Over half of all Americans have been in long-distance relationships at some point in their lives. When narrowed down to military service members, this increases to 3/4 due to deployments or other factors. During these times of separation, it can be difficult to come up with date ideas to foster connection and bridge the physical distance.
In a normal relationship, it’s easy to spend quality time together without needing to talk. This includes tasks like grocery shopping or sitting on the couch watching a movie. However, when you aren’t physically together, you are often forced to make conversation the focus of your time.
When simple conversation just isn’t enough, here are 7 creative and romantic date ideas to help keep your long-distance military relationship exciting.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Category | Activity |
| Most Entertaining | Game Night |
| Most Common | Cook a Meal |
| Most Creative | Paint Each Other |
| Most Romantic | Love Letters |
| Most Unique | Celebrate Special Occasions |
| Most Adventurous | Go On a Walking Tour |
| Easiest | Movie Night |
Most Entertaining Date Idea: Game Night
Playing games is a great way to take the pressure off the conversation. There are many great two-player games to choose from, both online and physical board games. To play a board game, choose one you have at home, such as SORRY!, that does not require each of you to keep a handful of cards secret. Whoever has the physical game in front of them will move the pieces for both players. To make it a little more interactive, you can search for a free dice roller online if applicable.
Video games are another great option. My husband and I love playing It Takes Two on the Nintendo Switch. This game provides unique challenges that keep you engaged and having fun. However, when we were dating, we didn’t have a lot of spending money and had to look for low-cost ways to play games together. We chose to play free online games instead.
A great site with many multiplayer game options is Crazy Games. To play a game together, you will need to create a private room and invite your partner with your unique link. Here is how to create a room:
- Choose a game and hit “Play Now.”
- Select the “Multiplayer” option. If you don’t see this button, you may need to choose a different game.
- Type in a nickname for yourself.
- You will then see a screen with a “Match list.” At the bottom, select “+ Create Match.”
- Choose a password so only people you invite can access the match.
- Hit “Create,” and it will take you to the invite page. Copy the invite link and send it to your partner.
- Start playing!
When choosing a game to play, keep in mind your significant others skill level. My husband is a gamer, but I rarely play video games. If you choose a game that is too technical, you may end up with a frustrated partner rather than a fun date night. With so many great options to choose from, look for the games you can both enjoy. Who knows, this may just become a date night tradition!
Most Common Date Idea: Cook a Meal
Cooking together is a classic long-distance date idea because it is easy to do. It allows you to try new things and learn a new skill. It can also be replicated with several different meals, making it new each time. My husband and I still have fond memories of the meals we cooked over Zoom calls. On our first date, we made pancakes. However, my husband didn’t have labels on his pantry goods and ended up using sugar instead of flour! He couldn’t for the life of him figure out why his pancakes were liquefying as soon as they hit the hot skillet.
To add a spin to your cooking date, try making it themed. When Halloween came around, we wanted to do something holiday-related for our meal. We found a recipe for stuffed jack-o-lantern peppers to make together. This recipe puts a spin on a typical stuffed pepper by having you carve a fun jack-o-lantern face into each pepper before cooking. Even though we aren’t long-distance anymore, this recipe still occasionally comes out for Halloween.
Once you have finished cooking, have a virtual dinner date!
For those who are in separate countries, you will need to account for time zone differences. While it may be dinnertime for one person, it may be early morning for the other. This will make it hard to find a meal you can both enjoy. One solution is to default to breakfast; breakfast for dinner is a common trend, but dinner for breakfast will be unappealing. Alternatively, if you choose to make dinner, the long distance partner in the morning time zone could store their meal until that evening.
Most Creative Date Idea: Paint Each Other
Painting each other is a cute trend I have seen going around for a while now. The idea is for each person to take 30 minutes or so to draw or paint the other person. Couples are usually in the same room, but you can easily use technology to adapt this to a virtual date night! Just make sure you both buy the materials ahead of time, including:
- Paper or canvas
- Paints, markers, or colored pencils
- A timer
Painting or drawing each other is an easy date idea because it doesn’t require buying much. The best part is, you don’t even have to be an artist. The worse your painting or drawing is the better. You can make it into a competition by having family members vote on which picture is the most recognizable.
