Staying at Home
Rent a movie together. A movie night in with your best pal is a classic and affordable way to reconnect. Half of the fun is picking out the movie and deciding on a comedy, horror, action, or drama piece. Make sure you don’t spend so long debating on which movie to watch that you run out of time to actually watch it. Don’t forget the snacks. Make flavored popcorn for a traditional movie treat or order take-out if you’re hungrier. Instead of a movie you can also marathon a TV show together. If you want to do an all-night movie fest, plan a sleepover together; that way, you can keep watching until both of you are too sleepy and resume movie watching the next morning!
Cook a meal. It doesn’t matter if you don’t consider yourselves to be great cooks, you can still have fun figuring out a recipe together. Either you manage to create an amazing dish, or fail miserably and have a source of laughter and entertainment. Pick out a recipe and go shopping for the ingredients together to make a whole day of it.
Do some arts and crafts. Arts and crafts doesn’t just have to bring up memories of pasty kindergarten fingers and construction paper. Make cards for upcoming holidays or birthdays, or put together some wall art for your new room or apartment. Let your inner child loose and be creative. Try something challenging like glass blowing or welding. Ask around at art shops in your area for classes available to the public.Not only does working in one of these studios provide excitement, you also get to walk away with a keepsake to remember the experience by.
Do the housework. Dusting furniture and mopping floors is rarely fun when you’re by yourself. But crank up the music with your best friend and start dancing your chores to completion. You’ll feel both productive and cheerful when accompanied by a companion. If necessary, bribe them with baked goods in return for their help with your janitorial tasks. Return the favor and help clean their house the next week. Helping each other with the weekly chores list can help the tasks feel less mundane.
Going Out Together
Plan a casual friend date together. Check out the new local coffee shop or your favorite restaurant to catching up. You could spend a few minutes together in between classes together or end up talking for hours on end with your favorite hotpot. Quality time doesn’t have to be a large amount of time as long as you both are enjoying hanging out together.
Make time for a fancy friend date. Even if neither of you are single or if you both are, having girl time and dressing up can be a fun and different activity. Go all out with your primping, makeup, outfit and accessories. You can celebrate a birthday or big work accomplishment, or dress up for no other reason than to have fun. Choose a swanky restaurant or event like a gala or fundraiser to attend so that you make the most of dressing up. Decide beforehand how you’re going to pay. If you choose an expensive venue
Make a trip to see one of your favorite bands or artists live. Road trip together to go to an outdoor concert festival for a weekend or pop into a bar in town to see a local band play while you get drinks. Going crazy at concerts is more fun with a friend. Make a glittery sign to hold, sing at the top of your lungs, and dance like there’s just you, the band, and your best friend.
Plan a trip together. Road trips mean you get to spend one-on-one time with your best friend and pick out a killer music playlist for the drive. Or if you’re in a long-distance friendship, you can plan to meet up halfway in a city you’ve both never been to. Vacations can be difficult to coordinate with school or jobs. To maximize your limited free time, plan shorter day trips or excursions than an entire week or month. On a road trip, budget time for stopping along your trip to take pictures or try the “World’s Best Pie” at the diner next to the gas station where you stop on the way. If you lack the time or money to take a short weekend road-trip, plan long-term instead. Plan a future excursion and fantasize over your dream vacation to Europe together while you wait for it to come.
Learn something new together. Venturing out into unknown territory can be daunting. Take your best friend along to a yoga class and you might find out you’re really good, or you can laugh together later at how inflexible you are. Many community spaces offer painting or dance classes that are usually free or inexpensive. Check out local art museums for classes or a nearby community college for language and trade courses.
Challenge each other to do something scary. Convince your best friend to go skydiving with you so that you can check it off your bucket list. Or go bungee jumping, whitewater rafting, or rent ATVs for a rush of adrenaline. If skydiving is too risky for you, try hang-gliding or a helicopter ride. These options are a tad less frightening but still impressive and challenging. Other milder options could be renting kayaks, going to an amusement park with roller-coasters, or trying out jet skis and dirt bikes.
Hanging Out On a Budget
Take a hike or a walk. Get outside and enjoy some fresh air together at a local park or nature reserve. You can use this time to talk and catch up on each other’s lives, of just be silent and enjoy each other’s company. Exercising with a friend can be more fun than being alone if you want to jog or run instead of walk. Cycling is a good way to both spend time with your friend and get some exercise done in the meantime. Plan a route together. You could also take your dog on the walk as well.
Find some new tunes. Listening to music is a great free activity. Many websites offer free downloads of full albums from lots of popular artists. So grab a comfy chair and enjoy a hot beverage of choice while you and your best friend discover new songs to fall in love with.
Watch people while you’re out and about. People watching is a great solo activity, but it’s more amusing and entertaining with your best friend along for the ride. Walk around town or go to a local hot spot and observe the different people hanging around. Make up stories and characters for the people that you see. Be discreet so that you aren’t overheard, even if you’re only saying nice things. Don’t stalk people together. Just sit and watch as people go by. Don’t actually follow them around all day.
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