Humans are social creatures. That’s what makes the stay-at-home order during the COVID-19 pandemic is so difficult for many people, even if you are living at one of our luxury apartments in Buckhead. But just because we’re all practicing social distancing, doesn’t mean we have to let our relationships go by the wayside. There are so many fun ways to stay connected with your friends and family while hunkering down at home—you just have to get a little creative. Thankfully, we compiled lots of social and fun activities for you.
We might not be able to hug our friends or go out to dinner at our favorite restaurants right now, but we still have each other—and that’s worth a lot.
1. Celebrate milestones and occasions
Is it your anniversary? Your best friend’s birthday? Did your spouse just nail a killer presentation in a conference meeting? Normally, to celebrate these types of things, you’d probably grab drinks with friends, go out to a nice dinner, or attend an event around town. Obviously, those things are out of the question right now, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still celebrate! Set up a Zoom virtual ‘party’ with all of your friends and family that you would normally celebrate with. Break out the champagne, catch up with each other, and do a virtual ‘cheers’.
2. Get dreamy with future plans
Talk with your friends and family—both in your household and out—about upcoming plans you’d like to accomplish. We all know we’re sitting at home for the next few weeks and it might take a while for things to get back to a similar ‘normal’ as we knew it, but eventually, we’ll get there. Make plans about which restaurants you want to go to, events or concerts you want to go to, destinations you’d like to rent an Airbnb—all of those things! Not only will it connect you through the dreaming and planning, but you’ll have something super fun to look forward to when we can all socialize again.
3. Host a virtual game night
The great thing about technology is how easy it makes it for us to connect online. Stay busy and connected by hosting a virtual game night with your friends and family. You can either pick one person to take ‘control’ of an actual, physical board game while everyone else plays virtually, or there are lots of games available online for groups of people to play together. A little friendly competition is always a fun way to bond.
4. Set up chat groups about music, books, podcasts, etc.
Normally, when we hear a new favorite song, read a great book, or hear a thought-provoking podcast, we’d tell our friends about it the next time we hung out for happy hour. Well, we can still do that—just differently. Stay connected with the people you share things in common with by creating Facebook chat groups revolving around your favorite subjects. Create shared playlists on Spotify to share songs. Do a weekly book club meet-up to talk about the latest best-seller. You and your peeps will all be interacting with the same song, book, podcast, etc. and then socializing (from a distance) about it later. How fun is that?
5. Plan to do the same activities with your friends and family
Another great way to create memories and stay connected is to plan an activity with your loved ones—you’ll do the activity in your household, while they do the activity in their household. Then, you virtually chat and share your experience! The options are endless here. You could cook the same dish, make the same craft, or go on scavenger hunts around your separate neighborhoods with the same list and see who spots the most items. Get creative with it! Chances are, you’ll have lots of laughs when you connect to talk about it.
6. “Go” to the movies together
Movie theaters are obviously closed, but you can still watch movies or binge-watch your favorite series with your favorite people. There is a Google Chrome extension called Netflix Party that allows you to watch Netflix with a group of people. There is even a private chat function for your group so you can make comments about what you’re all watching. Imagine all the commentary your friends would leave while watching “Tiger King”.
7. Get to know your neighbors—from 6 feet away
Take this time to connect with and get to know your neighbors. Set up a happy hour, lunch, or dinner, and collectively meet at the bottom of everyone’s individual front stoop, driveway, or porch and get to know one another. It can help create a feeling of comfort knowing that you’re all in this together and are experiencing the same struggles. And once the pandemic is over? You will have created a closer sense of community.
8. Create social media challenges
There are hundreds of social media challenges out there. Use this downtime to create your own within your circle and have some fun! Some recent challenges circulating on Instagram and TikTok have been dance challenges, the #see10do10 challenge with push-ups, the #firstphotochallenge where couples post their very first photo, and so many more. It’s an awesome way to laugh with your friends and family, see old photos, and stay active.
Stay safe and connected from our apartments in Buckhead
It might be a while until we can hug the ones we care about—but we’ll get there. In the meantime, stay connected, love one another, and stay home.