We all love to stay inside of our comfort zones. It’s familiar., safe, and comfortable! When we enter into a relationship with someone, especially a long-term one, it is incredibly easy to fall into a complacent routine with one another. Speaking on behalf of my personal experiences in relationships, I never even notice when I’ve fallen into a routine with my significant other until we do something we don’t do often. Until then, which could legitimately be a year plus until that moment, it’s the same restaurants, hikes, coffee shops, and Netflix binges. There are some new ideas for your relationship that we will talk about today.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this. If there were, why would we all do it? However, every once in awhile, it’s fun to switch things up to give your relationship—and yourselves—that nice little romantic reboot. Whether it’s spending a Sunday afternoon having a picnic in a nearby park or making a list of restaurants you two haven’t tried yet, changeup isn’t a relationship necessity, but it’s a solid healthy step in the right direction.
If you’re already branching out from your average dinner-Netflix-and-chill nightly schedule, good for you! If you’re looking for even more gutsier ways to spice up your joint love life, I highly suggest putting these ten ideas on your date night bucket list. Not only have I done (almost) all of them, but I will do them again in my next relationship.
Because who doesn’t dream of living a little more?
Here are ten outrageous ideas for your relationship.
1. Leave Your Phones At Home For A Day
This sounds easier than it is as one of the ideas for your relationship. Without realizing, we are all attached to our phones the vast majority of the time. As a matter of fact, until my last relationship, all the guys I dated prior to that and I would go out on a dinner date and hardly talk to each other because we were catching up on texts, emails, social media, and the likes.
Then, as mentioned, my last boyfriend happened (GREAT guy). When we first started dating, I never even thought twice about having my phone on the table when we were out to eat or sitting on my lap when we were watching a movie. Then I started to notice that he never, ever had his phone out. Not because he had anything to hide from me, but because he wanted to be completely present for me.
I now keep my phone in my purse during any and all one-on-one interactions, whether with friends, family, or a romantic interest. And it feels liberating to show someone that kind of respect.
If you already do this, AMAZING. But I challenge you and your partner to leave your phones at home for an entire day whilst you get out of the house and go on an adventure. Go to a theme park, go horseback riding or go for a fun hike. Make it a weekend so work isn’t an excuse, and go do something fun to give your brains separation from your phones and to give each other your full attention. You’ll have the best day of your life, I promise.
2. Play 20 Questions…Involving Alcohol Isn’t A Bad Thing
This one can get really intense as one of the ideas for your relationship. Although we generally know our partners pretty well, there are definitely details about college years or that Vegas trip he took right before you met that you’re not sharing with each other. If you do think you’ve shared everything there is to know, make the questions more about fantasies and desires. I suggest REALLY making it interesting and ask questions about your sex life, what you could get better at or hate that the other person does/does wrong.
Write the questions down ahead of time, each of you, make a cute dinner at home and fire away. Pro tip: Definitely do this while drunk. If you don’t drink, good luck to you, as this might make it one of the more difficult ideas for your relationship.
3. Do An Extreme Sport Together
I’m talking skydiving, I’m talking bungee jumping, parasailing, scuba diving, you name it. If all of these sound terrifying to you, even better! It’s a great date to get over your fears. Many activities bring couples closer together, but in my opinion there’s nothing that bonds two people more than jumping out of a plane together.
If your partner wouldn’t hate you for it, try and surprise them. Make sure they have a free schedule, wake them up early and tell them to get in the car. Everyone loves thoughtful surprises whether they like to admit it or not, and it’ll make it that much more special.
Have fun with it to where the two of you choose multiple ES activities to put on your bucket list and set out to accomplish maybe two of them a year. This also qualifies as a GREAT birthday or anniversary gift; I once had a boyfriend give me a scuba certification gift card for Christmas. I had never even mentioned scuba diving, nor had I ever thought about it. I didn’t even know he was scuba certified and we had been dating a year! Although completely unexpected and something I never would’ve thought about getting for myself, it was—to this day—my favorite gift I’ve ever been given by my other half.
4. Crash A Wedding
This is one of the more spontaneous ideas for your relationship. But, for real. I’ve actually done this. I pulled a Justin Bieber/Selena Gomez move in Malibu (they once crashed a wedding they drove by there).
My boyfriend and I were driving through, coincidentally, Malibu and when the PCH curved at a certain point, we were able to see the courtyard of a venue on a cliff overlooking the ocean. I made a joke like “Oh, a party! Our invite must’ve gotten lost in the mail”. We got closer and realized it was a wedding, then gave each other a mischievous look and turned into the lot.
It was one of the best spontaneous evenings of my life. Everyone noticed as soon as we walked in that we weren’t supposed to be there (we were in flip flops and shorts), but they loved so much that we had the guts to crash the party that we quickly became the life of the party. Everyone’s in such a good mood that, chances are, you will be welcomed with open arms. And free wine, which is clearly the most important factor to me here.
