Dating Amid COVID-19: How to Keep Things Intimate While Social Distancing

If you’re practicing social distancing through the COVID-19 outbreak and don’t live with your partner, chances are you’re already missing them. It’s important to do your part to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, even if loneliness sneaks in along the way. Fortunately, there are ways that you can keep things intimate with your significant other from afar.

Try a Video Date

Date night doesn’t necessarily need to be in person! Plan a time to meet up over your favorite video chat platform. How can you adapt your favorite date activities to the virtual world?

You could each make your go-to pasta dish and “share” dinner, or bring your usual bar home over drinks and a background playlist. Stay cozy in your comfiest sweats or go all-out with some sexy lingerie. Whether or not your activities match your attire is up to you!

Go Old-School and Call Them

A video call might be the next best thing to spending time together in person but, if that’s not possible, a phone call is a great option, too. Sometimes you just want to hear the sound of their voice!

You can chat about everything from the bread you decided to bake to the six seasons of that podcast you’ve listened to this week. You could even take a walk (maintaining that six-foot distance from other people, of course, and talk to them along the way.

Send Some Photos

Worried that you’ll forget what your partner looks like before you’re together in person again? Snap a selfie or something sexier—and make sure to double-check the recipient before hitting send, if it’s the latter!

You could even start a private shared album to save photos for the two of you to look at when you’re missing each other a little extra.

Communicate

Believe it or not, research suggests that couples in a long-distance relationship might actually experience greater feelings of intimacy than those who are consistently face-to-face. One aspect of these relationships that stands out is their commitment to communication.

Take inspiration from those in an LDR and work on your communication skills—missing your partner a little extra today? Tell them! Worried about something? Let them know!

Stream Your Favorite Movies

Whether you use a service like Netflix Party designed to help you watch something despite being apart or you coordinate to hit “play” at the same time, you can still watch your favorite movies and TV shows “together.”

Make a big bowl of popcorn, grab some candy, and turn down the lights (and have your partner do the same!) for your very own at-home theater experience.

Daydream

If you and your SO are already pretty serious, this could be the perfect time to talk about the future. Maybe this experience has made you realize that moving in together is your logical next step.

Or, maybe you want to take things a step further and hint at some diamond engagement rings. Agape Diamonds is one company to look into for these dreams, as their ethical, wholesale business model can get you gorgeous goods for a fraction of the cost of other jewelers. Daydreaming about a future with your partner can help distract you from the current situation and lets you learn more about each other’s hopes and dreams.

Take Advantage of Technology

Take another page from the long-distance handbook and check out some apps made just for couples living apart. A quick search on your app store of choice will lead you to everything from “your personal assistant for relationships” by the team at The 5 Love Languages® to app-enabled long-distance sex toys. Other apps focus on sharing video clips or photos with your significant other, relationship-themed games, and even apps like Bond Touch, which connects to a vibrating bracelet to let you connect with your partner from a distance.

Social distancing doesn’t mean you need to miss out on intimacy. In fact, you just might come out of this even stronger! This situation won’t last forever and, if you take advantage of these tools, adapt the habits you already have, and communicate with your partner, you’ll feel like you’re together again in no time.