To all the people who are quarantined with their S.O, I envy you.
My boyfriend and I have been dating for over 10 months now, and we've spent almost every weekend and multiple nights a week together since we started dating. But even with the global pandemic, we haven't let COVID-19 stop us from having our quality time.
Yes, it's been difficult to find a new routine, but when you want to be with someone, you find a way. Something my boyfriend has always been good about is making time and putting forth so much effort to show his love for me and our relationship. These are the things we've substituted for dates during this time that have been working well for us:
Random, but often, FaceTimes
Or GoogleDuo, Zoom, or Google Hangouts. Justin and I are usually long distance while I'm at school and he's still at home. So, often FaceTime calls are a normal routine for us. But, this is the longest time I've been home and not seen him every night after he got off work. It's been very difficult because going on a late night Sonic run or even just watching a couple of episodes of a show we're watching was our main source of quality time. We've just had to put our nightly FaceTime calls in place of the in-person hangouts.
Netflix Party
Thank you, Google Chrome for the Netflix Party extension, am I right? What a great way to keep up with shows that you and your S.O. are watching together. It's even great for you and your friends to still hangout, too.
I'm in a class this semester that requires me to watch a ton of TV shows for our discussions, and Justin would always watch the shows with me, which made this class even more fun. During this time, our class has still had to watch shows and have class discussions over Zoom. It hasn't been as much fun as getting to watch shows with Justin in person, but being able to still watch them together virtually has kept some normalcy.
Social distancing walks in the park
Caroline Boze
Luckily, our town has a good area downtown to walk, which makes it fun and enjoyable to get moving and get fresh air. Justin and I have met downtown several times when its nice out to walk and talk together.
Actual dates over FaceTime
No restaurants and no hanging out in person? Get creative! You guys can still "make dinner" together and have a dinner date through video chatting. Still dress up and spend virtual quality time over dinner. Have fun with this and get creative. Do themed dates or just try a new date idea that you guys have been wanting to do -- we all have the time. Once this is all over, you will feel like a new couple and will appreciate all the new ways to have quality time.
Driveway hangouts or picnics
Caroline Boze
One night, Justin called and said he was out in front of my house and that was one of the best times for me during quarantine. He always is so good about small little surprises like that, and it's so fun to still get those little surprise visits from him. We sat out in my driveway six feet apart and talked for nearly two hours.
It hasn't been the easiest thing to not be able to see each other like normal, but we've still found our ways to have quality time together. Thank goodness for technology making all these date substitutions possible.
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