FaceTime conversations don’t have to be awkward: 35 topics to talk about on your quarantine calls

If you’re finding your FaceTime conversations waning or have been avoiding picking up because you don’t know what to talk about, don’t fret, young grasshoppers. 

Being in quarantine has forced many of us to start connecting with friends, potential soul mates and family members on FaceTime, but video chatting may be a little more awkward than some of us anticipated.

You’ve gotten the “Hellos,” “How are yous” and “How’s quarantine treating you” out of the way, but now what?

Most of us aren’t doing much of anything during the coronavirus pandemic as the entire nation has shuttered with some states barely re-opening, so you can’t exactly chop it up with recaps of your wild weekend out.

Few people are traveling (unless you count the trips from your living room to the bedroom as traveling) or going on vacation, so that topic of conversation is out, and there are only so many times you can ask how the family is doing.

If you’re finding your FaceTime conversations waning or have been avoiding picking up because you don’t know what to talk about, don’t fret, young grasshoppers.

Here’s a list of 30 conversation starters to try out during your next call.

1. Play a card game that directs conversation, like We’re Not Really Strangers.
2. What was your childhood like? (Proceed with caution, because it could turn into a therapy session).
3. What have you learned about yourself in quarantine?
4. What is your ideal first date?
5. Where did you go on your first date?
6. What are your top three favorite movies and why?
7. Have everyone take the Myers-Briggs personality test and talk about your personality style.
8. ^ Also works for the Love Languages quiz!
9. What’s your first childhood memory?
10. Share embarrassing memories from elementary, middle or high school that have stuck with you.
11. What are you leaving behind from your pre-coronavirus life (or bringing into your future) and why? (Example: I’m leaving behind speaking negatively about myself and I’m trying to bring more sleep into my future.)
12. Talk about your biggest kitchen fail.
13. What’s the first thing you’ll do when quarantine lifts?
14. Talk about your high school crushes and where they are now in life.
15. Decide which person from your high school or college who’s already gotten married had the best wedding via the photos you’ve seen on Facebook.
16. Exchange info with your besties on what you want your engagement ring to look like so you can all help out each other’s future spouses.
17. What was the first album you bought with your own money and which format was it on (vinyl, cassette, CD, MP3)?
18. Which album have you bought every time the music industry came out with a new format (vinyl, cassette, CD, MP3)?
19. Virtual book club!
20. What restaurants are on your food bucket list for when the pandemic is over?
21. Which line from “Friends” do you quote most often?
22. Which character from “Friends” do you identify with most and why?
23. If your friend group was the cast of “Friends” or “How I Met Your Mother” or another sitcom, who would be who?
24. Name one item you have never mastered cooking. If you finally nailed one, what was the game changer?
25. Play “Would you rather?” (Would you rather give up wine or Target?)
26. What have you learned from your past relationships?
27. Talk about strange food quirks you might have. (Example: If you hate it when your food touches.)
28. If you could only live on one type of cuisine for the rest of your life, which would it be?
29. What would you title your memoir?
30. What are your secret nicknames?
31. Who is your favorite American Idol?
32. What’s something you’ve done that you’re pretty sure no one else on the call has? (Example: Been a contestant on “The Price Is Right.”)
33. If you could go back to a specific moment in your life, what would you change?
34. If you could work remotely forever, would you still live where you live?
35. How are you taking care of yourself during this time?

Read more at usatoday.com.