After a consecutive 10-day span of Netflix and Uber Eats, I began to worry that this could be the beginning of the dimming of our romantic flame. I didn’t want our relationship to lose its exciting energy. We were both such active people when we first met, but the stresses and demands of everyday life left us exhausted and it was starting to seem like we’d stopped putting as much energy into ourselves and our relationship as we used to.
I decided it was time to make a change, so we got in the car and hit the road. We decided to approach the day like we were at summer camp — we rented bikes, went swimming in the lake, and played boccie ball at a local tavern.
This action-packed day left us feeling excited, alive and more connected to one another than we’d been in ages (or the past few weeks, anyway). That day we made a pact to break free of our lazy routine every weekend and be more active together through shared hobbies.
Engaging in an activity with your spouse can strengthen your bond and help you create unforgettable memories. To keep things fun and fresh in your relationship, try some of these activities together:
Explore the Great Outdoors
Take the weekend to get into nature and enjoy the serene sounds and sprawling vistas. Spending time together without distractions allows for moments of open communication and opportunities to bring out your adventurous side. Going on biking or backpacking trips can bring you closer together since you have to rely on teamwork to navigate the trails and set up your tent.
If you live near NYC and you’d rather opt for a two or four-hour hike, we love the Storm King Mountain trail, which is about an hour north of NYC, but you can choose your adventure here.
Play a Sport
If you both enjoy being athletically active, take up a sport you can play together. Golf is one you can play together until you’re 90 years old (or so the sales pitch from my golf-loving husband goes).
Tennis is another excellent activity for couples to enjoy, as it can vary in intensity and can be played with just the two of you. Or, if you want to put your tennis skills to the test, play against another couple for a fun challenge. Find couples looking for friendly competition on the USTA site.
For an extra challenge, learn an unusual sport together like kayaking, archery, fencing, or sailing.
If you and your spouse love living on the wild side, try a more extreme hobby like white water rafting, skydiving, rock climbing or drag racing. Drag racing is an exhilarating sport that helps relieve pent-up stress. Around the country, there are weekend drag races happening where cars race at speeds up to 115 mph. To equip your car, make sure it has the proper safety features and high-quality equipment. Then, fulfill your need for speed and some healthy competition by racing against each other.
Find Your Zen
Practicing yoga or meditation with your spouse is an effective way to center yourselves and find your calm. Many yoga studios offer classes for couples yoga, which increase the communication and sensitivity in your relationship.
Couples meditation is a powerful way to relax together on a daily-basis and can also come in handy during times of conflict. If you are new to meditating, there are several mobile apps that provide you with guided meditation sessions that you can practice with your loved one.
Take a Mini-Vacation
Not feeling the road tripping vibe? There are loads of last-minute vacation discounts online. Find one and go somewhere really spectacular. Traveling together is a great bonding experience.
Google Flights and Skyscanner have handy map tools that can help you find the cheapest flight. If your destination is open-ended — i.e., “anywhere with a beach” — use the map to pick the most economical locale.
A travel app I love is Very Chic, which offers curated last-minute deals if you need a romantic place to stay tonight, tomorrow or within the next couple of months. While some deals – especially in the US – are not so good, it can deliver deep discounts in Europe and the UK. BluByn is a new app with a personal concierge that will help you find the best travel deals from across the internet. Here’s a list of more great travel apps.
So take your adventurous spirit, your active lifestyle, and your insatiable curiosity and use those traits to explore and revamp your relationship. Ready. Set. Go!
If it’s difficult for couples to keep the relationship interesting, they shouldn’t be together because they wouldn’t even last long.
Great point. I don’t see why it should be hard either.
I think this is the reason why most relationships fall apart. They forget to do things together that strengthens their bond. Sometimes, couples are too focused on their work or children that they fail to nurture their own relationship along the way. Couples usually assume that when they’re married, both their priorities change and that the family comes first if they already have children. They’re so busy raising their kids that they forget that the foundation of the family is the two of them.
I enjoy my relationship no matter what we choose to do together. Whether it’s just laying around in bed all day on a weekend, as long as I’m with that person, I’m ALL GOOD.?
When you’re tired from work and all you want to do is rest, chilling with your partner is the best way to go. It’s not bad to relax with the one you love.?
My wife isn’t into extreme sports so we find it a little difficult to do something together because we’re complete opposites when it comes to hobbies. I love her and that’s okay with me. Most of the time we just try to meet halfway. I also think that spending time with her, no matter what activity we have in store will always be a good time. Even if it’s a salon day or a trip to the spa, she sometimes looks for facials that I can do just so I can also unwind. She may love a lot of feminine stuff but we’re like best friends. I would probably do her nails if she asked me to.
That is very sweet and adorable.❤️
We love going on a hike to remove stress. It’s a great way to bond + exercise as well.
Relationships need effort to work. So sometimes you can’t always assume that relaxing at home is always perfect. Maybe your wife could prefer change even once in a while.
Yes, we do need change too. I’m fine with take outs but if it’s been happening for years and years, it’s a little too much.
I’m thinking of going to a spa or massage with my hubby. It’s going to be relaxing for the two of us and at the same time a great bonding time. I’ve seen massages for couples and it seems like a good idea. Or if you don’t want to pay for services like that, you may also want to do the massage yourself. Just buy essential oils! You can buy it almost anywhere, even on Amazon. Buy candles too and set the mood! Effort is sexy especially for couples. Not only will you keep the flames burning, you’ll be setting it all on fire.
I love take-outs and just sitting on the couch with hubby. It’s actually one of the best bonding moments that we have especially when we barely get enough time to see each other because of work-related issues. We find that it’s a lot more intimate and that it helps us both catch up by sharing lots of stories that we both missed telling each other. Sometimes, we even call from different restaurants and order a bunch of food that we can eat in bed while we just chill. Being with each other is already rewarding as it is.
Really? Are relationships doomed to fail nowadays that we need to “keep things fun and fresh”? This could reflect differently to other people’s minds.