Cool First Date Ideas That Aren’t Really Cool

Let's set the scene people. You've got an upcoming date with someone new, you guys have texted and messaged back and forth feverishly. You have some stuff in common and already have an “inside joke.” The pressure to impress is on! What do you do? Where do you go? You can't just go somewhere normal, now. Fortunately, for you, I've come up with some ideas that will bake your noodle.

Take Your Date on a Rigorous Hike

Sure, working up a sweat is kinda hot. But nothing will make your date, if they're female, feel sexier than dripping sweat after hiking up hills for miles and miles. While this isn't the worst idea in the world, it's also not super great and can put a damper on your plans afterward. How? Well, what the hell do you do once you're done with your hike? Towel each other off? You guys haven't even had sex! That seems like a wasted opportunity. Then what do you guys do from there? Change into your regular clothes after sweating up a storm? You're still gross and nasty, but now you're in regular clothes. No, this has bad idea written all over it.

Save rigorous workouts for you second or third date—or for first-date sexy-time.

Hanging Out in Traffic

This one seems a bit vague doesn't it? Nowadays it's pretty customary to meet your date at an agreed-upon safe and public venue. That should be a given. Also, no one loves traffic. No one. So when thinking about meeting up with your date try to think a bit about traffic and how that might affect your travel times.

I've met up with a date and then we had to make a drive that was maybe 10 miles up the 101fwy and should have been a 15-minute drive. Because traffic, we ended up taking almost 40 minutes! Yikes! Now, something we could have done was just meet specifically at the venue we were going to or taken a Uber or a Lyft, that way we could have focused more on chatting with one another, which is always a little bit of a challenge when one person is focused on driving and not getting you both killed in a fiery car crash.

Taking Your Date to a Violent Movie… Only to Find Out They Are a Pacifist

As a general rule, movies are a bad first-date idea. But if you do go that route, it's a good idea to know whether or not your date will appreciate the sort of movie you chose. Say, if your date is a pacifist, taking them to see Hotel Rwanda, the Raid 2 or, John Wick that's probably going to end horribly. I mean, first off, we know that violence doesn't solve anything, even though it looks really cool on-screen. Your “advocate for peace” date will probably resort to some form of non-verbal/violent protest.

Bonus tip: If your date is feminist you'll probably want to refrain from sending any videos that are disrespectful of women in any way. Say you send her a video of Robocop shooting off a bunch of dicks. You think “well, that's kinda funny.” Just know you're wrong. These men are having their cocks shot off at the expense of women being assaulted! A big no-no! Just. Don't!

Taking Your Date to a Place You Frequent… With OTHER Dates!

If you live in a small town or smaller metro area this can be pretty common as interesting date places may be in short supply. However, if you, like me, live in a larger metro area then there's really no excuse to keep going to the same place over and over again. In LA, there's really no excuse for that.

A buddy once confided that he had a place in Orange County he went to a lot with his dates. One time, in particular, he took a date to this favorite spot of his, only to find one of his exes there with her girlfriends, sharing drinks and some laughs. Things between my friend and this ex didn't end so well. He cheated on her, his ex ended up making a bee-line to their table and started telling him off, while also going off about his cheating ways to his date.

Needless to say, the date didn't end so smoothly and they never saw each other again.

A Few First Date Ideas That Don't Suck

The first date is about getting to know someone else and even getting out of your comfort zone. With that in mind here are a few cool first date ideas that don't suck.

• Do something with your date that they can teach you about. Maybe they like the symphony. Maybe, they like to cook. A class or an event that your date can share their knowledge or where you can both learn together is always going to be fun
• Take a tour of a place you're both interested in. Whether it's a museum or city architecture, or something similar, it's bound to be educational and fun and if things aren't going super well, you'll have both gotten at least a little something out of the date.
• Play games together. A lot more pubs and bars seem to have board-games onhand. Playing a game while having drinks is a great way to lower tension levels and really get to know each other while talking smack and having some fun.