Long-Distance Christmas Gifts for a Partner
Christmas is the hardest date in a long-distance year. Everyone else is in the same room, and the two of you open presents on a call, holding each one up to the camera. The parcel matters, but what is missing is the evening afterwards: somewhere to sit together when the day is done. A Gathered house gives you that room, with string lights on the terrace and a fire either of you can light.
Make a house for them
See what it’s like
An evening in, from two cities.
Merry Christmas. Look in the jar.
A fire lit on Christmas EveLight the fire in the living room. When they come in, they see it burning, and who lit it.
Ideas to start with
Things to do there, and to leave there.
- A fire lit on Christmas Eve
- A carol left on the piano
- Their name on the door
- A note a day in the jar
Do it together
Things to do there together
A fire lit on Christmas Eve
Light the fire in the living room. When they come in, they see it burning, and who lit it.
A carol left on the piano
Two octaves, and a record button. A carol played badly counts, and it will be the one they play again.
Cocktails under the string lights
Pour the layers at the terrace bar and see whose glass settles better. The finished glass stays on the bar until the next one.
Leave something
Notes to leave for them
“Merry Christmas. Look in the jar.”
“Fire’s on. Bring the mince pies.”
“Next year, same sofa. A real one.”
Make it yours
Ways to make it the two of yours
Their name on the door
Choose “A house for” and type their first name. It goes on the door, and the key is theirs.
A note a day in the jar
One small thing a day, folded up, for the other to take out. Start on the first of December and it is an advent calendar only they can open.
Next Christmas on the globe
Pin where each of you is now, and where you will spend next Christmas together.
Photographs on the cord
The study has a cord you both hang photographs on: this Christmas from two places, side by side.
Why it works
A place, not a parcel.
Christmas apart is lonely less because of the presents than because of the evening. A shared house gives two people somewhere to spend it: a fire to light, a game to play, something left under the lights for the other to find when their Christmas morning starts.
Complete the occasion
Other gifts that pair well
A present that waits for the day
Post something small early and mark it not to be opened, so there is a real thing to unwrap on the call.
The same film, pressed play together
Pick the one you would have watched on the sofa and start it at the same moment.
Next Christmas, in writing
A ticket, or a promise with a date on it. It is the present that makes this one easier.
Questions
Before you begin.
When should I send it?
Early December. A link arrives the moment it is sent, but a house that has been lived in for a few weeks, with notes in the jar and a fire lit, is a better thing to spend Christmas in.
Do we need to be online at the same time?
No. Much of the house is for leaving things for the other to find. When you are both in, you see each other there, can talk, and can play the games for two.
Does my partner pay anything?
No. Keeping the house is free during early access, and the key is theirs. The person who holds the key never pays.
What does the house cost?
Nothing, during early access. Every room is free to try, with no sign-in, and keeping the house is free too, with the key. A house kept during early access stays free for as long as Gathered runs.
Another idea
A book from everyone who misses them.
When it is more than the two of you, send one link and let everyone add a page: a message on a painting, a voice note, a song, their photographs. Free to make, and free to send during early access.
Start a book See how the book worksGive them a key for Christmas
Make the house, put their name on the door and send the key in early December, so it is lived in by Christmas. Try it free first.
Make a house for them