A Honeymoon at Home: 15 Things to Do When COVID-19 Has You in Isolation

by | Mar 30, 2020 | Uncategorized | 13 comments

Honeymoon at Home Ideas during COVID 19

What do you do for a honeymoon at home when coronavirus has left you stranded?

We were talking last Friday about the people whose lives have been really affected by COVID-19–even if it’s just in disappointments, and not in horrendous things.

Obviously the people for whom this is taking the most toll are those who have gotten sick, and the health care workers on the frontlines. They need our prayers, and especially our willingness to do what it takes to stop the spread and stay at home!

But in the meantime, people have had to cancel weddings, or people have had their honeymoon plans evaporate.

One woman wrote and asked if I had any good ideas for how to honeymoon at home, and I really didn’t. So I asked on Facebook, and boy, you guys are really creative!

Can you help this reader? "We had to cancel our honeymoon because of the pandemic. Any advice for how to fill the time…

Posted by To Love, Honor and Vacuum on Wednesday, March 25, 2020

I’ve got some great ideas, so if you’re stuck at home, here are some ways to make the most of your time!

Some links contain affiliate links.

Honeymoon Ideas that Help you Pass the Time Together

1. Binge Watch Something Epic

Okay, we know you’re going to watch SOMETHING. So if you’re going to do that, make it something epic, that you will always remember that you watched together. Watch all the Lord of the Rings movies one day in a row. Watch all the Marvel movies (Google the order–lots of people have advice!). Watch the Band of Brothers miniseries.

2. Take a Virtual Tour of a Country a Day

This was is an AMAZING idea.

Travel the world by celebrating a country each day. Take online tours of landmarks, cook a traditional meal, and watch a movie set in the country.

I love this one so much I shared it with Keith, and we’re going to do it! We figure we’d pick two movies that are set in a particular country, and then learn to make some cuisine from that country, and then try to take a virtual tour of something in that country. If you were going to head somewhere specific for your honeymoon, choose that country!

We thought we’d do Jamaica, and we’re planning on doing it tomorrow! We’re going to watch Cool Runnings (which is set in both Jamaica and Canada, so it seemed appropriate), and then A Trip to Jamaica. We’re going to make Jamaican rice and peas, which I just loved whenever I went to Jamaica (it’s just a simple side dish, but I’m big on rice dishes). And then we’re going to look at all our pictures from our trip to Jamaica a few years ago.

Here are some more ideas:

Italy: The Italian Job; Letters to Juliet

One action movie, and one chick flick! Then you take a virtual tour of the Uffizi Gallery, and google any number of Italian dishes!

Canada: One Week, Bon Cop, Bad Cop

One Week is actually a really sweet movie which will take you on a motorcycle ride from Toronto all the way out west to Vancouver Island. And Bon Cop Bad Cop is one of my husband’s favourite movies, about a murder that the Ontario and Quebec police have to cooperate on (that deals with all of the problems of bilingualism in Canada!). One Week will show you Canada; Bon Cop Bad Cop will help you understand it!

Take a virtual tour of the Museum of Natural History. And for food? Poutine is typical, but I HATE it. I’d just suggest pancakes with real maple syrup, if you have it!

Ireland: Angela’s Ashes; Michael Collins; Leap Year; The Secret of Roan Inish; P.S. I Love You

I couldn’t decide on two for Ireland! But choose from historical dramas, chick flicks, or just quirky!

But you get the picture–choose some movies, google virtual tours, make some food. You can even look for YouTube videos that tell the history of a country in 10 minutes, or show you some amazing stuff about the country. Seriously, this makes a great homeschooling exercise, too!

3. Take Virtual Tours of Tons of Stuff!

Speaking of virtual tours, there are so many available that you can just google and likely find something! Zoos often have cameras set up watching the baby animals. Museums and art galleries often have them, but often you can also do webcams of places like The Grand Canyon! Or take YouTube tours of some of these great sites, and then make a bucket list of 10 places you really want to visit together one day.

4. Discover some favourite board games

I’ve got a post of 26 of our favourite two-player board games (we’re big on board games!). Amazon is still delivering (even if it takes a little longer than usual), so you can order these and try some out!

By the same token:

5. Do some puzzles together

I was reading that one jurisdiction was considering a company that made puzzles an essential service right now, and so the company was able to keep going! And many are passing the time with them. I love this take on it:

 

Do a puzzle together and then frame it on the wall to remember your indoor honeymoon.

