It’s 2016 and you, my friend, have made it through another year of long distance! 12 months of dates, gift swapping, long distance phone calls, surprise visits and literally millions of texts!
Woot woot! Now you get another great year to discover how much you love your special someone and another year to work hard to meet that final goal of closing the distance.
To celebrate your hard work and determination & to help all you LDR couples out there working hard to make their relationships a success, we’ve decided that 2016 will be the year that we bring back the long distance date kits we created back in 2013.
These date kits will be super simple & crazy easy to use! A one-stop way to share a date night with your partner without having to do any work at all! You’re busy, we get that. But being busy shouldn’t mean that you shouldn’t be able to share some special moments with your long distance sweetheart. These date kits will make it even easier!
A Portrait Of India
Ever wanted to go to India? Now’s your chance! (In spirit anyway!) This India Themed Long Distance Date Kit is everything you need to share an exciting unforgettable experience exploring the culture, foods & sounds of India!
Included are lots of games, printables, super easy recipes and SO MUCH more! Be sure to grab the printables for yourself at the end of this article for the ULTIMATE India themed date night!
STEP ONE: Setting the atmosphere for your date
A cool thing to do when you’re diving into a new culture together, is to dress up or prop your surroundings so that you really feel like you’re DEEP in the atmosphere of India. Some ways to do this are to play Indian themed music when you and your partner are eating or talking or dressing up together (trust us, this is mega fun and makes for awesome photos!)
You’d be surprised at how much ambience music can bring to your date! If you’re dating via webcam (which we really recommend) one of you can play the music which
will allow both of you to hear it. If you are concerned about camera lag or distortion of your webcam quality you can use a smartphone or a tablet to play our suggested musical tracks below:
Dressing up for your date is the simplest way to bring a little extra flare to the whole experience. You don’t have to go all out -do what makes you feel comfortable even if that’s nothing at all! But just in case you wont’ to to go all the way here are a few pointers to help your date attire look a little more authentic!
Men: A loose white shirt is all you really need. If you’d like to be a little more daring try wearing a turban or a colorful scarf wrapped around your head or draped loosely around your neck and if it’s not too much trouble leave your socks at the door.
Women: You can wear a sari, or a long sheet of colourful cloth, draped over a simple or fancy blouse (or a long, colorful dress). Bindi is a part of women’s make-up and is a red dot placed just between your eyebrows. You can also experiment with jewels draped across your forehead and fake henna designs with the magic of an eyeliner pencil.
Decor isn’t super important, but when you’re dressed up in your almost traditional Indian attire, listening to Indian mood music and snacking on some delicious spiced foods while having some amazing conversation with your long distance sweetheart -we can promise you won’t regret setting up your space to give your date night that special touch!
Idea 1: Sit on the floor with a blanket & lots of pillows around you. Use bright colors like reds, purples, blues and oranges to get that Indian feel!
Idea 2: Use candles, sheer or brightly colored drapes & tassels.
Here’s a mood-board of some cool, but simple color and fabric ideas:
STEP TWO: Start with a meal
Indian culture is well known for it’s elaborately spiced foods & deliciously vegetarian dishes. Part of the experience of “vacationing” in India for a day is getting try all of those wonderful foods!
You don’t have to be a gourmet chef to whip up these easy to create Indian inspired recipes! You and your partner can even cook them together before hand to extend the fun of your date night. Check out the download below for easy to print shopping lists and recipe cards to make this step so much easier to coordinate!
Samosas are small, crispy, flaky pastries that are usually deep-
If you’ve never had curry before, you’re really missing out! Curry has been widely popularized outside of India because it’s just so darn delicious. This curry recipe lets you use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken to speed up your prep time so you can dig in sooner! Skill level: easy peasy
If you’ve got more of a sweet tooth, you’ll love this sticky sweet fruit recipe that brings a dessert dish to your long distance date night. This sweet and crunchy treat will make your mouth insanely happy! Skill level: easy peasy
Mango Lassi is a deliciously popular drink made from yogurt, water and mango pulp. It may be made with or without additional sugar and takes less than 10 minutes to whip up and glug down. If you love mangos, this drink is just for you! Skill level: easy peasy
STEP THREE: Watch a movie together
Dinner and a movie isn’t exactly the easiest thing in a long distance relationship. Being 3,000 miles apart means you can’t exactly pop out to the nearest drive-in together. So why not try out these 4 videos and movies to make your long distance India themed date absolutely perfect!
