If you live in a small town, then you and your partner are in for a hell of a challenge. I don’t know if you’ve been through this yet or not, but at some point you’ll feel that you’re just having deja-vus after deja-vus. Even if you love your partner, seeing the same places every day, visiting the same spots, being surrounded by the same people may inspire a feeling of tediousness in you both.
Boredom, if it’s too often present in your couple, is just a killer for enthusiasm and passion so it may just make you feel at some point that things aren’t going well in your relationship. Are you experiencing this now? If yes, I have a proposal for you: instead of leaving the misfortune of living in a small town drive your life, why not just find solutions to escape? Not the town, not the relationship, but the attitude!
I lived in a small town for about 24 years. I live in a small town now as well, but at least it’s bigger than the previous one :). But this doesn’t stop me and Andreea from enjoying our relationship daily and it also ambitions us to find solutions to do new things each day. It’s time to stop complaining and get to action. Let me help you!
1. Hop on that bike. You’re going on a trip to “I don’t know where”!
Time to shake the dust off that bike and find one more for your partner as you’re going on a trip today. I’m sure you’ve seen everything in your town and you know every corner of it, but have you ever seen it from above, as a whole? Even if so, I’m sure you don’t do this everyday.
So, as I said you will need two bikes, one for you and one for your partner. This trick implies the fact that your partner doesn’t know where you’ll going. As we said in this great article here it’s all in the surprise and in the mistery of it. If you live in the same house just take the two bikes and go home to your partner and tell him/her to get prepared as you’re going on a trip. Pretend that you don’t know where you are going and don’t say anything about the destination until you get there.
The idea is to take him/her to a place where there is a great view of your city and it’s surroundings. A peaceful and quiet place where there’s just you, some of your favourite songs that’ll will be singing on your phone and a bottle of wine you packed. You didn’t forgot to take that, did you?! 🙂 I’d suggest that you do this by night, as the lights make the view much more beautiful. Also, add a little bit of something extra and buy some chinese lanterns, write your dreams as a couple on them and let them fly free. They’re cheap and make the moment really special. For example a pack of 14 lanterns of different colors are just 11 USD on Amazon.com while on Amazon UK a pack of 10 costs about 7,5 pounds.
If you can’t do this by night then lose the wine and go for a picnic instead. That’s always relaxing and it’s great for an escape by day. If you can catch the sunset or sundown it’s even better. But be careful not to get hit on the head with something because you wake up your partner to early.
But wait! This is not all. I’m sure that you as well as your partner have visited close towns. I’m sure that he/she as well as you, have some favorite places there. You can either talk to your half and decide that you go on a bike trip and visit each one’s three favorite places from the close by towns or just plan a surprise and take your half to his/her three favorite places. It’s your choice!
2. If you’re watching movies, at least do it properly
So here comes the second answer to the question “what to do as a couple in a small town?”. I’m sure that, considering not many options are given, you watch movies for entertainment. This is not usually bad but it becomes boring at some point. At least for me I know it does. So, why not add a little bit of extra to this?
Ask your partner to choose two or three of her favorite movies which you have never seen while you do the same. Choose a date and, instead of eating popcorn, KFC or any other movie junk food just use the morning of that day to cook something one for another, something special, none of you have ever ate before. So what if the result will be a mess? I’m sure the food won’t be poisonous and as long as you don’t set the kitchen on fire you’ll just laugh about it. You’ll also gain a great memory about “that time when we tried to cook but failed so bad” :).
For example, me and Andreea have this things, where each month we cook something special that the other never ate before. Do you think each of the things we cook is a nominee for Master Chef? No way. Sometimes we screw things so bad that we end up eating sandwiches. But that doesn’t bother us as it’s interesting not to know what the other prepared for you. It’s funny when you see that the result isn’t anything close to what the food should have looked or tasted like.
3. Drop your shoes, it’s time to wear your partner’s
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying to literally wear your girlfriend’s/boyfriend’s shoes(only if you want too) but just try to exchange roles for a weekend. This is a great thing to do as it provides you with a great perspective of how it is “to be the other one” in the couple. If, for example, you are the one that asks your partner out more often, he/she should take this task for a weekend or if you’re the one cooking and he/she is washing the dishes, then just switch the roles. Same for cleaning, shopping, taking out the garbage, taking out the dog etc.
By taking this challenge you will do new things you wouldn’t have usually done before and will also be able to understand your partner better, which will bring you closer to one another. It’s also a great way to escape the daily routine and monotony.
To make sure you don’t miss anything, each of you can create a list of things that he/she feels that the other should do.
4. Let’s get drunk. Cocktails on me!
Have you ever prepared cocktails? No? Me neither until a few months ago when me and Andreea decided to do a cocktail party. It’s easier than it sounds!
First step
Buy some drinks and prepare cocktails for each other. To make it more interesting the other shouldn’t know what cocktails you are preparing for him/her.
Second step
Here comes the tasting part. Each of you should have some small gifts prepared for the other so that in case your partner guesses what cocktail you prepared for him/her you will be awarded a gift. Don’t just drink those cocktails like there’s no tomorrow. Put some romantic music on, make some atmosphere, enjoy them, enjoy your partner and the time spent together. The rest well… that’s up to you :).
5. Move fast! You’re in for a rush date
Rush dates are just freaking wonderful as you can do a lot of things in just a small amount of time. If you haven’t heard about this concept before let me give you some insights about it. A rush date means that you take your partner to about 5-6 places in a small amount of time(30-60 minutes). Indeed, it’s a race against the clock, but if you keep visiting the same places over and over again, at least make it different this time. How to do it?
a) Prepare your track in advance and calculate time
b) Think about what you will order. Talk to the waiter/bartender to have the food/drink prepared for you at an exact hour. Pay in advance, leave a tip.
c) Move fast. Don’t leave your partner time to finish what you’ve ordered.
d) Don’t let your partner know what you’ll be next or if there will be a next.
e) Have your room, home prepared. If you leave in the same house, as I was saying in an earlier post, just ask a friend to light some candles and set up some music.
As you can see it is not so hard to find things to do as a couple in a small town. All it takes is just to not let yourself led by complacency and just get yourself out of your comfort zone. Once you start looking for solutions your mind will break the usual patterns and see beyond the usual limits.
Have any ideas for couples that live in small towns? Have you done something different to escape boredom? Share to that others can follow your example!
Stay tunned for our next article! 🙂