6. Do things around the house naked

You’re quarantined at home. No one’s around. Hey, let’s get naked! Want this quarantine to be memorable? Spend a day totally naked! Work out naked, clean naked, cook naked (maybe you should use an apron for that, actually). But have some fun with it!

Honeymoon Ideas to Help You Learn Things

7. Learn to Cook Something Epic

You’re beginning your life together–and food will be a big part of that life! So why not learn something together? Take a YouTube cooking class and try something you’ve always wanted to learn. One commenter suggested sourdough bread. You just make a starter and keep it going, and it’s lots of fun! You need minimal ingredients then.

8. Get Smarter

I’ve always been interested in The Great Courses, and you can try a free trial! Sign up for a course on history, or literature, or science, or anything! Watch a video a day and feel smarter.

9. Learn to Ballroom Dance

One day there will be weddings again. There may even be cruises again. And it’s really fun if you actually know how to dance. Like really dance! Before Keith and I went on our cruise in January (so weird to think now; we were actually on the Zaandam, that ship that’s now stranded and trying to dock) we learned the ChaCha and Swing from awesome online ballroom dancing videos. We’ve got lifetime access to all of his dances, and we try to learn new steps every so often. My suggestion: Watch no more than 2 videos a day, but then practice a ton! And you’ll find you get really good!

10. Learn to Make Sex Great

Of course you’re going to want to make some real sexual memories, too, and learn how each of you feels good! Try out my sexy dares for that. 🙂 A lot of them you can do at home with things you likely already have, so they’re easy to use, even in quarantine with little chance to prepare! And they’ll help you take more time and focus on arousal, too (which is what we really need to do at the beginning of our sex life together!)

Does your marriage need some spicing up–and some fun?

Try these 24 dares–plus one bonus–to take your marriage to the next level!

Be Intentional During Your Honeymoon at Home

You can also take the time at home to do build your relationship and make sure you start your marriage on a solid footing–despite everything that’s going on around us!

11. Write a letter to future you/your future children

I love this idea! Write a letter to future you, to open the first time you have a really big fight. Tell yourself what you want yourself to remember about how much you love your spouse and how much you value your marriage. Or write a letter to be opened on your tenth anniversary, telling you what you hope that you’ve done to love your spouse and keep the marriage alive, and the dreams that you have for you as a couple.

Even write a letter to your future children, telling them how you feel about your spouse right now, as you’re starting out. And write out the prayers you have for your spouse and for any future kids!

12. Take some personality tests and figure out how you match

If you haven’t done it yet, take some personality tests! I’m big on on the MBTI, and I’ve written about the MBTI and marriage before. Learning how you see the world differently and problem solve differently can help smooth over misunderstandings and help you appreciate, rather than resent, differences. Or try the Enneagram, and learn what each of your underlying motivations is in life.

13. Ask questions to get to know each other better, or take quizzes together

Use my 50 conversation starters for couples! That’ll get you talking about things you may not have covered yet. Or google quizzes to take together.

14. Learn each other’s emotional needs

We all need different things to feel loved. I’m not talking love languages exactly; I mean something slightly more detailed. Read about emotional needs here, or just download the exercise below.

 

 

15. Make Your Goal Lists/Bucket Lists

We’ve already talked about bucket lists for trips, but what about life? How about making a 50 things to do before I’m 50 list (I really need to find mine; I know I made the list years ago, and I’ve only got a few weeks left now!). Or make a goal list of where you’d like to be in 5 years, in 10 years, or in 20 years. Even make it detailed–like where you’d like to be financially, or professionally, or spiritually.

Then go back and look at your goals and compare them. Is there a task or habit you can start together to help you get there? Like what about memorizing three verses of the Bible a week? I want to memorize the whole book of James one day. Maybe you could make something like that your goal together for the first year of your marriage! Learn your verses every night over dinner, and break down how many you’d have to learn a night. Or just memorize my favourite 50 Bible verses in your first year of marriage.

So there you go–15 things to do on your forced honeymoon at home. It may not be what you ever intended or planned, but you can still make memories.

And, of course, let’s keep praying for our world, too. Let’s make sure that when this is all over, we’ve got stronger relationships, stronger families, and stronger faith.

