Keeping Date Nights Going During Covid

We’ve long been advocates for a consistent date night with your significant other, and Covid shouldn’t keep a Gent from finding creative ways to unwind and connect with the person he cares about.  Our clubs are in different states that have different regulations about being out and about, so we put together a list of date ideas that are pandemic restriction-proof.  

Volunteering

It’s easy to feel that things might not be going our way since the pandemic began.  But whatever challenges we may face, it’s important not just to be grateful for what we have, but to remember there are so many people hurting more than we are.  Volunteering turns that theory into reality, and it’s a great way to redirect some of the negative stress that quarantines and lockdowns may have caused into a positive experience for you and your special someone.

Game Night

It’s a classic option you might have already used for some old favorites.  But it’s also a great time to pick up a game you don’t know that well or want to get better at (like poker).

Cooking Variants

If you want to bring a bit of fun and friendly competition to a meal, you might both start with the same ingredients and separately cook different dishes: then you get two meals for the effort of one.  If both of you are pretty comfortable in the kitchen, you can up the ante by picking some ingredient list from Chopped.  An easy example would be chicken, alfredo sauce, whole peppercorns, and parmesan cheese.  You could each make a pasta dish, a baked chicken dish, maybe a pizza (or something completely different!).  To up the ante, throw in one difficult ingredient to see who uses incorporates it best and/or use a timer.

Experiences

After a full day/week/month/year of online meetings, no one really thinks of virtual experiences as an option for date night.  And we get it, zoom fatigue is a thing.  But it’s also different to experience something you’re excited about and looking forward to (even if it is online).  Consider:

  • Virtual wine/beer tastings – various companies are shipping samples with DIY instructions or a link to an interactive video experience
  • Cooking classes – not yet confident enough to do a Chopped challenge like we suggested above? So many world-class chefs are offering cooking classes right now
  • Comedy nights – famous outlets like Chicago’s Second City are offering shows all the time
  • Escape rooms – if your local escape room is physically open to the public, great.  If not, there are virtual ones on offer, like this mystery-solving one for example
  • Airbnb experiences – if you hadn’t heard about these before, they are a twist on the “rent a place” offering of Airbnb: hosts offer you a slice of local life, be it tours, classes, or crafting, just to name a few.  With international travel restricted, there are still ways for you to experience a bit of local life in countries you do plan to travel to in the future, as the platform features experiences in almost every country that Airbnb is in (over 190).

Movie Night or Backyard Camping

Movie theaters closed?  No worries: the drive-in movie theatre has been making a comeback, and some of them even feature carhop service.  Travel restrictions?  Camp out in your backyard.  Even if it’s cold there’s still the chance to build that fire and snuggle together.  Want to do both?  You can combine the two and campout AND project a movie in your backyard.

Whatever you choose, make sure to consistently take time for yourself during these strange days and weeks and months.  You’ll be glad you did, but more importantly, so will your significant other.

Do you have ideas that should be added to this list?  Let us know in the comments below.

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