Do you miss your young adult years?
 

Do you miss being 18-29?

Well, I don't miss being 18-22 per se, because, looking back, I feel a bit of a second hand embarrassment. I thought I knew everything, despite being clueless. :lol: Plus, it's strange to walk past groups of university students nowadays and realising how loud, annoying and immature they are when they're drinking, chanting songs, etc.

25-29, though? I kinda wish I had been immortalized within that age bracket or something. Although being in my 30s hasn't been bad at all ever since the pandemic was over. I turned 30 in 2020 by the way, during lockdown. And I was depressed from late 2019 to summer/autumn 2025. But I was already starting to feel better around mid-late 2023.

So... there is a sense of nostalgia for those times (18-22) to some degree in my case. But definitely not as strong as the sense of nostalgia I have for my childhood and early teens, no.

The main thing I miss was having a lot of time left to figure things out still, and how the world was still so new to me. That first feel of freedom you got once you turned 18 was precious. Being able to go into places where only adults were legally allowed, being able to vote, being able to travel abroad on your own, being able to drink coffee or beer in front of older relatives and them no longer having the authority to order you not to do it anymore, etc.

I also regret missing out on a lot of opportunities to grow and experience stuff. But I guess that's just part of life. You make mistakes and then learn from them.

How about you?

Of course, I wouldn't waste as much time on this person or that person.

I think we can all relate to that somewhat.

There's people I hung out with when I was 18-24 that I wouldn't want to hang out with nowadays. Or hell, if I could go back in time, I'd not have ever hung out with them even back in the day.

2 of them were guys whose priorities in life were drinking, making out with girls and smoking weed. We were 18-20 back then, for the record. One of them had a gf when he was 18 that he cheated on a lot. The other was still doing the whole player thing when he was 22. No idea nowadays.

As for 22-24, this guy I knew ended up severing ties with me after an argument on Facebook around 2019 or so. We had some clashes before because he was one of those people who thought they were always right and liked to act combative in debates. One day we argued about football and he tried to provoke me unprompted and I fought back, telling him to not start with his sh*t. He doubled down and blocked me.

This just to give a few examples. Of course there's more cases. This is why i'm rather cynical about friendships.

My 20s were a blur of partying and being an unproductive slob but somehow getting a masters degree somewhere in between. I don't miss that time AT ALL.

Later 20s and 30s, yes.

Not a clue how I got to 47, younger sister now 40s, too, nephew already hitting a decade tomorrow... Kid was supposed to help it slow down, not speed up. lol

Ah I have an older brother. He does not have kids either, though. So no nephews or nieces here.

I have no clue how I got to 35 either. Especially after going through a 6-year long depression. Somehow, I beat it.

No I don’t and my life was better during that time too. At the moment things have been very hard.

I never “partied” or drank or anything like that. Always found that stupid. Those years were better from a personal standpoint and I regret not spending them more wisely. I miss family that has passed away and I wish I had done some things sooner but in general I do not miss being in my 20s/30s.

I know I’ve mentioned it before but I think people glorify the past. It’s not that things were better...how our younger selves perceived life and our personal experiences are why we look back at certain aspects more fondly.

I watched a YouTube video recently where the guy talks about nostalgia and perception. He talked about spending a lot of time during the pandemic roaming an open world game he was playing and feeling nostalgic for his personal time despite how bad things were outside.

He explained it so well. Whereas most of those videos are the complete opposite and the person just rambles on about how cool everything was in the 90s. I’ll try and get the link.

Edit:

I miss going to tons of punk rock shows, hanging with friends, and skating that I did in my early 20s. I don't miss my late 20s though. My body felt like bugs were crawling over me, my legs and wrists/hands started hurting really bad, and I lost a lot of my libido without knowing why. After many years of pain and many doctor visits I found out it was all connected and all due to small fiber and autonomic neuropathy. My neurologist said that I probably have some auto-immune disorder that science hasn't caught up with yet. I am doing great right now though. I have everything figured out, and got disability so I am no longer working through tremendous amounts of pain. I actually think that I maybe feeling better emotionally in my adult life than I ever have before and I am 39 years old.

I'll check out that video some other time.

I mean, I speak for myself only. I turned 18 in 2008. 2008-2012 were years with a lot of lows and some highs as well, I would say. It's not that I miss that 4 year period in itself. It's more like, I miss being 18-22 and the new feel of freedom I experienced during that time period. Just like I hated school from 7th to 10th grade, but I miss the experience of watching cartoons, anime and wrestling around that time. Doesn't mean I'd like to relive my teenage years, hell no.

I remember both the good and the bad. And I can relate to the relatives part. My mum died when I was 18.

