16 Clever Date Ideas

By Erica Xie

1. Lazer Tag.  Combine exercise and fun with this illuminating and competitive game.  Chasing your s/o around and shooting them is a fun way to relieve some stress and some exercise never seriously injured someone.  *Hint: keep moving side to side so the laser will never hit you.  
2. Cliff diving.  Taking a hike to a nearby waterhole and diving off a cliff is a fun way to spend an afternoon.  It’s a nonfatal way to express your suicidal tendencies while having a splash.  There’s sun, water and adrenaline.  
3. Executing a murder.  The thrill of the hunt and the rush of hiding evidence from the police will leave you a night to remember.  Just be careful not to get caught or else you and your s/o might be put in separate correctional facilities.  
4. Embarking on a journey that marks the beginning of your life together.  Date night can get pretty repetitive but pulling out important documents for you and your s/o to sign is a fantastic way to switch things up once in awhile.  *Works on a first date too.  
   • Getting a loan for a house
   • Opening a joint bank account
   • Adopting a child
   • Signing divorce papers
5. Roasting each other to prove how much you know your s/o and their insecurities.  Once in awhile, you wonder if your s/o really knows you as a person.  What better way to find out than a roast session and making up afterwards.  Some hurt and comfort at a tolerable level with no physical or permanent mental damage is always a nice way to end the evening.  
6. Rioting against the establishment and overthrowing the monarchy.  Are you, as a millennial, or living in a world full of millennials, sick of the way the US government runs?  If so, it’s time to pull out Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto and plan a coup d’etat with your s/o to rule the world under an iron fist until the world starts to run itself and no longer needs a system of government.  
7. Late night food run.  Sometimes the late night cravings become siren songs of yearning that even Odysseus cannot hope to resist.  Despite your New Year’s Resolution to lose weight and not eat after 7pm, there’s a time when you call up your s/o to pull them on a spontaneous late night food adventure to Denny’s.  
8. Road tripping to Disneyland.  What’s romantic and happy?  Road tripping and Disneyland, so why not combine them both and take your s/o to SoCal for the weekend.  Spend some desperately needed vacation time with the person you love.  Treat yourself.  
9. Hitchhiking to Canada.  A cheaper alternative to Disneyland.  LA is expensive and so is Disneyland.  If you’re looking for a free ride and better company, hitchhiking to Canada is the road to take.  *Might last more than a night and can be considered a permanent move if unlucky.  
10. Spa day.  Life’s tough and no one’s getting younger.  But, people are prolonging their youth with complicated spa treatments so you and your s/o can take the time to relax and soak in life with a mud bath and an avocado mask.  
11. Getting robbed.  A brush with death will surely deepen your relationship and losing your material possessions can reveal to you the inneccesity of them and cause you to live a simple yet fulfilling life of minimalism.  
12. Stovetop s’mores.  Sometimes date night can be at home in a cozy blanket and roasting marshmallows on a gas burner.  Pick up some chocolate and graham crackers at your local supermarket or change it up by buying Oreos™ to create s’moreos for s’more fun.  
13. Fireworks.  Nothing warms the heart like illegal pyrotechnics.  Buy some firecrackers from Little Saigon or hop on over to Union City for some sparklers.  This will be sure to light up your night together.  
14. Tandem biking/surrey riding along the beach at sunset.  As a resident of the beautiful Golden State, it is a crime to not visit the beach at every opportunity.  The water may be freezing during all of our two seasons, but the view is to live for.  It is time to utilize our accessibility to beaches as Californians and take a bike ride for a taste of the salty ocean air.
15. Game night.  A great way to destroy families and relationships.  Want to put your relationship to the test?  Play some Monopoly Deal and find out who really has your back.  Don’t be shocked if the person behind the gun, or in this case, the Double Rent Card, is the one you love most.  
16. Fighting a bear (and survivin!).  Almost nothing beats coming out of a fight with one of these majestic creatures alive.  Your bones may be shattered but your pride won’t be.