12 Underrated (& Fun!) Outdoor Activities for Couples
In a world that’s constantly online and overstimulated, nature has a unique way of bringing us back to the present - to our breath, our senses, and to each other. Being outdoors together offers a space in time to slow down from the hustle and bustle of life, feel alive, and gain perspective.
Some of my most favourite memories involve simply having fun outside with the people closest to me and enjoying the peace and freedom of experiencing nature. Whether you’ve got your best friend, significant other, family members, or just your furry friend with you, there’s always something fun to do outdoors!
Here are 12 awesome outdoor activities perfect for couples (or two friends!) who want to strengthen their relationship while having fun:
1. Go On a Walk or Hike
This is a classic, and for good reason. Even a gentle walk together is scientifically shown to reduce stress, lift your mood, and improve cognitive clarity. Studies around shinrin-yoku (Japanese forest bathing) show resulting lowered blood pressure, improved immunity, and a slower heart rate. And sometimes all a couple needs is some light movement, light conversation (or silence), and light moods.
How to deepen it:
Walk in silence for parts, just noticing, observing, and feeling.
Occasionally, pause together for “nature sharing”: one person names what draws their attention, the other listens.
Combine this with journaling afterward about what you felt, then share insights with each other. You could make this more fun by taking turns drawing things you observed on the walk and making the other guess what it is (works best for bad drawers!).
Alternatively, pack some art supplies (e.g. a bit of paper, a couple of brushes and water colours or some other type of paints, molding clay, beads, construction paper, etc.). Try making each other’s faces out of whatever materials you bring - the more creative the better.
My most favourite recent outdoor experience was with my good friend Amelie. She took me camping and hiking, and brought painting supplies! With our two dogs, we walked, hiked, painted, laughed, meditated, camped, and had the best time. Just connection with a good friend, nature, some art... fantastic. It doesn't have to be fancy or complicated to be nourishing!
2. Swim in a Lake or River
Jumping into cold water with someone close to you is somehow both adventurous and soothing. Whether it’s a calm lake, a flowing river, or just ankle-deep dipping, being in water is a connective, energy-giving experience.
For deeper connection:
Bring an inner tube, fishing gear, paddles and a ball that floats, a volleyball, or a snorkel and swimfins to make swimming together more exciting and fun!
If you’re going somewhere more remote, consider bringing a speaker you can put your favorite tunes on while swimming.
Or simply float together on your backs while holding hands in silence, just breathing into it and taking in your surroundings. Having a more relaxed and physically connected experience may be what you both need.
A friendly reminder to leave your swimming spot the way you found it! Unfortunately, too much trash ends up in our pristine waters and it’s totally avoidable.
3. Dance in Nature
Often outperforming popular mental health medications, the effects of dancing are still extremely underrated. Dancing outdoors adds a layer of liberation. Of course, you do need some courage to dance in front of someone else.
But if it’s someone you feel relatively comfortable with, I’d encourage you to have a conversation with them about your worries (they’ll probably feel the same!). That way, you can both enjoy a totally comfortable, no-judgement space to move your bodies and tap into the connective and fun experience of creative movement.
How to begin:
Take a small portable speaker or just follow the rhythm in nature.
Bring your courage and let go - dance uphill, on a riverbank, wherever you feel moved. You may feel weird at first, but that’s only because your body isn’t used to creative movement! This is your golden opportunity to break that barrier and enjoy however your body wants to naturally move.
If you want a more intimate touch, invite each other to take turns leading in dancing together and fall into flowing, playful movement.
Need help? Or just not sure how to dance to make it a fun activity?
For just 35€ (currently $40 USD), instantly download our online Dance Your Purpose workshop. You can watch it anytime, anywhere.
Or if you’re looking for something special for yourself, join our yin yoga + journaling live workshop on September 16th!
4. Bring Easily-Portable Cards or Games
Connection is an art. A simple way to remix it is to bring cards with questions or conversation starters. The right cards or game can deepen insight, connection, understanding, and relationship-building. And it works for anyone you’re going outdoors with - a friend, romantic partner, or family member.