Anyway, one thing I never believed much and that I believe less and less as I get older is when older people used to tell me as a kid that our school days were the best days of our lives. Clearly the people who said that were popular in school or never suffered from bullying. Life after HS, despite having a lot of lows as well, felt like a breeze compared to being a kid/teenager. Once you hit 20 or so, you felt way less judged for liking "geeky stuff" and for being shy and a bit awkward.

Sorry about your mom. My dad passed away when I was 26.

What you’re talking about with how you felt watching cartoons and such...that’s nostalgia for previous times. There’s nothing wrong having fond memories of particular moments or events. It’s what helped form who we are.

My problem is when people claim that a past time period is in fact better as a whole. That’s just dumb. It’s the cliche of every generation thinking THEIR generation was better than the next.

That’s why I said I don’t miss being 20-30s. I don’t long for “bygone eras”. I like having NEW good things to experience. As much as I enjoyed the 90s and 2000s I don’t view them as superior decades.

Short answer: yes. I had so much free time to be with my friends and read/watch/listen to as much **** as I wanted.

I actually have a lot of thoughts and feelings on the subject, but don’t currently have the time to write them down. Apropos.

I only wish I knew about investing money earlier, or how to actually use the stock market. Like most people (I assume) I was largely ignorant on how the stock market worked and I assumed it was just like gambling in a casino where you could lose most of your money so I never bothered.

If say I started investing in ETF's since I was around 25 or so, I'd probably be close to a millionaire by now. I also did not spend my money wisely, bought way too many videogames back then at full price for $59.99 that I didn't really replay after I finished them, so many PS2, PS3 and old Gamecube/Wii games I would not have bought at least at full price like I did back then.

Also way too many TMNT toys/action figures, my closet used to be filled with them. I largely retired from toys back around 2013.

Besides that I do miss some people in my family that passed away since then, like my grandparents and some other family members.

I'm in the best shape of my life, I'm also at my wisest, well off, and I look younger than my age. I only miss being able to say I'm 20 something instead of 30 something, people judge you just on that. Although I could say I'm 29 and people would believe it, I just feel like a liar so I don't. But people do judge you when you start your age with thirty-xxxx.

But doesn't it always feel good when people go "Oh? I thought you were much younger!"?

I literally had to pull out my ID to "prove" I was 27 years old to a couple of 21 year olds back in 2017. They knew I was older than them, but they thought I was like 23. I told them I was 27 and they were like "nah, you're 23."

When I turned 30, this girl I know told me I didn't look like someone who was about to turn 30, but someone who was 25 or so.

I have no idea if that still applies now that I'm 35. Looking younger than my actual age, that is. I don't look older than my age, but dunno if I look significantly younger anymore either. It's not like I go around asking, anyway.

Not smoking definitely helps. I also don't drink much. I drink a beer or two occasionally.

When I was 18-23, I disliked looking younger, because it made me feel immature in the eyes of others.

Also if you don't have a beard, you look much younger. People who grow beards immediately look older. I keep myself clean shaven as it gives a youthful appearance.

If I was in my 20s again I could drink like a fish and be able to get away with very little sleep again.

I miss the activity and the circle.

It's weird, people talk about getting health issues, getting tired, not being able to eat certain food, etc when they got older....but I still don't have any of those issues. My 30's are over, I still eat the same stuff now I did as a teenager or 20 year old.

It is also quite possible I just don't remember if I had more energy in my 20's, but I really generally don't feel any different. I don't feel any aches or pains either, at least not out of the blue. Sure my hair might be going and i have a few grays, but it's not really noticeable yet.

I guess I got lucky. I always thought 40 year olds were old and creaky and on their last legs. Middle-aged hasbeens or old fogeys.

I never really drank alcohol, smoked nor did drugs. I always stayed fit doing different martial arts, running, calisthenics. And I never push myself too far in those either, keep it light. So no injuries, stayed healthy etc. I stopped eating trash about 6 years ago or so. I guess i'm reaping the benefits.

Gray hairs in my beard are the only give away of my actual age, and even then by keeping it short it's not as noticeable. Dying the beard would just feel disengeneous; I'd never do that.
Of course online people will know I'm a boomer because of my love for 90s cartoons.

I certainly miss not aching when I move!

I just remember in my 20s when I was sharing a 1 bedroom with 2 other guys and there were parties every night. Girls coming over and bringing beer and liquor, like clockwork. Somehow I was still able to drink and party and lay down in a corner and get like 4 hours of sleep -- to say nothing about the parties continuing on around me in the living room while I slept -- and be perfectly functional at work. There is no way in hell I could do that now. Alcohol hits me way harder now and it may be because I'm now somehow unable to sleep as good as I did before, but I need at least 7 hours of (which is generally super interrupted sleep) to be able to function and not be super irritable. And generally the slightest noise wakes me up now.

