What are you/were you doing in your late 20s?

[Antifreeze]

I'm in my late 20s and frankly having a bit of a wobble. Things seem so much more dull and more serious than they did a few years ago. It's all mortgages, marriage and babies on the cards - I say this as a happily married person! The friends I used to go out with late into the night don't seem interested in it anymore and seem to have easily transitioned into this next phase of life. I look at people who are 21,22, and feel horribly envious of their carefree lifestyle and of the lifestyle I had at that age. Everyone my age just seems to do the same things, work, Netflix, gym, sleep, repeat. As silly as it sounds, I feel old and not much fun anymore and 'adult' life is really quite samey and tedious, even with hobbies and travel.

What are/were you doing in your late 20s? Perhaps I'm just immature and need to get on with it, but I keep wishing I could turn the clock back.

In my late 20s i was raising a child

It takes some years to get used to the boring adult life you speak of, but if you're anything like me you'll grow to like it. The transition is the hard bit.

I travelled in early 20’s then started “work/career” at 23. Bought house at 24. Married at 27, first baby at 27, second baby at 29. So yep that was me 😂😂

I was desperately wishing I was married/engaged/pregnant as everyone else seemed to be- felt like the only one who hadn't, thought I had missed the boat as I hadn't even had a boyfriend.

The grass is always greener.

I was doing that stuff in my late 20's early 30's. Then we started moving for work, have lived in several different countries, learned new languages etc. Mid forties and I have done stuff that I would never have believed. If you want a different life then go and live one. Looking back I cannot believe how mundane my mid 20's to 30's was.

Working for the Foreign Office, living overseas, meeting the best set of friends I am still in contact with, doing interesting work and having a ball. Was all a long time ago now.

I'm nearly 28 and have a just turned two year old. The only childcare I have is whilst I'm at work so can be pretty dull. I go on more holidays and weekends away now as a family.

That wasn’t my experience of my mid to late 20s at all. I was living in the US and then the UK (am not from here), doing a doctorate, living on scholarships and part-time teaching, poor as a church mouse but having a lot of fun, lots of friends from all over the world, learning a lot, unmarried but with my partner. None of us were married or had children or mortgages, or even televisions. It was one of the best bits of my life — lots of highs and lows and intensity, zero cash, and huge fun.

Do things need to be so dull for you?

Training as a journalist with a 9 month overseas posting to South Africa.
Married (no DC) — DH stayed behind in UK as obvs had own career but visited for a holiday.
Hard work, lonely at times but fascinating and very rewarding.

We did the partying and moving around and travelling in our early to mid 20s. 20-26 was spent living and working on 3 continents.

26-29 has been building a career and getting married. We still travel together but our big project now is buying a house.

When you’ve not had roots for so long, you crave stability. It sounds like you need to get out of your comfort zone. Where are you based? That can make a big difference.

The transition happened naturally for me. From age 22 I was living in London, working hard and playing hard, going clubbing every Friday night and having a hangover every weekend. I got married age 29 and got pregnant with DC1 when I was 30. By then I was totally ready to calm down and embrace the enforced change in lifestyle.

Late 20s I was married, and raising 3 kids. Had my last baby at 27. I look like a zombie in photos from then as I was so tired

In my late 20s I was getting divorced, being a single mum to dd who was then 6ish and working part time in a hotel in the evenings. I was also seeing the chef at work - who was 8 years younger than me - and having a drunken ball partying like a teenager at the weekends when dd was at her dads / with her nanny.

I am now nearly 40 and remarried (not to chef - that only lasted a while!) and I have a 6 year old ds. Maybe I’m due another wild time...

I turn 30 at the end of the year. Can’t fucking believe it to be honest. I just have to do my whole life again and i’ll be 60 😰 how in the world!! I feel about 16 (in a bad way).

I do love my life at the moment, it’s just going by terrifyingly and depressingly fast. At the moment it’s looking after my 2 kids (3 and 1), trying to keep a handle on the house, DH away for work a fair bit, doing a bit of my hobby business with a view to expanding that in the future - but hoping for third and final baby in 2021 and working on my health and fitness in preparation for that. That’s me at the mo!