1. The Cobra Gypsies of India
Join an adventure with a family of Indian Gypsies as they live their extraordinary everyday lives charming snakes, riding camels and enjoy the fullness of life! Watch for Free On YouTube
2. Bride & Prejudice
A little taste of Bollywood, Bride and Prejudice is an Indian twist on the classic book Pride & Prejudice. If you’ve never seen a Bollywood film this is a cool introduction to that world! Rent Online On Amazon for $3.99
3. Superwoman
Discover a new YouTuber together. Superwoman, also known as Lilly, is an Indian YouTube Personality with over 7.5 million followers. She takes the realities of her Indian-American life and turns them into comical stories. Watch for Free On YouTube
4. Slumdog Millionaire
This movie is amazing! It tells the story of a penniless, eighteen year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai who comes within one question of winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India’s version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Which causes a police investigation that reveals more details about his past and life Rent Online On Amazon for $3.99
STEP FOUR: Play some India themed games
Games have long been a fun pastime in India! Why not play a few rounds of some of these India inspired games during your long distance date?
1. Webcam Chess
Did you know that the chess game originated from India in the 6th Century AD? This website will allow you and your s/o to play a fun game of chess & chat via webcam at the same time during your long distance date.
2. Kanchey
Kanchey is a marble game based on a traditional Indian game. The object is to use your shooting marble to knock your other marbles into a hole before your opponent does. Mad addicting!
If you’re an iOS user you can download a free version of the game to your ipad or iphone to play a round of multiplayer Kanchey during your long distance date together!
3. Pacishi
Pachisi is an fun board game that originated in ancient India and has even been described as the “national game of India!” The aim of the game is to
work as a team against other players (or against each other in this online version) to move all your pieces out of Center of the board, around the board, and back to Center again to win!
4. Other games
There’s lots of other games available to play in our free date kit which you can download below. Included are 9 more fun activities and games you can try together!
STEP FIVE: Go sight seeing together
No trip to India is complete without a little sightseeing right?! If you’d like to travel to India in spirit and really feel like you’re there, try out our suggestions below for some cool spots for sight seeing together!
1. The Taj Mahal
Google has a really, really impressive Virtual tour of the Taj Mahal, “the crown jewel of India” From the comfort of your computer, tablet or phone, take a 360-degree journey around the Taj Mahal as if you were walking around the building itself. Click here to check it out!
2. Mumbai
Formerly known as Bombay, Mumbai is one of the largest cities in the world with a population of around 17 million. Follow this travel video as a tour guide takes you on an exciting journey into Mumbai, it’s history, its inhabitants and it’s attractions. There’s many more locations in India in the suggested videos if you want to explore even more!
3. The National Museum of India
Love to visit museums and stick your nose in all of the artifacts? We do too, which is why we thought this virtual rendition of the National museum of India would make a great addition to your long distance date night! This online exhibition lets you look at museum artifacts up close and personal in a virtual reality!
4. Jaipur
Jaipur is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Jaipur has long been established on tourist itineraries as the third corner of India’s “Golden Triangle”. If you’re looking for a full immersive experience and a chance to see India as if you actually were really there, this video is perfect for you. There’s no narration, only the views of the camera and the natural sounds of India as a visitor explores Jaipur and all of it’s attractions!
FINAL STEP: Try something new!
What Indian themed date would be complete without trying some of the local foods and delicacies native to the area? If you and your partner are the adventurous types check out our suggestions for some fun, delicious Indian treats. We promise trying out these new foods together will be a really fun experience you can share together that you’ll definitely look back on and smile!
Rasgulla
One of the most popular sweets in India, Rasgulla. It’s a deliciously sweet, syrupy and spongy ball of goodness made out of cottage cheese, sugar syrup and semolina dough. Get Some Rasgulla »
Aloo Masala
These Indian spiced chips are a safe bet if you’re afraid to try anything TOO adventurous. Your mouth will be a little confused at first, because it’s like nothing you’ve ever tasted before -in a very good way! Try Aloo Masala »
Jalebi
The first time I had Jalebi, I was blown away by how delicious this sweet treat is. Crunchy on the outside and dripping with what is like sweet honey on the inside, SO GOOD. If you try none of the items on this list try this one! It’s AMAZING! Get Some Jalebi »
We enlisted the help of Rae from Open When Letter Shop to create some amazing games and printables to help fill your long distance date with the excitement of India!
You’re seriously going to love how easy this date is to set up. You’ll want to send your sweetheart the invite, letting them know that you’re inviting them on a special trip to discover India together! Who says long distance dates have to be bland, boring & makeshift? With our help, Not you!
After receiving the colorful envelope and invite your spouse is probably bursting with excitement now! But you can make them even more excited for your date night to come by giving them a little souvenir from India wrapped in one of these beautifully intricate boxes! Make sure they know not to open it until you’re in India together!
When your date night arrives, grab a timer and have fun with this pictionary based game with a long distance twist. There’s 9 other fun actives included in this kit as well! You’ll be amazed at how much fun you’ll have when you share this virtual trip through India together!
Want to know our favorite thing about this date? (Besides getting to spend some serious quality time with someone who is miles away!) We love that this date kit is such a bright, vivid burst of color and fun! Distance is hard, but this long distance date kit will bring a rainbow of happiness to your relationship and maybe even help you forget about the distance between you for the night!
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