Thinking of just spending Valentine’s Day from the comfort of your own home? Try using technology to help you out.
Even though the world is beginning to open up a little more, it wouldn’t surprise us if you’re still doing your part and socially distancing. With Omicron raging and infections still a problem across much of the world, we might be a little cautious with going out than we otherwise would be, something we’ve all felt for a good two years now.
But that doesn’t mean you have to let staying indoors be a problem, even when it comes to being a little romantic. Technology can help out, and it doesn’t have to mean buying a pink-themed gadget, though you can obviously do that, if you like.
Rather, you can use some of the technology you might already have, sending a gift to someone as a surprise, or even having a bit of a date night that makes like feel a little normal, ahead of when life returns to or gains some sense of normality in the coming months and years.
Get a great meal delivered
Possibly the easiest thing to do is to look at your phone and find a meal for someone you want to gift. It’s not necessarily going to be the same as a candle-lit dinner in a restaurant, though clearly you can do that if you like, but if you want to stay at home and make it easy, you can order a meal and stack on multiple things.
For instance, you can order dinner from one place and dessert from another, even going so far as to order alcohol and have it delivered either that night or ahead of time. We’d pick ahead of time, simply because deliveries don’t always get timed to appear in the order you expect, and the last thing you’d want would be to have the drinks appear after dessert has been served, so pick that one ahead of time if you can.
To do this, grab your phone and one of the many food delivery apps, and check out what’s available for where you want it delivered. That’ll include the likes of Uber Eats, Deliveroo, DoorDash, or Menulog, or anything else like it, while Dan Murphy’s, LiquorLand, BoozeBud, and JimmyBrings will probably be your best bet for the adult drinks side of things.
Wake up with music and coffee
Another easy one, you can wake up someone with something nice, say a bit of music — maybe the first song you danced to or a band you know they love — and coffee.
To do it, grab a speaker you can control remotely, such as a Bluetooth or Sonos speaker (if you’re with them), or alternatively grab a Google Home or Amazon Alexa speaker and set up a routine, a sort of an alarm that can play a song, and then hide the speaker nearby.
Either go out and grab takeaway coffee, or if you have a great coffee machine at home, make them coffee before they wake up, and when you’re ready, wake them up in the nicest way: music and a good cup of coffee. Alternatively, if they’re not a fan of coffee, just make a nice cup of tea. Ted Lasso may see it as hot brown water, but here in Australia, not much beats it.
Watch a concert from your couch
If you already have some speakers and a good TV, consider watching a concert from your home, and turning the sound up.
We don’t have a whole heap of concerts in Australia yet, and while we all know the reason why, that doesn’t mean you can’t attend a concert all the same.
Grab one from the archives on DVD or Blu-ray if you have them, or even your local streaming video service. Alternatively, consider watching one live, such as from Nugs, Songkick, or just searching up the words “livestream music” or “livestream concert” and seeing what you find. Pick an artist you and your partner can get into, stream to the TV, lower the lights, and turn up that sound system.
Your own personal drive-in
One thing you probably won’t see a lot of these days is a drive in, and given how many people own big TVs that’s probably not a big deal.
But there’s something still romantic about your own private cinema, and if you have a small projector and either a screen or just a nice white wall, you can actually make it a reality.
Grab either a great laser projector or even a compact projector, aim it at a wall, and either set up a lounge nearby or sit in your car. If you have a garage with a white door, you could probably set the projector up just in front (provided it’s not raining, because obviously that would be a bad idea), and set up a speaker inside your car, either over Bluetooth or with a long 3.5mm cable. Sit in your car and watch the drive-in experience at home.
Alternatively, set things up in your backyard, projecting on a wall or a sheet, and relaxing with your own private cinema experience just for you and your partner.
