Recently I have had a hard time finding time to go out on dates with my wife. We are currently in the process of moving our belongings from Ottawa to Vancouver, winding down from the wedding earlier this month, and trying to keep our day to day life on track. Now our free time is spent going over moving logistics, putting old wedding stuff away, preparing for work, cleaning and organizing the apartment, which leaves very little time for us to take for ourselves. Out of necessity comes innovation, and we have started to organize our dates into condensed time slots, about an hour or two tops to have fun and unwind.
We have lived in downtown Ottawa for 3 years, and it is constantly evolving and changing. Before, we were set into our routines, and only frequented a few places that we knew, but now our routines have been shaken up. This has forced us from our usual spots and challenged us to explore our familiar neighbourhood to find untraveled spots that we have always wanted to check out. Being in an urban centre is very beneficial for short term commutes due to the density of businesses and experiences. Many of these places go unseen as we are creatures of habit and generally aim to go to places that we know, which leaves the vast majority of what’s out there unexplored.
Now that we are limited in resources, namely time, it forced us to explore the nooks and crannies of the neighbourhood close by. The ironic thing is that by now being limited in time, we finally found the time to try the places we always passed and wanted to try. One hour is enough time for a small commute, a sit down and conversation, then a commute back. I imagine that this is the case for many other couples, as familiarity is comfort, but being forced from your comfort zone is a good way to explore.
So what do we do with an hour, here are a few dates that we’ve done as well as a few we plan on doing:
1) Bike to a local art house café and try a coffee and check out the art.
2) Bike to a new restaurant you’ve never been to for a quick bite to eat.
3) Walk down a few streets less travelled and check out the gardens.
4) Bike down a new bike path in a direction we don’t go down.
5) Download a geo caching app and go hunting.
6) An hour long walk to the Ottawa river.
7) Go find a few local community gardens and get ideas.
8) Make a small scavenger hunt for things you would find in local front yards.
9) Go to the local dog park and check out the pups.
10) Follow a local Instagram and find some spots from their posts.
The one-hour timeslot is the same as most tv episodes, so this is a healthy alternative that helps you feel closer to your surroundings. This new challenge and adventure has given us a fun way of doing things together without compromising our day to day grind.