Being single isn’t just wasted time until you get into your next relationship. Whether or not you’re looking for love, being single is a time to enjoy yourself and have fun. You should be exploring, learning, taking risks, and trying new things instead of sitting around moping because you don’t have a boyfriend. Need some inspiration? Here are 20 things to try before your next relationship comes around.
- Take a girl’s trip. Get your friends together and go somewhere fun, no boyfriends allowed! Before you get caught up in your next romance, take some serious time for a little female bonding.
- Go surfing, horseback riding, snowboarding, or try any other adventurous physical activity. You don’t need someone to do these things next to you. Go out and be active and independent, it’ll feel great and totally liberating.
- Stay out all night. Why not stay out all night when no one will be up needlessly worrying about you? You also don’t have to worry about waking anyone up when you stumble in the front door at 6 AM.
- Get really, really drunk. Let loose! Have a wild night you’ll barely remember with your closest friends and make memories you’ll bring up over brunch for years to come.
- Splurge on something frivolous. Your finances are no one else’s concern, and you deserve a treat. Splurge on yourself before the finances get tangled in with someone else’s.
- Set a long-term goal. Do you want to get a graduate degree? Move abroad? Start a business? Set a long term plan and get started while you can still focus all your energy on yourself.
- Set a short-term goal. Pick something difficult and see it through. Run a marathon, get organized, or learn a new language. You’ll be so proud of yourself when you’re finished.
- Go on a discovery weekend. Go somewhere alone and try to discover something. Something about yourself, about love, or about what you want out of life… or maybe just what it’s like to go on an adventure by yourself!
- Fill in your “blind spots.” Learn how to change a tire, catch a spider, or fill an any other gaps of knowledge that prevent you from being 100% self-sufficient. You don’t need a man to do anything for you, and the feeling of being independent will be empowering, even when you’re in another relationship.
- Have a wine night. You probably could use a wine-fueled bitch fest with your bestie. Take a night to get all your feelings about your last relationship and being single out in the open. Get everything off your chest so it doesn’t weigh on you when you’re trying to have fun or be productive.
- Reflect. Take some time to reflect on the past so you can figure out where you would like to be in the future. Why weren’t you happy in your last relationship? What do you want out of your next? What do you want to work on?
- Reconnect with old friends. You know the friends I’m talking about — the ones you accidentally phased out when your last relationship started eating up all of your time. They’ll forgive you if you call, trust me.
- Be the third wheel. Have a night out with your couple friends without feeling the need to bring someone. Chances are, it’ll help you appreciate certain aspects of being alone.
- Try something that isn’t “you.” Get out of your comfort zone and try something different. You might surprise yourself and have a good time off roading, singing karaoke, or anything else you wouldn’t normally try.
- Go out alone. You don’t need anyone to have a good time. Go out and enjoy yourself! Being single doesn’t mean you have to cuddle up with pizza and Netflix every night.
- Try a new hobby. Single people have more time to test out new hobbies. Maye you’ll be super into Pure Barre or larping. You won’t know unless you try, and it’s a great way to meet new people.
- Have a guilty pleasure day. Watch every terrible show you love but no one else will watch with you, treat yourself at the spa, get a $7 latte, and eat too many doughnuts. Treat yourself, because you deserve it.
- Go on a date with someone who’s totally not your type. Dating doesn’t have to be a super serious search for The One. Sometimes a date can just be fun. Give the guy that’s not your type a chance to show you a good time and who knows, you may actually like it.
- Give yourself a makeover. Why do women always get haircuts after a bad breakup? There seems to be a need to shed a little bit of your old identity — not just the part that was in a relationship, but the part that was sad and hurt when the break up was new. Reinventing yourself with a fresh look is a great way to say goodbye to that sad girl and hello to a happy future.
- Date yourself. Get yourself flowers, take yourself somewhere nice, and put the time in to truly get to know yourself. Work on loving yourself. Because that is even more important than loving someone else.