Honeymoon at Home Ideas when Coronavirus Hits

Have any other ideas that I’ve missed? Leave them in the comments! Or if you have any great suggestions for movies that are country themed, let us know!

Written by

Sheila Wray Gregoire

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Sheila Wray Gregoire

Author at Bare Marriage

Sheila is determined to help Christians find biblical, healthy, evidence-based help for their marriages. And in doing so, she's turning the evangelical world on its head, challenging many of the toxic teachings, especially in her newest book The Great Sex Rescue. She’s an award-winning author of 8 books and a sought-after speaker. With her humorous, no-nonsense approach, Sheila works with her husband Keith and daughter Rebecca to create podcasts and courses to help couples find true intimacy. Plus she knits. All the time. ENTJ, straight 8

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13 Comments

  1. Arwen

    One of my favorite things to do is watch YouTube videos of road traveling throughout the United States. I play the videos on mute on my TV while I’m doing things around the house or on my computer. The scenery is breathtaking! It’s my life dream to one day drive through all 50 states. Right now I’m re-watching my favorite TV show called, The Strain. If you like dark shows like Lord of the Rings then this is also right up your alley however It is much, much darker than Lord of the Rings. I absolutely love it though! Thanks for the additional tips.

    Reply
  2. Susanna Musser

    Learn to give each other massages!

    Reply
  3. Flo

    I personally know / have heard of several young couples who ended up being quarantined separately, each of them with his/her parents, being forced into a long distance relationship. They are not happy about it, wishing they had gotten married earlier. If you are having your honeymoon together at home, it is a good time to be grateful for being together in these hard times.

    Reply
    • Doug Hoyle

      I would settle for being home.
      Trying to sustain myself on a gew minutes of phone time every day. Aside from that, my existance is a motel room and netflix.

      Reply
      • Sheila Wray Gregoire

        That’s so tough, Doug! I’m sorry.

        Reply
  4. Anon

    We are still hoping that we might be able to have the legal ceremony on our wedding, although reception & honeymoon will almost certainly be cancelled, unless this virus is halted in a truly miraculous way (and wouldn’t that be just wonderful – if it was stopped in a way that let everyone see it was God who did it?!) So I’ll make a note to check back in here for honeymoon at home ideas, as I think we might be needing them (though if I suggest ballroom dancing or binge-watching LOTR, our honeymoon period will be over before it’s begun!!!)

    Reply
    • Sheila Wray Gregoire

      Oh, that’s too bad! Maybe you can still have a big reception and honeymoon in a year? Get married now, but do the party later? I know it’s not the same thing, but it can still be special.

      Reply
      • Anon

        Right now, I don’t care about the reception or honeymoon as long as we can just get married – it’s so hard being apart when times are so dark. It would be lovely to be able to have a proper honeymoon, but I’ll settle for a honeymoon at home!

        Reply
  5. CJ

    There are lots of fun classes at http://www.mybluprint.com FREE until April 9th. Cooking, baking, sewing, photography, knitting, crocheting, knife skills, painting, you get the idea. Over 1,000 to choose from !

    Reply
  6. April

    So, any thoughts on finding opportunities for alone time when the tween/teen are *always* home???? And always awake… like it never fails! Aside, all of the bedrooms are on the same end out of house.

    Reply
    • Sheila Wray Gregoire

      Oh, ouch! That’s tough, isn’t it? I guess I’d just say turn the music up and get creative!

      Reply
    • Anonymous

      I agree with Sheila about the music! My husband and I came to the conclusion that we needed to put some of our Love playlist songs into our other playlists, so the kids got used to hearing them at other times than when we’re “going to bed early” and then blasting certain music in our bedroom! I’ve still had to stuff a sheet into my mouth if I know a kid is right in the next room as I am naturally quite loud. We don’t make an issue of them staying up past their bedtimes or making too much noise on those nights as we typically would, and we switched their screen time to the late evenings. It’s worth it to make a happy marriage!

      Reply
  7. Lenny

    Thank you! I came on to your blog today to ask for this very post! My fiance and I are still hoping to have our legal ceremony (maybe streamed to immediate family) and our wedding party and reception at a later date. (My country’s current rules are max 5 people for a wedding). Our venue manager suggested having it on our one year anniversary!
    I’m sure there are many other families also wishing they could have a vacation, so maybe you can do another post for staycation or home holidays?
    Praying for myself and others in the same situation that our relationships get a good foundation in these unique times.

    Reply

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