Guide

Study abroad gifts: a charm for home and one for the host country

Study abroad gifts that name the places: home and the host country, the right carrier for a student, example sets, gifts for an exchange student going home and for a host family.

7 min read

Start your set
A woman with a leather backpack walking down a quiet old town street, seen from behind
Photo: Stella Soomlais on Unsplash

A semester or a year abroad is often the first time someone lives in another country on their own. They leave with a backpack, a list of classes and a place they have only seen in photos, and they come back with a second place that is partly theirs. A good study abroad gift holds both: the home they are leaving for a while, and the country where they will spend the term.

This guide is for parents, grandparents, friends and partners sending someone off to study abroad. It covers who a place gift suits, how to pair home with the host country, which carrier works for a student, example sets for popular study abroad countries, gifts for an exchange student going home and for a host family, and how to time it before they leave.

Who this gift suits

  • A son, daughter or grandchild leaving for a semester or a full year abroad.
  • A friend or partner starting an exchange program at a university in another country.
  • An exchange student who spent a year with your family and is about to go home.
  • A host family who looked after a student for a term.

If they rarely wear jewelry and do not carry a bag they love, skip to the section on gifts that are not jewelry.

Home and the host country

The simplest study abroad gift is a pair: one charm for home and one for the country where they will study. The first says where they come from; the second is a small vote of confidence in the term ahead. A set is built to grow, so the places they reach on weekends and breaks can join the first two whenever they like, during the term or once they are home.

  • Home first. The place they will miss on the first Sunday away. It is usually the first charm.
  • The host country. Where the university is. Each charm is a country or place flag, so a semester in Florence is the Italy charm and a year in Seville is the Spain charm.
  • One more, if it means something. A grandparent's country, or the place the family went together the summer before. Fewer places is better than more for a first set.

For the United Kingdom there is a United Kingdom charm, and there are England and Scotland charms as well, so a term in London or Edinburgh can be either. If the host country is not settled yet, give home on its own and let them add the next place when they know.

Choose how they will carry it

Every charm is a small landscape tile, about 10 x 7 mm, with a printed enamel flag face and its own lobster clasp, so it moves between all three carriers.

  • Carry Clip. A smooth leather loop in black or cognac brown with 316L stainless steel hardware, a swivel snap hook on top and a split key ring below. It clips to the backpack they take to class every day, or to the keys for a new apartment, and it suits a student who does not wear much jewelry.
  • Necklace. An elongated cable chain, roughly 49 cm, with a secure lobster clasp. For someone who already wears a chain every day.
  • Bracelet. The same elongated cable chain at roughly 22 cm, on the wrist where they will see it.

Silver is the natural steel. Gold is real 18k gold plating over the steel. Match what they already wear most days; if you cannot tell, look at their watch or the rings they wear most.

Example sets for a semester or year abroad

Each of these opens the set builder with the places, carrier and finish already chosen. Change anything before you check out.

Going away gifts for an exchange student

When an exchange student has spent a year in your town, the going away gift runs the other way. Put their home country first and the place they lived with you beside it, so the year comes home with them. A Carry Clip suits the backpack they arrived with; a necklace or bracelet suits someone who wears a piece every day.

A gift for the host family, and one for home

Students often bring a small thank-you for the family who hosts them: order it to a US address before they leave and pack it in their luggage. We ship within the US for now. The same two places, the host country and the student's home, make a quiet way to say the term mattered on both sides. Parents at home sometimes want the matching pair too, so the same places sit on two carriers in two countries.

Timing it before they leave

Orders are packed in 1 to 2 business days and ship within the US. Delivery time depends on the address, and checkout shows the most accurate estimate for it. If the gift needs to be in their hands before a departure date, order well ahead rather than counting on a particular day. If they have already left, the gift can wait at home for their first visit back.

A keepsake pouch is included with every set, so it is ready to give at a send-off dinner or to pack straight into a bag.

Thirty days to decide

If it isn't right, or a gift doesn't land the way you hoped, let us know within 30 days of delivery for an exchange or a full refund. Pieces need to come back unworn and in their original condition. The window counts from delivery, so if you order well ahead of the departure, open the box and check the places before you wrap it. A real person handles it, and it takes one email.

What it is made of

Each charm is 316L stainless steel with a printed enamel face. The necklace and bracelet chains are 304 stainless steel, and the Carry Clip pairs 316L hardware with smooth leather. Silver is the natural steel. Gold is real 18k plating over it. The steel is corrosion-resistant, hypoallergenic and fine to get wet, and every piece is made for daily wear.

If jewelry is not the right gift

The same idea works without jewelry: name the places. Write a few letters to open on the first day, the first month and the first holiday away. Copy out the family recipe they will want by the second week. Print one photograph of home for the wall of a small room. Mark a map of the host city with the places a friend who lived there recommends. A study abroad gift lands best when it is about their specific home and their specific host country, not about going abroad in general.

Start with one place

For a student leaving, start with home. Build your set, or read our guides to going away gifts, long distance gifts and gifts for travelers.

The Travel Charm Set

A place you can hold

Choose the places, then a necklace, bracelet or Carry Clip, in silver or 18k gold plated. Every set arrives in a keepsake pouch.

Build your set
  • 30-day returns
  • Packed in 1 to 2 business days
  • Ships within the US

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The Travel Charm Set Your places, on one carrier

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