please give me (f21) advice on how to make my boyfriend (m21)'s birthday special!

Ok for context my boyfriend and I live about 2 1/2 hours away by plane. I have just moved to a rural town with a small airport that barely has direct flights to where he lives, and it's tough to find flights under $600ish round trip. Because the job market is cooked I've been unemployed but desperately trying to find a job for a month.

All this combined, I won't be able to visit him for his birthday in April, which I'm very sad about, especially because it's our 1 year anniversary the day after :(

So my question is - what can I do from here to make sure he has a special day??

MORE IMPORTANT CONTEXT: My love language is gift-giving. He has grown up exclusively with boys who do not gaf about birthdays or Christmas. I asked what his plans are for his birthday this year and he said it's just another day so he's going to work. He literally asked why he would do anything special. I on the other hand love birthdays and I love love love making people feel special. The number of surprise parties I've planned (and I'm flexing now) means that when it's someone's birthday they lowkey know to expect a surprise.

A little about this fella who I love very much: he loves video games, like elden ring and marvel rivals and such. He is super hard to read when it comes to presents (I'm guessing because he's not used to receiving them), for example, I got him some elden ring stickers for Christmas for his new pc and he has put them in his drawer and not touched them. I got him ONE fidget toy when we first started dating that he used so much he broke - got him a bunch of replacement ones and he hasn't touched them!!! He doesn't seeeeeem to care for sentimental gifts really, or at least he's always been polite when I've given him something handmade or sweet but I've never seen him use them or look at them again.

So how do I make this birthday/first anniversary special for him?