Most Romanic Date Idea: Love Letters
Writing love letters may seem old-fashioned, but that is exactly what makes this long-distance date idea so romantic. Letters allow you to document a time in your life that you can revisit in the future. You can’t do that with phone calls.
For those in separate countries, consider sending video recordings of you reading your letters. This will minimize costs, shipping time, and the potential for your letter to get lost in the mail. Once you are back in person, you can hand your bundle of letters to your partner.
Create Letterboxes
To make letter writing into a date, consider creating letterboxes together. This is where you will store all your letters so they don’t get lost or, worse, accidentally thrown away. A cheap and easy method is to find a cardboard box lying around.
A tissue box is perfect for smaller-sized envelopes or a cereal box for larger envelopes. Once you both find a box, cut it to your desired size and cover it in paper to decorate together.
Alternatively, you can purchase an unfinished wooden box from a craft store and decorate it with paints or markers.
Most Unique Date Idea: Celebrate Special Occasions
Spending holidays or special occasions apart from your significant other can be one of the loneliest times to be in a long-distance relationship. Sending gifts or a care package is a great way to show someone you are thinking of them on that special day. The fact that you thought ahead to plan something special says more about how much you care than the gift itself. Special occasions include:
- Mother’s/Father’s Day
- Birthdays
- Christmas
- Valentine’s Day
When my husband and I were still dating, I was living overseas during his birthday. Since I couldn’t celebrate with him in person, I wanted to do something special.
I went to a local bakery and took a few pictures of their cake slices. When I got back home, I searched for a cake shop where he lived that made deliveries. I reached out by sending them the pictures and asked for a small cake that looked like the slice in my picture.
I requested they cut out a slice for themselves and deliver the rest of the cake to him on his birthday. I bought a similar-looking cake slice so we could eat it together.
There aren’t words to express the look of surprise and appreciation on his face. It took a little bit of planning, but overall, it was very simple. Small acts like this can have a huge impact on a long-distance relationship.
Most Adventurous Date Idea: Go On a Walking Tour
One of the most exciting parts of living in a new city or country is getting to explore the area. Allow your military spouse to have a shared experience and join the adventure by giving them a tour of the most important places near you! Create a bucket list with your spouse of places you want to explore together. Here are a few options to get you started:
- The street or area you live in
- The grocery store you use the most often
- A nearby attraction, such as a waterfall or a park
- Places you have talked about that your spouse hasn’t seen yet
Taking your partner on a walking tour allows them to visualize the places you talk about frequently. They will be able to relate to you more when you come home and feel like they were part of the experience.
Easiest Date Idea: Movie Night
Movie dates are by far the easiest date ideas because they don’t take a lot of time to plan. All you need to do is pick a movie together, pop some popcorn, and enjoy the show! To do this virtually, install the Teleparty browser extension, formerly called Netflix Party.
Teleparty allows you to create a watch party for movies and videos across multiple streaming services, including:
- Netflix
- YouTube
- Hulu
- Disney+
- HBO Max
- Amazon Prime
Once you pick your movie or YouTube video, invite your partner to the watch party. Teleparty’s video playback feature allows you to rewind a video and sync it for all participants, so you will always be at the same part in the video. Now if only they could implement that on airplane screens! You can use the chat box feature to talk during the show without interrupting it.
Alternatively, you can call each other or set up a video chat on your computer or phone. While phone calls are okay, we liked the video chat option because it helped us feel closer and more connected.
Long distance relationships require hard work and can seem very daunting, but it’s something many military couples must face. In these times of separation, there are many ways to stay connected. As you are planning your next date night, remember it’s the simple things that will have the biggest impact. Your time apart will eventually end, but using these 7 long distance date ideas will help create countless memories that will remain forever.
Let me know in the comments below if you’ve tried any of these date ideas. What would you add to the list?