If you live in a city where there are a few venues known for ideal wedding locations, scope out the scene in spring and summer months. Get dressed up like you are supposed to be there and then come up with a story about where you guys tie into it. Wedding Crashers wasn’t a hit for no reason, am I right?
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5. Pin The Tail On The City
I just came up with that name at this very second, so cut me some slack please.
This is my FAVORITE game to play, by the way. Of all time. If you’re a bit of a wanderlust like me, the terrible title should’ve already gotten you excited.
It’s pretty self-explanatory. Plan a road trip together when you both can make it work. Tape a map of the U.S. to a wall, and have one of you spin around a few times while blindfolded before you push a pin aimlessly into the map. Voila!
The best part about road trips isn’t just the company, the road ahead, and an awesome playlist. It’s driving through all the random places and cities that you never would end up in otherwise. My ex-boyfriend and I did this and landed on Dallas, so we set a route ahead of time to pass through Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and cut through Texas. We took our time a bit, spending a day or two in each city that we wanted to explore. It was the best road trip I’ve ever taken.
Additionally, there are multiple apps that serve as a “tour guide” for your current location. So if you end up landing on Denver and have to cut through a plethora of small towns, these apps will locate your whereabouts and provide you with nearby landmarks and awesome facts about what the town is known for.
6. Take A Dance Class Together.
Here are some fun ideas for your relationship! Any dance class, really. Salsa, Tango, Ballroom, Hip Hop if you’re feeling confident in your skills! You both will end up laughing harder than you’ve ever laughed before, as you not only have to physically leave your comfort zone, but mentally and emotionally have to as well. It’s a great way to be your absolute true selves with each other in a vulnerable place where you mooooost likely look like an adorable fool. Or, on the other hand, you never know; you or your partner could have a secret natural talent for dancing, in which case can be a majorly sexy turn-on. Either way, taking a dance class together is a win-win in my book.
If this sounds socially intimidating, keep in mind that it’s a beginner’s class and everyone else in there probably doesn’t know what they’re doing either.
7. Go On A Scavenger Hunt!
So I’ve never done this as a date, but my friends put together a pretty elaborate scavenger hunt in LA a few years ago. We divided into 3 teams and had to drive alllllll over the city to cross off items from our lists. We were given 5 hours (because, y’know, LA traffic) and a prize gift card at the end. It was sooooo much fun. One of my girlfriends recently did this same thing with her boyfriend, except they played against each other. They had their friends come up with a scavenger list for them, gave each other a start and end time, and then met at a bar when the time was up.
There’s something so fun about competing with your significant other (“until someone gets hurt”, as the saying goes), and a scavenger hunt is a great way to do this without one person having a physical or mental advantage over the other. Have a friend or friends create a list for you two of finds in your city (you can make it within a 15, 20, 30 mile radius), choose a fun “if I win” price for one another, and run amok!
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8. Have Sex In A Random Place
I mean, why not? If you’re looking for creative ways to spice up your relationship or step outside of your normal routine together, go get a little crazy. Don’t make it somewhere super illegal, but find a secluded trail off the beaten path, or an abandoned park, or a spot on the beach somewhere, and do your thang. It can be pretty exhilarating if you’re not typically that kind of person/people, and you’ll always remember it.
9. Rent A Motorcycle
You see it in movies, you hear about it every time you do an internet search of “fun dates”, and there’s a reason for that. Fun is the best theme you can follow when thinking up ideas for your relationship. Motorcycles are fun, and so is exploring new areas in open air that you’ve never really gone to before. Plus, if your partner is the one driving, it’s an added intimate connection to hang onto the back of them as your safety is in their hands. It’s an unspoken way of saying “I trust you”, that I’ve found has a greater impact on me personally than I thought.
If there’s an area of your city or a nearby town you’ve been wanting to check out, this is the perfect opportunity. Start in the morning and make a day of it, pack a fun little picnic and find a beautiful secluded area or lookout point to stop for a lunch break in.
If you’ve been pretty much everywhere nearby that you wanted to see, even better. Hop on the bike, choose a direction, and just start driving. Get lost on purpose (but don’t do this the same day you leave your phones at home).
10. Naked Day
In your birthday suit. From the morning rise to bedtime. You don’t have to leave your house to add in a little something to your love life, you can plan a full day from the comfort of your own home with games and a candlelit dinner, maybe some painting or gardening….. but choose a full day to do it naked.
It can be incredibly sexy and seductive to watch your partner do your normal daily routine while in the buff, and the image won’t leave your brain or theirs for a long time. What’s sexier than dusting furniture, playing Scrabble, cooking dinner and setting the table for a romantic evening? Not many things.
Whether you choose to keep your normal routine for awhile or you set out to check off this list right away, the fact that you’re here reading this means you’re already taking the first step in firing it up by following these ideas for your relationship. I wish you good luck on your scavenger hunt and hope you make some great memories this year!
