HOW TO DATE IN ISOLATION

The coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown has thrown normal life out the window. Alongside most of our regular social activities, dating doesn’t really fit well into the whole staying in thing, especially if you’re dating casually and not in a relationship.

Unless you’re brave enough to go straight in with for the video call with a complete stranger, all you single peeps can still swipe but you’ll have to keep it strictly in the DMs for the moment. If you are dating someone but are quarantining in different places, or you live with the person you’re in a relationship with, you can still do dates, you just have to be a little more creative (and maybe lower your expectations a bit too).

Video Chats

If you’re single and ready to mingle, there’s a new lockdown-friendly app you can try. Quarantine Together connects single self-isolaters by sending a text at 6pm asking of you’ve washed your hands – if you reply with a yes, you’re connected to another user to text with and then video chat if you hit it off. If the lockdown has you separated, video chats are your new best friend. Whether you’re doing it on Houseparty, FaceTime or Zoom, prep for your call like you would for a IRL date – that means getting dressed (your top half at the very least) and brushing your hair. Find yourself some decent lighting, have a bev in hand and you’re ready to go. If you want to take things up a notch, order an Isodating Kit from CLiKD. You can hang up a backdrop of the Eiffel Tower in your respective homes and pretend you’re both in Paris getting pissed on red wine and eating madeleines.

Date Night Dins

If you’re apart and you’re both terrible cooks, send each other a dinner delivery and then eat together on a video call. If you’re apart and you both know you’re way around the kitchen, do a cook-along together and then compare efforts. If you’re under the same roof, order in something fancy, get some candles on the table and pretend you’re actually at a restaurant.

Date Night Activities

Watch a movie using Netflix Party, join in a virtual pub quiz, team up on video games, make playlists for each other, workout using the same class stream…if you’re a couple that likes to plan dates around activities then there are so many things you can do together when you’re not. Obviously all of those things can be done in person but make the most of not having to rely on tech and go for an old-school offline activity like a board game. It’ll give your eyes a break from the screen and it’ll give you an insight into the kind of couple you’ll be in a few decades time.

Here’s how to nail staying in

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