Try this:
Bring a deck like We’re Not Really Strangers (good for friends, romantic partners, or family members) or Where Should We Begin (good for romantic partners) - or go the DIY route and prep a deck beforehand by writing your questions on notecards.
Check out Fugitive (ranked one of the best 2-player games by The New York Times), The Fox in the Forest (also ranked by The New York Times), or Sky Team (ranked highly by The New York Times as a relationship-building game because it makes you communicate clearly and work together!).
5. Create Nature Art
Just like my friend Amelie and I bonded with some watercolor painting while camping, consider packing construction or origami paper, watercolors, a paint brush, clay, googly eyes, or even mud! Sit together by a river or under a tree and make something inspired by where you are. Or go with your own imagination! You could create something wearable (like a bracelet) for your partner, try to create something in the image of your family dog, or even go totally abstract based on feelings you want to express.
For deeper connection:
Communicate to each other what you’re feeling as you begin to create your art pieces. Try to challenge yourself to dig deeper and describe in detail. Ask questions to the other if something doesn’t make sense to you or you want to understand the other better.
Put on some music you both enjoy to get the creative juices flowing more.
Do a stretch and gentle movement session beforehand so that your brains have enough oxygen to get creative. You can make this even more fun by stretching each other! Be careful though - the other person doesn’t know when something hurts in your body.
6. Build a Mandala or Sculpture
Natural materials are known to invite creativity, ceremony, and peace. Choose pinecones, stones, broken branches, and fallen leaves, and design something that’s meaningful for your time together.
Try this:
For permanence, stack a stone cairn together.
For impermanence, craft a flower-and-leaf mandala that dissipates as the wind takes it.
Sit quietly after - notice what you built together and what it feels like to appreciate the moment.
These collaborative structures are metaphors. They’re about joint vision, patience, and trust. It takes lots of communication to build something with someone - we all know what it’s like co-building furniture!
7. Face Adrenaline Together
Shared adventure and novelty is proven to rewire connection and deepen bonds. When you lean into a bit of excitement, you lean into trust, vulnerability, and mutual support.
This can be a lot of fun to do together if you’re both fans of adrenaline, and not so much fun if only one of you likes adrenaline and the other doesn’t. Be sure to choose an outdoor activity that you’ll both enjoy!
Pick what’s fun for you:
An obstacle course in the trees.
Bicycling down mountain bike trails.
River rafting.
Zip-lining.
These aren’t just rushes. They create positive, co-created stories: “Remember when we pedaled down that hill?” It’s content for future laughter, identity, nostalgia, and closeness.
8. Take a Medicine Walk
A Medicine Walk goes much deeper than your average hike or nature walk. It’s a conscious time for diving deep into a specific question, to enter a state of deep listening, and to be in touch with nature as a powerful mirror. Through one of my projects, the well, we’ve hosted two live Medicine Walks, and each time, it unlocked wisdom or recalibration.
How it works:
Can take different lengths depending on the depths you want to reach - anywhere from 1.5h to 12h (for example, from sunrise to sunset).
Dress according to weather conditions and the area you are in.
Take a full water bottle, a snack, and a notebook with you if writing is your medium to generate clarity.
It can be supportive if you have people or someone that says good-bye to you as well as welcomes you when you come back and listens to your story. That is because often when telling our story to someone we trust other layers of clarity can emerge. And if it feel appropriate for all, this person or circle of people can also give you a gentle feedback of what they heard.
This is a more serious activity, but extremely soul-nourishing (especially if done with a loved one). It provides space for emotional processing, vision generation, and nervous system regulation. Even a shorter version is deeply meaningful.
9. Practice Outdoor Survival Skills
If you and your partner are more hands-on folks, this is the perfect activity for you. Treat it like forest kindergarten. Whether you already know a couple of tricks or are city-born and raised, it’s always fun to learn how to do something new with your hands (especially if it has the potential to save your life one day!).
Start here:
Learn to build a small campfire.
Navigate a trail by map and compass, or just landmarks.
