> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://inkedlines.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Long Distance Relationship Gift: The Two-Place Map Print - URL: https://inkedlines.com/long-distance-relationship-gift-ideas/ - Published: 2026-10-15T12:02:18.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-15T12:03:45.000Z - Description: A two-place map print puts where you are and where they are on one sheet. Here is how I would choose the two places and word the line beneath them, plus how to get it printed in their country. - Author: Inked Lines - Tags: OpenHeartLines, Map prints, Personalised gift ideas A long distance relationship gift has an awkward job. It has to say you are close while you are in fact a long way apart. A two-place map print manages it by putting both of your places on one sheet of paper. One map shows where you are and the other shows where they are, with a short line of wording to tie them together. Quick answer: pick the two places that matter most to the relationship as it is now. For most couples that means where each of you lives, or where you met and where one of you has since moved. Keep the wording short and personal. Around A4 or 8x10 inches suits a desk, and anything bigger is for a wall. ## What a two-place map print looks like Two small maps sit side by side or stacked, each centred on a place you choose. You can go in close enough to show the street around a flat or a café, or pull back to show a whole city or country. The close view feels intimate. The wide view makes the distance itself the subject. Under or between the maps goes a line of text, usually names or coordinates, sometimes a date or a phrase you share. The drawing can be clean line art or soft watercolour, and some people prefer plain typography on white. Which suits you is a matter of taste. I would always keep both maps in the same style, though, so they read as a pair. ## Choosing the places for a long distance relationship gift Most of the meaning comes from the two places you pick, so I'd spend longer on this than on fonts. These pairings tend to work best on paper. ### Where you each live now Most people start here, and they are usually right to. Picture a flat in Glasgow and a flat in Melbourne, each marked with a small heart or dot. It is honest about the present. Once you live in the same place, it turns into a record of the time you spent apart. ### Where you met and where you are now If one of you has moved away, the place you met can carry more weight than either current address. It might be a university hall, or the station where you first spoke. A places we met print, paired with the new city, tells the story in two frames. This one suits couples who started out in the same town before work or study split them up. ### Two countries Across borders, I'd zoom out to national outlines. A two country map print at that scale reads clearly from across a room, and street detail would vanish anyway. There is one snag. If one country is far bigger than the other, ask for both to be shown at a similar visual size rather than true scale, or the smaller one ends up as a speck. ### Where you plan to live together Some couples choose their current city and the one they are moving to together, which makes for a hopeful print. I would only do this once the plan is settled. A map of a move that fell through can be hard to look at. ## How to word a long distance map print Wording is where most of these prints go generic. "Distance means so little when someone means so much" has hung on a great many walls. There is nothing wrong with it. It just doesn't belong to anybody in particular. Start with something only the two of you would recognise, like a phrase from your first messages or the name of the coach route you both know too well. Keep it to one line. It has to sit under two maps without crowding them. A few formats that work well on the print itself: - Both place names with the distance between them in miles or kilometres - Coordinates under each map, which look tidy and keep the meaning private - The date you met under one map and the date one of you moved under the other - Your first names on either side of the distance, such as "Amy, 9,000 miles, Jon" - Both local times, if you are always working out what time it is for them - A single line from a song you both know - A word you only use for each other, set small beneath the maps ### Check spellings and coordinates Spell place names the way the person receiving it would. Montréal or Montreal, Köln or Cologne: either is fine, as long as you choose on purpose. Check coordinates in a map app before you send them. If the map needs to centre on one building rather than a neighbourhood, give a street address or a landmark. ## Style, size and printing Line art suits a calm, modern room and looks good in a black or oak frame. Watercolour is softer, and I love it when one place is coastal and the other is all brick and roads. If you want to compare the two, have a look at [the custom map prints at OpenHeartLines](https://www.etsy.com/shop/OpenHeartLines?utm%5Fsource=inkedlines&utm%5Fmedium=blog&utm%5Fcampaign=article). You send us your two locations and your wording, and we draw the maps from those, usually within 1-2 days. For a bedside table or desk, A4 or 8x10 inches is plenty. A3 or 12x16 suits a hallway or the wall above a sofa. Side-by-side maps want a landscape frame, while stacked maps sit in portrait and fit narrower walls. ### Print it in their country [A personalised map print from the shop](https://www.etsy.com/shop/OpenHeartLines?utm%5Fsource=inkedlines&utm%5Fmedium=blog&utm%5Fcampaign=article) usually arrives as a high-resolution digital file, so you don't have to post a frame halfway round the world. Upload it to a print shop near the person receiving it, or have it printed and framed locally for them to collect. Ask for matte paper if it will hang opposite a window, because gloss catches the light. ## When to give it A two-place print makes a good moving away gift, handed over in the last week before someone leaves. It also works for an anniversary in the middle of the distance, when a card on its own feels a bit thin. Some couples hold it back for the day the distance ends. By then it has become a record of a stretch you got through together, and it looks lovely in a shared hallway. If you are giving it over a video call, have it framed before they open it so you can watch them read the wording. Once you have your two places and your line of wording, you can [order a two-place map print on Etsy](https://www.etsy.com/shop/OpenHeartLines?utm%5Fsource=inkedlines&utm%5Fmedium=blog&utm%5Fcampaign=article). Put exact spellings or landmarks in the personalisation box so each map is centred where you want it. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can the two places be in different countries? Yes, and that is one of the nicest versions. At country scale, use national or city outlines rather than street detail, because the shapes are recognisable from across a room. If one country is much larger than the other, mention it when you order so both can be shown at a balanced size instead of true scale. ### What should I write on a long distance map print? Keep it to one short line that belongs to the two of you, such as a phrase from your early messages or a song lyric you share. Coordinates or a date under each map also work well, and they keep the meaning private. I would avoid long poems, which crowd the maps and are hard to read once the print is framed. ### Is a digital file a good long distance relationship gift? It often suits long distance couples better than a posted print. You can send the file straight to a print shop near the person receiving it, which saves on international postage and the risk of a broken frame. It also means the gift can be ready within a couple of days, which helps if you have left it late. ### How exact do the locations need to be? That depends on how close you want the map to zoom. For a city or country view, the name is enough. For a street-level map centred on a flat or a station, send the full address or a nearby landmark, and check the coordinates in a map app first so the centre point lands where you mean.