Going away gifts for someone moving abroad.

Someone moving to another country is about to give away half of what they own. They’ve been weighing shoes on the bathroom scale and deciding which mugs are worth the space. Then the office hands them a framed canvas and a bottle of wine, and they spend the evening working out how to get rid of both before the flight.

A good going away gift for someone moving abroad works with that squeeze, not against it. The 22 ideas below are small, light or not physical at all. They’re grouped by when they help, from the journey itself to the first lonely weeks to the years of living far from home. If the person leaving is a coworker heading somewhere else in the same country, our broader list of farewell gift ideas for coworkers will have more to choose from.

What changes when they’re leaving the country

Most gift advice assumes the person can take the thing home in a car. Here they can’t, so a few practical limits shape everything.

Weight and space. Airline bags have weight limits, and extra bags get expensive fast. Anything heavy, breakable or bulky is a problem, even if it’s lovely. If it wouldn’t fit in a carry-on next to a laptop, think twice.

Shipping later costs a lot. Posting a parcel abroad often costs more than the gift itself, and in many countries the person receiving it pays import fees before they can collect it. So “we’ll just send it over once you’re settled” sounds kind and can turn into a bill and a trip to a depot.

Plugs and voltage. Plugs differ by country, and so does the voltage coming out of the wall. Most phone chargers and anything that charges over USB handle both, which you can check on the label, where it usually says 100 to 240V. Hair tools, kettles and anything with a heating element often don’t, and a plug adapter won’t fix that. It only changes the shape of the plug.

Their timeline. If they’re shipping a container of furniture, it may leave weeks before they do. Ask whether a gift needs to go in the boxes, the suitcase or their hand luggage, and give it to them in time.

Gifts for the journey

These are the safe picks. Everyone moving abroad needs them, and most people forget one or two of them until the night before they fly.

1. A universal travel adapter. An EPICKA universal travel adapter covers most plug types and has USB ports built in, so one adapter can charge a phone, a laptop and headphones on the first night before they’ve bought anything local. It’s a small gift from one person that gets used straight away.
2. Packing cubes. Moving a life in two suitcases is a sorting job, and a set of packing cubes makes it a lot less chaotic. They also help in the first temporary place, when they’re living out of a bag for a few weeks. Pick a set in a bright color so it’s easy to spot in a pile of boxes.
3. A tracker for their luggage. Bags get lost on long trips with connections. Slip an Apple AirTag into their main suitcase and they’ll at least know which airport it’s sitting in. It only works with an iPhone, so check what phone they have before you buy one.
4. A passport holder. Between the visa letter, the residence paperwork and the boarding passes, there’s a lot of paper to keep together on moving day. A leather passport holder keeps the important bits in one place and fits inside a card.
5. Luggage tags. A set of leather luggage tags comes with four, which is about how many bags most people take when they move. Write their new address on one of them as a small way of saying it’s real now.
6. Noise-canceling headphones. A long-haul flight on the most stressful day of the year is easier when the engine noise goes away. A pair of Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones is a pooled team gift for most people, and it’ll get used on every trip home after that. They charge over USB, so voltage isn’t an issue.

Gifts for the first few weeks

The first month in a new country is a strange mix of exciting and lonely. There’s paperwork, a lot of walking around trying to find things, and evenings with nobody to call in the same time zone. These gifts are for that stretch.

7. An e-reader instead of a box of books. Books are one of the first things people leave behind because they’re so heavy. A Kindle Paperwhite lets them bring a whole shelf in their pocket and keep reading in their own language, which can feel like a small comfort when everything else is in someone else’s. This one works well as a group gift.
8. A notebook for the new life. New addresses, a tax number, the name of the bakery that does the good bread. A Moleskine classic notebook is light, tough and useful, and if they keep it as a journal it becomes a record of their first year. Have a few coworkers write a tip or a wish on the first pages before you hand it over.
9. A gift card they can actually use there. A gift card for a shop back home is no good abroad. Look for one that works in their new country, like a food delivery app or a big international retailer, or just give cash in an envelope so they can spend it on whatever the first week throws at them.
10. Open-when letters. Ask teammates to write short letters labeled “open when you’re homesick,” “open after your first week at the new job” and so on. They take up no space in a bag and cost nothing, and people tend to save them.
11. A dinner booking in their new city. Find a well-reviewed spot near where they’ll live and book or pay ahead if the restaurant allows it. It gives them a reason to get out of the half-unpacked flat and see their new neighborhood.
12. A starter kit of things that are hard to find. If you know the country, think about what’s hard to buy there. A favorite brand of painkillers, a particular tea, their go-to deodorant. Keep it small and check the airline and customs rules on medicines and food before you pack any of it.

