When a makeout session starts getting hot and steamy, the bedroom seems like the obvious next destination. But most Americans are freakier than that.
A survey by EdenFantasys of over 2,000 Americans found 69% had sex somewhere they could get caught, and around seven in ten said it made them feel closer to their partner afterward. A separate Lovehoney survey found nearly half of Americans fantasize about having sex outside the home.
Dr. Justin Lehmiller, a research fellow at the Kinsey Institute, has pointed out that sex gets stale when couples keep doing the same thing in the same place. Novelty helps activate the reward system. You don’t have to spend all your credit card points on a suite. Sometimes the fix is just not having sex in the same bed you also use for doomscrolling, folding laundry, and watching three episodes of Dateline before passing out.
A few places seem to be crowd favorites.
1. The shower
The shower is an easy place to start because it comes pre-loaded with privacy, nudity, and very little planning. Sex therapist Desiree Spierings told Body+Soul she recommends bathing together for long-term couples who’ve fallen into the same boring routines.
“It’s a way of bridging that gap and initiating intimacy, and then you can see where it leads to,” she said. The shower gives couples a low-pressure way to get physically close and see what happens from there.
2. The car
Car sex has obvious limitations, but for adults with kids or roommates, privacy can be hard to come by. Sometimes the car is simply the easiest place to be alone.
Spierings also pointed to distraction as one of the things that can get in the way of sex. At home, there’s work, chores, people nearby, and the possibility of getting interrupted. A parked car gives couples a little space from all of that. In the Body+Soul 2026 Sex Census, car sex ranked as the second-biggest fantasy among Australian adults.
3. The kitchen
The kitchen actually has a lot going for it once you get past the fact that someone just did meal prep in there six hours earlier. Spierings noted that counters and chairs can make certain positions easier for people dealing with pain or mobility issues, especially when a bed doesn’t give you much leverage.
There’s also the fun appeal of having more surfaces, different heights, and fewer rules about where everyone is supposed to go. For some couples, the counter is actually a better setup for sex than the mattress.
4. The office
Sex at work has the built-in thrill of doing something reckless in a place designed for activities that are strictly professional. For some people, the chance of getting caught is what turns them on the most.
Spierings said she’s worked with people who were caught, though, and that never goes well. A quick hookup can turn into coworker gossip, managers getting involved, and HR dropping a meeting onto your calendar that you absolutely do not want.
Changing the setting also seems to make people more open to experimenting. In the Lovehoney survey, 46% said they were more interested in trying new positions outside the bedroom, and 30% were more open to using sex toys.
The bedroom isn’t the enemy. Routine is. Sometimes a different room is just the thing you need to make sex feel less blah.
The post The 4 Most Popular Places to Have Sex Outside the Bedroom, According to Surveys appeared first on VICE.
