9 Adventurous Date Ideas For Couples Who Like To Stay In

Once nestled in the comfort of a relationship, wild nights out have increasingly less of a purpose. Arguably, the entire point of finding someone in your 20s is so that you don’t have to keep spending weekend after weekend shelling out half of your paycheck on rum and cokes, crosstown cab rides, and repetitive conversations with other single friends who “totally could’ve had that if they wanted to.”

With that in mind, here are some ideas to keep things #fresh with your boo person, all from the comfort of your own dingy apartment:

1. Bottle Of Wine + Song Swap

The pretension of the wine is up to you, but the important part is to have a bottle. Make sure that your boyfriend attempts to open said bottle, so that you could laugh in playful amusement when the task proves to be much mightier than anticipated.

The idea is simple. Let the wine dictate the conversation, and let the impromptu playlist take its course. They pick a song, you pick a song, and so forth. The exercise concludes when the bottle is complete. Whichever person picks I Woke Up In A Car by Something Corporate clearly has the superior music taste.

2. Foreign Films

Picking movies on Netflix can be a trying experience, one that often leads to indecision and stagnation. And according to people who do Ted Talks/my college roommate who had two monitors in his bedroom and talked about “workflow”, stagnation is bad.

Foreign films are things that are only really there so that 21 year-old couples can preview what marriage might be like. It’s best to have this experience under your belt. If you need ideas, here’s a nice list.

3. Top Chef Dinner

If you’re one of those couples whose relationship revolves around watching cooking shows, eating at restaurants, and then buying cookbooks that’ll never really be utilized, this should be your bread and yogurt butter.

There are a few different ways to do this, but the basic gist is that you’re both given a set amount of time to cook a meal, free from the influence of your s/o.

The best idea, of course, is to cook something that caters directly to their pallet — you’ll be in the good graces for weeks.

4. Pizza From Scratch

Same idea, except here you get to buy ridiculous aprons and play music that makes you think you’re from the boot. If one of you is Italian, there’s a good chance this’ll be taken way too far.

5. How We Met

A couple I know did this, and the results were phenomenal. Both were tasked with retelling the story of how they met. One made a webcammy video, the other opted for a picture book. Both were hilarious, and the stories read quite differently. I hope they get married just so they can one day show their kids these creative treasures.

6. Board Games

Some couples play board games. I’ve never really played board games. Board games are cool though. Who doesn’t like board games?

7. Video Games

My babysitter Lori always told me that video games rot your brain. But she’s clearly wrong. I know a ton of people who play video games, and all of them only do so because they hate themselves.

Kidding aside, if you could find something that both of you are into — i.e,. Mario Kart — this can be a joy.

8. TV Binge

There are few things better than binge watching with another person, especially one that you also get to eat meals and have sex with.

Obsessing over a TV show is a reality of 2014 life, something that’s made even better when you get to share that obsession with someone you love.

^Vulnerability?

9. “Theme” Night

Pick something you both are very much into — be it a movie, a historical event, or Soulja Boy — and base the entire night around the theme. I.e., if you’re choosing Victorian England, consider your dress, the food,  the music, and tone of conversation. All Victorian Everything.

The key is to get your boyfriend so into this idea, that he forbids you from instagramming the evening out of fear of his friends finding out about how he’s spending his evening. Nonetheless, he’d do it again in a heartbeat…eventually.