Axe Throwing

3 Dates for People Who Hate Going on Dates

You want to find love, but not like this. Not if it means going for countless drinks with countless strangers, or trying to eat countless restaurant meals without getting sauce on your shirt. Why are dates all the same? Why do they stick to the most boring formula imaginable: meet, drink, eat, talk, leave? Isn’t there room in the romantic imagination these days for something a little more interesting?

Yes, there is. If you hate going on dates, it’s not you. It’s the fact that dates themselves have become a stale ritual, in good need of a shakeup. Don’t wait around for your prospective date to suggest a location or activity – buck the trend yourself.

Suggest one of the following “dates” that don’t seem like dates (i.e. they don’t suck). And if all of these fail… well, then yeah, it probably is just you!

Axe Throwing

It has long been the go-to activity for friends looking to throw an awesome bachelorette party or managers hoping to put on a great corporate holiday party, but it makes for a great date too. Far from ordinary, and certainly far from the stale restaurant setting you’re used to, axe throwing is a fun, quirky, maddeningly addicting way to spend an evening.

You wouldn’t think that throwing axes at a wooden target would be so fun, but ask anyone walking out of the place as you walk in. They’ll all tell you the same –it’s an almost magically exhilarating experience.

You can drop in or book in advance, but normally axe throwing facilities prefer the latter. An axe throwing session gets you a tutorial with an expert on how to properly lob your hatchet, as well as a couple hours to make sawdust of the target. And don’t forget to get pictures – there are few things cooler than throwing an axe.

Animal Shelter Volunteering

Who says dates always have to cost money? Who says dates can’t serve a good purpose, for that matter? Instead of indulging in another beer or another coffee, give back a little on the next date by volunteering with your date at the animal shelter. Not only is it a great thing to do, but you get to spend the day with cute cats and dogs, which is a total win-win.

Taking your date to a volunteer gig at a shelter is also a great litmus test for their character – if they love animals, they’re probably a pretty awesome person. Reach out to the SPCA, let them know your plan, and make sure they’re on board before you show up. Oh, and the only PDA you should show here is “Pet Dogs Agreeably”.

Improv Comedy

What is a date if not a bit of improv (albeit often not as funny)? Improv comedy can shave the awkwardness right off a weird date, since all you can usually focus on is whether the improvers onstage are going to crash and burn. And you are often rewarded with a riotously funny show, one that pulls gags and laughs out of nowhere.

The improv comedy date doesn’t leave much space for conversation, but some people prefer that in a date. And if things don’t quite work out on the date, at least you know you got a few laughs out of the evening. An exciting sport, a fluffily good deed and an evening in stitches – these are the dates you want to go on when you hate going on dates!