As far as energy and all of that, I don't see a huge decline even in my 40s. If I do a huge workout I'm torn up, the same as ever. My back and all is fine unless I REALLY exert myself, and then sometimes it's hard to get up and moving. Definitely, work around the house/yard where I'm having to "lean over" and saw or whack stuff over and over hits harder than it used to. My knees were becoming a little bit of a concern but now that I'm back up to running 4 and 6 miles regularly they don't bother me at all now. I find if the weather is warmer then everything works better. I may do another marathon this July (I haven't done one in about 10 years) but if not, the Seattle Marathon in November for sure. I've never really stopped taking vitamins and all, like the Hulkster said to. A Men's Multivitamin for like 15 years now, and in the years since I've added garlic pills, fish oil, tumeric, probiotic, and a new Kimchi Brightcore probiotic as well. I think this has staved off some of the things I might have encountered if I didn't take all of these daily. I've also dabbled in Ryze Coffee... it does amazing things for focus and concentration and digestion and keeping off water weight but it was starting to give me heart palpitations so I found a caffeine free option. Trying that shortly.

No, I don't miss it, I was far too angry to enjoy most of those years, hung out online all the time, ate and drank sweets and coke which ruined most of my teeth, and stayed up way too late.


I had a much more comfortable, and creative, time over the 2010s in my 30s, and am even better now in my 40s.

Whay I recall from those years is missing being a child and going to school.

Very much the same. Wasted a lot of those years in a college program I didn't like and all I remember from then was going into the local comic stores and just hoarding collectibles and back issues. I longed to be 13 or 15 again spending time in school and looking forward to holidays and breaks for exam studies.

2005 and 2006 were great years if I recall, but only because I had left college at that point.

I look back and truly can’t believe how well I functioned off of like 2-4 hours of sleep and a boatload of booze most nights.

I guess that's the reason many of us came here. (since many also miss being younger than 13)

Right, I remember drinking for days and wondering whether it was a good or really bad sign that I stopped getting hangovers.

And if I want to, I can drink for a few days and my tolerance will start to go back up... but after day 2 or 3 now my stomach shuts down or everything gets inflamed and I'll walk around feeling like someone punched me in the guts all day. Or even if I just drink a little bit on a Friday that means my whole Saturday is ruined, pretty much. It's just not worth it anymore.

20s? No problem.

I‘ve stopped drinking altogether by now ever since I started getting a super runny nose after the tiniest amount. It‘s for the best.

Drinking? I got drunk several times during my university days, but I was doing it once every 2-3 weeks or so. Never did the whole getting drunk 4 days in a row thing.

Nowadays I drink beer sometimes. When the weather is hot I drink more. During summer time I can go 2 weeks in a row drinking a beer or two per day. But that's it.

I never really drink on my own time, only occasionally (like once or twice a year?) if I'm at a restaurant for a special occasion with family. I've never been drunk either, and that's why I have aged very well.

My body is my temple and I don't want to poison it with substances. My body. My choice.

It builds character. You should drink as much as you possibly can from 18-29 then stop cold turkey the moment you turn 30.

Sure, then you can always tell stories about how you once woke up in some ditch after passing out.

When I hear people spend $200 a night at a bar I don't even comprehend how people can just throw that type of money away. Or even just buying expensive wine for your house, isn't that all very costly?

And the weird thing is it's mostly young people or poor people spending this type of money on booze, how on earth do they afford it? Like I can think of countless things better to spend $150-$200 on then some drinks that will just make me sick the next day.

That's a relevant question. I think I spent every penny I had in my college years on video games and alcohol.

Yeah, pretty much. Before I was 21, it was never very expensive to get drunk because you can just split a bottle or 30 pack like 4-5 ways and have plenty.

Once I was old enough to go to bars, I’d mostly hang at cheap dive bars. Take advantage of happy hour and specials. Be cool to the bartenders and tip well and they would occasionally hook you up.

Then I started a traveling construction job when I was 22, and they gave weekly cash per diem if we were out of town and that was easy to blow lol. We would always split hotel rooms to have extra drinking money. Sometimes we’d do 3 or even 4 dudes in a room if it was the right crew lol.

Back in the office days, the younger crew would hit the bar across the street every night after work. Like every single night. I'd join them sometimes with some of my friends, but we'd wonder how those guys could afford the bar every single night while also (presumably) paying for rent and bills. And this was still early days where everyone got paid the same, you know, before annual raises and such where people with longer tenure would get paid more than newbies.