Watch and identify birds or mushrooms (only safe, edible ones!).
Plant a seed or pick berries (only if you know them well).
Create a water capture system with only what you can find around you.
Learning side-by-side reminds you of interdependence, community, resilience, curiosity, and co-creation. Plus, it’s just fun to feel resourceful together.
10. Make Music
People have been gathering to make and enjoy music together for thousands of years for a reason. It fosters community bonding, joy, fun, and trust. And even if the music is really simple or bad, people still find a way to have fun and enjoy it. Bring a small drum, flute, harmonica, ukulele, or even just hum.
Listen to what the landscape offers:
Bach the rustling wind.
Match the rhythm of a stream.
Sing in response to birds.
This activity unlocks improvisation and shared listening. It’s playful, whimsical, wholesome, and creates a shared memory of joy (those are priceless!).
11. Scenic Memory Capture
Grab a polaroid camera (or your phone) and take artsy photos of places or moments that feel like you. It could be a patch of sunlight on a rock, a tree silhouette, your partner busting a move, or just someone smiling at the sky.
Even if you don’t have a lot of photography skills, you can still just do your best and have fun with it. Who knows - you may end up with a collage of photos one of you wants to hang up in their home!
The practice of intentional photography helps you see wonder you might otherwise miss. Later, you can look through the photos together, tell the story behind each one, and delight in the nice shared memories.
12. Co-Create a Story
Aside from co-creating art and music, people also generally love coming together to co-create and share stories. Cultures, and even entire societies, are rooted in storytelling over a campfire. We’re hardwired for it.
Here’s how to begin:
Bring a pencil or pen and a notepad or open your phone’s notes app.
Person 1 has to think of and write down an out-of-the-box first sentence that might start any story.
Then Person 2 writes one sentence taking it from there.
As each person takes turns thinking of and writing down a sentence that builds the story, eventually you’ll have a complete story.
Try to guide the story so that it has a logical beginning, middle, and end.
The story may not make sense at times, but the experience of co-creating and having the final story to laugh about together is even more fun!
Why These Activities Work for Couples (or 2 Friends & Family Members)
Shared novelty builds resiliency
Trying something new with someone, whether a card game or rafting, creates positive emotional matrices. Those become memories you both anchor back to.Nature lowers noise
Most of us carry anxiety, schedules, and expectations. Trees don’t judge. Together in nature, peacefulness opens up the possibility of real, uncluttered communication and bonding.Mind-body integration
Dance, outdoor skills, journaling - when we connect physically, creatively, and emotionally, we come alive. We also regulate our nervous systems in a more balanced, calm, and supportive environment.Presence becomes relational
Most of these activities offer opportunities for listening, eye contact, and rhythm. In these instances, closeness and relational depth emerge organically.
Tips to Make It Happen
Build rituals: Try one activity a month. Schedule it as precious, non-negotiable time. Keep each other accountable.
Pack thoughtfully: Add simple items - watercolors, cards, a journal, a small speaker, etc.
Stay attuned to each other: Ask before starting an activity: “How are you feeling today?” “Are your body and mind wanting more rest and peace or adrenaline and adventure?”
Honor the differences: One of you may love adrenaline, the other slow presence - both matter. Try to find a compromise that you both feel is good enough. Sometimes it’s helpful to alternate between intensities - one month you may do a Medicine Walk and the next month you may want to go ziplining and the following month you may want to build a stone cairn together.
Debrief gently: At the end of an activity, ask “What felt good today?” “What surprised you?” “What didn’t you like about today?” “Do you think you’d want to do this activity again in the future?”
Feeling called to tap into the nervous system regulating power of outdoor connection?
Explore our Get Grounded 2.5hr workshop, 6-week Nature Speaks sensory immersion into nature journey, or 5-week Dancing The Elements workshop series.
Perfect if you’re longing for more things to do outdoors! 100% self-paced. Accessible anywhere, anytime.
Or if you’re looking for something special for yourself, join our yin yoga + journaling live workshop on September 16th!