Gifts that keep them connected to home

After the first few months, the hard part of living abroad usually isn’t the paperwork. It’s missing birthdays and weddings and the ordinary Friday drinks. These gifts are for the long haul.

13. A photo frame the team can keep filling. A Frameo digital photo frame gets photos sent from people’s phones over the internet, so friends and family back home can add new pictures from thousands of miles away. Before you give it, check the power plug. It may need a local USB charger or an adapter, so it’s worth tucking one in the box.
14. A push pin map. An AdventureScape push pin map suits someone who sees the move as the start of a lot of travel. Put the first two pins in before you hand it over, one for home and one for where they’re going. It rolls up, so it’s easy to carry.
15. A small taste of home. A tin of the local biscuits, a jar of the hot sauce they put on everything, a bag of coffee from the place by the office. Pick things that are sealed and shelf stable, and keep it light enough for their hand luggage.
16. A recipe collection from the people they’re leaving. Ask friends, family or teammates for one recipe each and print them as a small booklet, or share them as a file they can save on their phone. It weighs almost nothing and they’ll cook from it when they miss the food.
17. A standing video call. This is less a gift and more a promise, but it means a lot. Put a monthly call on the calendar for a time that works in both time zones and keep it going after the first month, which is when these usually die off.
18. A subscription from home. A digital subscription to the local paper they read, or an audiobook service with plenty of books in their language. Nothing to pack, and it keeps showing up.

Gifts that take up no space at all

Some people are so close to their luggage limit that the kindest thing is to give them nothing to carry. That doesn’t mean giving nothing.

19. A last dinner out. Take them to their favorite restaurant in the city they’re leaving and pick up the bill as a group. It’s often the thing they remember most from their last week.
20. Help with the move. Turn up with tape and boxes for a packing afternoon, drive them to the airport, or take the furniture they can’t sell. When someone is moving abroad, a pair of hands is worth more than most presents.
21. Money toward a flight home. A team contribution toward their first trip back is practical and sends a clear message that you want to see them again. Put a note in the card about which holiday you hope they come back for.
22. A card full of messages they can keep on their phone. Paper cards get lost in moves. A digital one goes wherever they do, which matters more than usual here. More on that below.

Gifts to skip for someone moving abroad

Anything big, heavy or fragile is out, however nice it is. That includes framed prints, ceramics and the classic engraved glass. Plants usually aren’t allowed through customs. Kitchen appliances and hair tools may not work with the voltage in their new home. Alcohol is heavy and often has strict limits for luggage, so it’s best opened at the leaving drinks instead.

Be careful with anything that has to be posted later, too. Unless you know the costs and import rules, it’s safer to hand everything over before they go.

Pooling for a gift as a team

If you’re organizing this at work, the bigger picks on this list, like the headphones, the e-reader or the photo frame, make sense as a group gift where everyone puts in a little. Give yourself more time than usual, because the last day at work is often a week or two before the flight, and the gift needs to reach them in time to pack it. Our guide on how to organize a group gift covers collecting money without making anyone uncomfortable.

If some of the team is remote, or the person has already left the office before they fly, there are ideas for a send-off over video in our list of virtual farewell ideas.

Add a group card that travels with them

A paper card signed by twenty people is lovely and also one more thing to fit in a suitcase. An online group card weighs nothing. It lives on their phone, they can open it on the plane or on a bad day six months in, and people who couldn’t make the leaving drinks can still add a message from wherever they are.

Tell them about the gift in the card, especially if it’s something they’ll only appreciate once they land.

Sofia, the adapter in your bag is from all of us, so your first night in Lisbon won’t be spent hunting for somewhere to charge your phone. Thank you for four years of fixing everyone’s slides at the last minute and knowing the best lunch spot within a mile of the office. We want photos of the new place, and we’re holding you to that video call on the first Friday of every month.

You can make a farewell card on LittleSurprise and share one link with the team, their friends and anyone else who wants to say goodbye. People add a message, photo or GIF without making an account, and the person leaving opens them one at a time. If anyone is stuck on wording, point them to our farewell messages for coworkers. When you’re ready, start the card early so everyone has time to sign before the flight.