Should a global pandemic stop you from dating? Well, let’s face it, none of us know how long coronavirus is going to affect our lives, so putting off finding love could mean that you’ll be sat feeling lonely and sad for a long time. So, instead, you should keep at your search for love. You just need to adapt how you date in order to keep yourself and those around you safe from the virus.
How to Find Singles During COVID
While you might have went out to a bar or nightclub every weekend looking to speak to singles, this is no longer an option – especially when people don’t want strangers coming near them to talk. So, how instead can you meet and chat with potential dates:
Dating Apps/Websites
Whether it’s a dating website or an app, these give you the ideal place to browse the profiles of singles that are living close to you and send messages over to anyone that you like. Online dating is very convenient too, where websites or apps never close. This allows you to look for matches at whatever time suits you – whether that be 4am or 4pm. You can also spend your time getting to know someone through messaging before you give over your contact details.
Before you sign up to a particular site or app, be sure to research it to make sure it’s the right one for you. You’ll want one that has other singles in the age range as you’d like to date, is popular so that you have lots of choice and that has any extras that you might want – such as a chat room.
Virtual Speed Dating
Online dating isn’t for everyone, particularly if you dislike the idea of constantly looking for matches, messaging them and waiting for a reply that might not come. If you’d like a simpler and faster way to meet singles, then virtual online dating could be ideal for you.
These online events, which work with the same idea as normal speed dating nights, need to be booked and will take a set number of singles for each event. The idea being that you will get to meet with around 10-12 singles in an evening on a speed date that lasts around 4 minutes. At the end of the time a buzzer will sound, and you will get a new date to chat to.
You’ll get to decide if you’d like to match with any of the singles that you spoke to that night and if they chose to match with you too, you’ll both get each other’s contact details. Head over to Naturally Dating to attend events in the UK
On a virtual night, you will use a device that has a camera and microphone and each date will be held in a private online room. So, bar the fact you’re at home, these events are not too different from the originals.
How to Have a First Date in Lockdown?
Once you’ve found someone that you like, you’re going to want to have a first date. However, at the moment, we don’t want to meeting lots of different people from different households, especially when we don’t know who they’ve been in contact with.
So, what do you about first dates? Well, to be safe, you’re far better trying to conduct dates via online video right now. As, although bars and restaurants are open, you’ll likely want to wait until you know a single a bit better before risking meeting them in person.
Typical dates you could do over video call include:
- Dinner Date – Where you both cook or order in food, sit your camera at a table and then have your date as you would in a restaurant.
- Drinks Date – The same as above, but you just enjoy some drinks rather than eating dinner.
- Movie Night – Most of us have accounts with somewhere like Netflix or Amazon Prime, so use these to have your very own cinema night, where you both watch a film at the same time.
Although these video call dates aren’t ideal, they are perfect for the first few dates so that you can tell if you like a single before you decide if you would like to meet for a socially distance date in person. Especially when you won’t really know if you truly like someone until you meet in person.
How Do You Socially Distance Date?
Once you’ve decided you like someone enough to meet them, you will likely wish to meet them in person. However, you will also be cautious about being too close to that person too. Well, not to worry, as there are plenty of socially distanced date options out there, all designed to keep you both safe but also bring a little bit of normality back into our dating lives.
Socially distanced dates could include:
- Trip to the beach
- Walk in the park
- Hike
- Cycling trip
- Picnic
Just remember to try and keep 2m distance from each other as much as possible, while still enjoying yourself.
Once you’ve been on a few socially distanced dates, you will soon know if this person is someone that you would like to start a relationship with. If this is something you’d both like, and there’s going to be exclusivity, you can start to think about meeting in bars or restaurants for your dates.
Dating during COVID is all about taking your time and being cautious, but it is still entirely possible to find love, even in a pandemic.
