10 Ways to Keep a New Relationship Fresh During Quarantine
Dating someone new is fun. Getting to know someone new or getting to know someone better always fills me with the biggest rush. I love learning about people’s personalities and opinions and how they work in relation to mine. I’ve always been the type of person to like people who have different personalities than me but are people I can still vibe with. The different layers of opinion always fascinate me as we direct the world together.
Having been in quarantine it’s gotten a lot harder to connect with people when a relationship is new. It’s a lot easier to rely on your closer friends and family because it’s a hard time and hard times require all the support we can get.
It’s not all lost though, there are things you can do to keep things fresh and here are my top ten activities to helping a new relationship:
1. Dinner Dates and Game Nights
It’s a little awkward at first because you’re essentially seeing your s/o’s home before you’re really ready and I had a mini freakout where I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be dressed up for a date or dressed down because I’m at home. Once that initial awkwardness went away, however, I found it nice to simply have company while we talked and ate. It was almost like a mukbang at times but knowing that we felt the same sort of awkwardness was nice. Afterwards we spent a bit playing those stupid teenage games you’d play to get to know someone better: Truth or Dare, Never Have I Ever and the like. It was a nice easy way to get to know someone and remind them that eventually there will be more intimate relations in the future. It helped make the night less platonic and a lot more interesting.
2. Movie Dates
These are always a classic and although it’s not the same without cuddling this is a nice way for both of you to feel comfortable yelling at the screen. It’s best to find something less sexy and romantic and more something you can have running commentary with or something so horrible you have to laugh together.
3. Drawing Together
Bob Ross is on Netflix so you can both try your hand at following (and failing but let’s be real those are the best times) at following along. It’s a relaxing way to just enjoy each other’s company. There’s something fascinating to me about doing joint projects like this because you’re both trying to get to the same goal but ultimately using different techniques and ideas for similar results. You can always up the ante of course and try drawing each other like one of your French girls.
4. Share a phone call under the stars
This one was a lot more romantic than I thought it’d be. He has a truck while I just laid out on a blanket on my porch but we both just sat under the night sky and talked the night away. There was something innocent about it that reminded me of being younger and I couldn’t help but feel giddy about the idea that even though we weren’t together we were looking at the same thing.
5. Video games and board games
Although a lot of these are for more than one person you can find games online to play with your partner. I spent a night playing Unravel 2 because my partner isn’t much of a video gamer and it was a great way to just relax and play. Just remember not to introduce your s/o to a night of Monopoly or Overcooked or it’s probably the end.
6. Deliver your date night them to them
This one takes a bit of creativity but it is a blast. I sent my partner a bottle of wine and a dinner package. We met online while I was all dressed up and had a virtual date night whilst staying fancy. Of course you can get away with sending not just food but also curated boxes with toys and care packages.
7. Gym Date
If there’s one thing that’s been really hard this quarantine it’s staying motivated to stay in shape. We’ve both got a set of weights at our places so putting on a video chat and embarrassing each other with an 80's workout video is a great way to break the ice.
8. Virtual Tours
I love going to art galleries and museums. Because there are so many available online right now we’ve spent a long time going through these trips together. Teasing each other about our knowledge of history and art or our vastly similar but also different tastes in culture.
9. Dance Off
I love dancing but I’m not exactly going clubbing out right now. But we’ve started up Just Dance nights where we goof off and get sweaty. Then we send each other scores and mock each other mercifully for how bad we both are at it. It’s a great way to have fun and just show your both comfortable making fools out of each other.
10. Intimate Nights are the better sleepless nights
Just because you’re not touching each other doesn’t mean you can’t be thinking about each other intimately. I love sexting but I’ve never been huge on video calls. However receiving a video late at night was a highlight. Getting intimate with each other is still exciting and really just amps my anticipation for the real deal.
