break the ice perfectly. The Anywhere Travel Guide which includes 75 different Cards meant to help the individual in Discovering the Unexpected irrelevant to wherever he or she is travelling to. The 75 cards in this pack have different fun instructions written on them for the individual to follow and create new bonds with people of the country that you’re travelling to. It comes for a price of Rs.1,359 and is available globally on Amazon. The creativity imbibed in these cards might help you in discovering amazing and fun places in an unknown country while stepping out of your comfort zones.

There is a perfect time, place and space for everything. When you were choosing a gift for your dearest buddy, it was necessary for you to get something that he actually would love to use. But, what about the bonding and the remembrance that you wanted to showcase in the gift?

Complete your going away present with a beautiful, handwritten letter comprising of all your memories of togetherness, lovely times you’d spent, things you really wish he/she knew about themselves and how much you’ll miss them when they’re gone. Talk about how you’ll always be there for him or her and how your bond will remain unaffected by the obstacles of distance. Let all your emotions be painted in ink, and don’t hold back your words. This letter will be the pillar of hope and support for your friend when he goes to another country where he literally may not have anyone to talk to. All the best!