Published by Programme B
Whether you’re on opposite sides of the world, or just really struggle to stick to date, staying connected with friends can sometimes be tricky. Everyday life, work, study, and big life events can all get in the way and may leave friendships feeling a little neglected. Thankfully the internet is here to rescue us once more, with virtual methods of staying in touch with those close to you. You could meet up for an online gaming session, a Zoom dinner date, or even tour around a virtual museum; here’s how!
Photo, Caption: Enjoying dinner over Zoom might sound like an unusual idea, but it’s a great way to connect with friends. You’ll soon forget the screen even exists.
Play Online Poker With Friends
For some friendship groups, getting competitive is one of the best ways to bond. Many friends host game nights for one another or get together for cards at the weekends. If you can’t get together, for whatever reason, then playing online poker with friends can be the perfect way to recreate the feeling of a great game night. If you aren’t technologically minded then you might be wondering about the logistics of this suggestion, but it is surprisingly simple. Many of the top online casino providers offer private games to their players. You can create a poker game and invite your friends using a special code. Once you’ve done this, the game will only allow you and your friends access, meaning that you can all have a good laugh, without fear of a poker-genius outsider coming in and winning all your money.
Enjoy a Virtual Museum Tour
For art lovers, history buffs, and culture vultures in general, visiting a museum is one of the best ways to spend a friend date. Unfortunately, if you’re in Canada and your friend is in Europe, the logistics become a little more difficult. Thankfully hundreds of museums around the world have reacted to falling tourism numbers by introducing ways to browse their collections virtually. As long as you and your friend have a reliable internet connection, you can embark on a free, virtual tour of many of the planet’s greatest museums. There are far too many brilliant options to name all of them, but art lovers will be genuinely moved by the tour around Frida Kahlo’s home in Mexico City, whilst fans of architecture should make a beeline for the Sistine Chapel and be amazed by the sheer opulence of its interior. Sure, you might not have quite the same social-media content-sharing imagery from your visit, but marveling at Italian architecture from under your duvet really does take some beating.
Plan a Virtual Dinner Date
Whilst the virtual dinner date has been taking place more and more frequently over recent months, there is one person who has organized it more perfectly than any other. Inspired by British food critic Jay Rayner, the takeaway dinner date is the height of slobbish sophistication. If you and your friends adore going out for great food, a few drinks, and a good chat, then ordering simultaneous takeaways and enjoying them over Zoom, FaceTime, Messenger, or others, is the perfect way to spend a night in. Jay Rayner’s series ‘Out to Lunch’ used to invite celebrities out to top British restaurants and gently interview them. During the pandemic this format became obsolete and so instead, Jay would order two takeaways to arrive one at his house, and one at the celebrity’s house at the same time. The format is genius, it’s incredibly easy to copy and there’s no washing up afterward.