Covid-friendly first date ideas

March 1, 2021 5:23 PM

What have folks been doing for COVID-safe initial in-person dates?

I've been chatting with someone who seems pretty awesome. I would like to meet them in person, because (1) you can tell a lot more about chemistry in person, and (2) I honestly can't face the thought of one more zoom meeting.

However, I would also like to do something that is outdoors / covid-safe AND time-limited since a "first" internet date is more like a "zeroeth" date.

Most of the suggestions I've found online are more about "date night" with a person you're already in a bubble with, so I'm hoping Metafilter has some ideas!

posted by Blue Jello Elf to Human Relations (12 answers total)

Go for a walk in a public park.
posted by randomquestion at 5:28 PM on March 1, 2021 [9 favorites]

Depending on the weather where you are (I am in Vermont, it's not great for outdoorsy stuff right now) I'd suggest a masked-up outdoor walk/hike/something. Basically you can make it a "No eating no drinking no bathrooming" (if possible) interaction which would keep you to a few hours. I usually try to find local trails that are interesting, not too challenging, and not too noisy since masked-up interactions are a little tougher to hear one another than unmasked. This is all, of course, dependent on your various risk tolerances and profiles but "Something neat and outdoors!" is usually good. There's also Daylight Savings Time and Equinox coming up which could be a good way to do something outside that was also timely. I know that on Solstices when I lived where you live, I'd often go for a walk around Green Lake at either the sunrise or the sunset.
posted by jessamyn at 5:58 PM on March 1, 2021 [8 favorites]

jessamyn, as always, has the right idea. This person you're chatting with might be great, but answering that question in person isn't worth either of you getting sick.

Alternatively, work the anticipation angle. You've only got a few more months to wait - hopefully. And in ten years, these few months won't matter at all.
posted by doyouknowwhoIam? at 6:03 PM on March 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

covid-safe AND time-limited

Just meet at a public park for a stroll. Tell them you have to do something after an hour or two ("I need to get to the post office/pharmacy/grocery pickup before 5 o'clock"), and that's your time-limited aspect.
posted by knotty knots at 6:15 PM on March 1, 2021 [2 favorites]

I had a first date back in November -- a nighttime walk around a (very safe and admittedly park-like and beautiful) neighborhood. We stayed six feet apart at all times, each had a drink and I made a baked good to safely share. The only times we were unmasked was for eating and drinking, and we stayed well apart/facing away from each other in those moments. Kind of by virtue of 'it's drizzling, November, and Seattle' it was time-limited to about an hour-ish, but you could use knotty knots' excuse easily!
It was chilly and drizzly, but was honestly a wonderful date. At the end she walked me back to my apartment building and we touched elbows, it was cute!
posted by kalimac at 6:34 PM on March 1, 2021 [2 favorites]

Some previous notes here.
posted by limeonaire at 7:09 PM on March 1, 2021

I don't know your living situation, but I know people who sat facing each other, outside, next to a fire pit. It was warm (enough), were able to hear them, AND could see them. I think they both had masks on, but 6 feat apart outside without masks is probably ok too. Your risk tolerance may vary.
posted by AugustWest at 7:21 PM on March 1, 2021

Yes, a daytime walk can be perfect. Or, if you want to be able to look at each other, bring some hot chocolate or tea in a thermos to share at opposite ends/sides of a picnic table. I'm not saying you shouldn't wear a mask--it's totally up to you and your comfort level--but I have been on a few unmasked walking dates. But, you should totally have a conversation about this first! Like, if you decide to meet for coffee and a walk, you probably wouldn't wear a mask, but you can just discuss it outright.

Also, I have had video chats with two folks before meeting in person. In one case, it was only 45 minutes; in the other case, we had several long conversations via video before meeting in person. With both folks, the conversation flowed more easily in person but wasn't all that different from the video date.
posted by bluedaisy at 9:23 PM on March 1, 2021

I've usually been going for walks, but have met up with people to sit outside too; last weekend someone came over to my porch where we hung out with electric blankets. If you go that route you can invent in advance a reason you need to end it at a certain time. (I intentionally chose a time that would force her to end it; she said she was free until 2 that day so I invited her over for 12:30.)
posted by metasarah at 7:55 AM on March 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

Yeah as you can see there's...not a ton of options. Pretty much "walk outdoors" or "sit outdoors" unless you are in a place where there are some kind of scheduled outdoor things, like outdoor movies or guided tours. Being that it's winter where you are (though probably milder than a lot of the country right now) I'm guessing there aren't a TON of those things on the calendar right now, but worth checking your local papers and weeklies for stuff like that.

Don't know what the restriction status is where you are, but I know some folks here (where we have reduced restrictions for lord knows what reason) have been doing museum dates, since the museums limit access, have decent ventilation, and it's fairly easy to distance.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:04 AM on March 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

(lol for what it's worth even once you're bubbled there's still fuck-all to do on dates. movie night every night forever, hooray. I know couples who have now run the entire course of their relationship, from start to breakup, without ever going on an actual date. To say they are bitter is a vast understatement.)
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:05 AM on March 2, 2021 [7 favorites]

Yeah, another vote for a museum as an alternative to taking a walk, depending on where you are/what policies are in place. The one indoor thing I've done in the last year has been a couple museum visits, each had timed tickets and the museums were well ventilated, everyone was wearing masks, and it was pretty empty - very easy to say 15 feet or more away from people.
posted by coffeecat at 3:12 PM on March 2, 2021 [1 favorite]