• On-line Shopping. What is something you both have enjoyed doing together in the past? Grasp onto that, and let it be your inspiration for some on-line shopping! Whether it's ski equipment, a vacation cabin, tickets to a luxurious night on the town, or a fashion wardrobe upgrade that captures more of how you’d love to dress.
  • Duet storytelling. Together, plan your ultimate weekend or date night. Take turns saying two sentences each to brainstorm your ideal event.
  • Closed-eye storytelling. One partner closes their eyes while the other one tells a story. You can follow a theme or go completely free-style. If you need inspiration, try these story starters from writingfix.com: ~ A Stranger Was Knocking at the Door ~ The Locked Door Shocked and Puzzled Her ~ The Dusty Old Book Was Sitting There, Just Begging to Be Read ~ I Should Have Listened with Both Ears Instead of One ~ It Was Sunday. There Shouldn’t Have Been a Letter in The Mailbox. But There Was. ~ Late into The Night, the Snow Fell and Fell ~ The Train Was Late Today, and It Was Always Early ~ The Footprints in the Snow Suddenly Ended ~ She Knew Instantly That This Was a Day She Would Never Forget
  • This date requires taking a step ahead of the actual date day, but it’s one that can be used several times over. Purchase a blow-up backyard pool, the larger rectangle-shaped kind. Fill it with pillows and blankets, and make it into your private hotel place—great cuddle space to lie down in and imagine yourselves traveling to any place on Earth. Take yourselves back in time, or into the future. Set the mood with music, lighting, and scents. Or set up a movie of someplace magical; there are loads of travel DVDs.
  • Photo Challenge. Using the magic of technology, take photos to suggest you went somewhere you didn’t go! Sites like www.PicMonkey.com offer free Photoshop editing.
  • The Last Supper. What would you eat right now if you could eat anything? Take turns throwing out ideas to create the ultimate meal (i.e. Steak! Asparagus! Frozen Grapes! Ooh… brownies fresh from the oven! Grandma’s bread pudding!)
  • Inventors Cap. What have you always wished were invented? Brainstorm your best ideas together and talk about how you would bring them to market if you could!
  • You’ve just been handed a vast sum of money that you may only spend on creating a business to help couples with their romance and relationship. What would you build? What city, anywhere in the world, would you most like to have it in? Beyond starting it, what would your roles be if you had to work there as well?
  • You’re invited to spend one week at a luxury resort on a secluded tropical island. There are five additional bungalows. It's your choice as to who joins you, anywhere from friends or family, to famous individuals, sports figures, celebrities, etc. Here’s the only hitch: for one hour each day, you will be required to talk openly and honestly about your relationship, its strengths and weaknesses, conversations where those you’ve invited will get to respond to what they’re hearing, offering advice and encouragement. Whom do you trust and want to hear from?
  • Pick a place, anyplace you agree on, and separately study that city or region. Create a day you would plan for your partner if you could take him or her there. Always plan it around his or her particular interests. See how many of the same places or activities you planned. If you can collect pictures off the Internet or travel brochures, maps, etc., all the more fun, but it’s not necessary. Do your best to be able to describe each place you’d visit. Tell what restaurant you’d go to and what you’d order for your partner. If it were a nature trail, what would you see? A museum? What pieces of art would your partner particularly enjoy? A pub? What microbrew? Sports arena? Who’d be playing? Your imagination is the only limit here. This is purely a daydream adventure; no money or actual travel involved. For those whose partners have medical challenges, only you can decide which details to incorporate into this activity. Will it be realistic or purely a fanciful and step outside the normal boundaries just for imaginative purposes? Don’t allow this exercise to cause either of you to feel that your real life circumstances, whether financial or medical or something else, are holding you back from taking a dream trip. It’s a game.