Gifts for friends
Farewells, weddings, group trips and the friend having a hard year — including the group gift that is better because a group made it.
- Best Friend Birthday Gift Ideas That Beat Mugs and ChocolatesWhy the default birthday gifts fail for someone who knows you well, what to make from a friendship archive instead, and how far ahead to order in India.5 min read
- Gift Ideas for Roommates and FlatmatesA flatmate is not quite a friend and not quite not one, and the gift has to sit in that gap. How to judge it, and what to give when someone moves out.4 min read
- Gifts for a Best Friend Getting MarriedThe registry gift is for the couple and the envelope is for the family. What a best friend gives is a third thing, and it is not given on the wedding day.4 min read
- Gifts for a Best Friend Moving to Another CityFriendships survive distance badly, and not for the reason people assume. What the gift can actually do about that, and the mistake made at every farewell.5 min read
- Gifts for a Friend Going Abroad to StudyTwenty-three kilos, a room in a country where they know nobody, and a farewell week where everyone gives them something. The gift to send in month two.4 min read
- Gifts for a Friend Group: One Book, Eight ContributorsPooled money buys a better object, and pooled material buys a different one. How to run a group photo book without it collapsing in the WhatsApp group.6 min read
- Hostel Memories: How to Turn Four Years Into One Photo MagazineThe photographs are spread across thirty phones and the group chats go quiet in September. How to collect four years before the material disappears.5 min read
- Personalised Gifts for a Best Friend Who Lives Far AwayDistant friendships end by drift rather than decision, and one gift does not stop that. What does, and the cheap habit worth more than anything annual.5 min read
- Photo Gift Ideas for Childhood FriendsThe photographs from a twenty-year friendship are mostly on paper in two houses, and neither of you has them. Where they are and how to get them.5 min read
- Squad Gift Ideas for Group Trips and ReunionsEveryone takes four hundred photographs on a group trip and nobody ever does anything with them. The fix takes one evening and one person volunteering.4 min read
- What to Gift a Friend Who Is Going Through a Hard TimeMost gifts in this situation ask the recipient to perform gratitude they do not have. What to send instead, and when the honest answer is nothing at all.5 min read