I had lots going on. Got married, became a step mother, Had my son, started a business, moved across the country, moved back across the country, bought a house, lost a house, moved down the country, shut down my business, found my dream job, separated from my husband, made a whole new set of friends, had a lot of awesome sex, got a brilliant house, lost a lot of weight, put on a lot of weight, became ill, lost job. My life has always been very hectic but there are also some very boring, normal, peaceful periods. My 30s have been really odd and I'm about to turn 40 which I understand is when life begins... I'm not sure I have the energy to be fair.
Comparing yourself to other people won't get you anywhere, if you're not happy then start a change but don't feel you should be doing or feeling the same as 'everyone else'.

I'm 29
Married with a toddler DC
Busy working with a very busy and stressful job
Wish I had time for the gym😂
I'm happy with my life. My pregnancy days are gone no more baby situations!
My career is going great I'm excited about the next chapter
I truly think I'm about to enter my "grown up" life!

I'm 28. DS is almost 6. I'm divorced.

I like my life to be honest. I get to go out and have a good time when DS is with his dad as they have a good relationship and my ex is an involved father. I'm single and plan on staying that way for a while. I like my job. DS is at a nice age. I feel happy.

I had DS young but there's nothing I feel I missed out on. I'm not interested in living abroad or anything like that and I never went to university as it wasn't for me.

Busy, busy busy. 'Young free and single' and working hard and playing hard as they say.
Belonged to lots of groups - hobbies, volunteering, and just friendship. Then people from all those groups would have things they'd invite the rest of us to - so doing something or other every night of the week, then usually going for a drink after whatever it was we were up to. Happy memories

I found exactly the same - that there was a sudden massive reduction in nights out, group holidays, etc. at around 28/29. I think in my friendship groups it was a lot to do with property - people either hardcore saving for house deposits or having to move out of London to buy (we were in that category - moved to a somewhat boring commuter town), and that made spontaneous nights out harder/impossible. Everyone just sort of stopped all at around the same time without ever discussing it - I remember going on a group weekend away a couple of years ago and we were left with piles and piles of booze at the end because we'd done the shop as if we were still drinking like we all had at uni, but then we had a couple of glasses of wine a night each!

It wasn't absolutely everyone I know by any means who had this shift, but the ones who continued to go out a lot had always been more extreme in terms of their drinking, drug taking, etc.

In that respect I'm glad that although I started trying to get pregnant at 28 I didn't have a baby until I was 31 - it occurred to me with hindsight that if I'd fallen pregnant straight away I would have felt like I'd have actively 'given up' partying to have a baby and might have felt like I could have carried on with that forever - whereas it turned out it sort of naturally withered anyway!

Partying
Drinking
Seeing friends

In my late 20s I was travelling Europe with a very bad coke habit. Since grew up and out of it.

I was taking professional exams while working and had relocated to Birmingham. Was single for a year, went to London every other weekend as my friends from home all moved to London. We grew up in a very beautiful rural location, but it had dire career prospects and the men were knuckle draggers in extremis. Anyone with ambition left. One was taking her masters and modelling, one worked for an advertising agency and one worked in telecoms. I was also involved with political campaiging, used to swim 100 lengths a week. Shared a house with a crazy Irish girl who was a party animal on another scale. Went to a lot of parties in Primrose hill due to modelling friend. Met quite a lot of wanker bankers and saw their cocaine habits. I was on the anti criminal justice act March that turned in to a full scale riot. They were great times. I met DH when I was 29, dated him at 31, married at 32.

I'm 29. I've managed to climb my career ladder and am doing ok although feeling rather bored by the monotony of the role now. I've one DS who I share custody of with his dad (separated almost 3 years)
I'm single so spend a lot of my free time with friends. We do go to pubs but generally house parties, shopping trips or civilised dinners these days. I do love to travel so do about 3 holidays a year. Two of which with friends, one with DS.
I was a total party animal from the ages 15- 24 before I had DS so feel like I got it out my system. I had a huge circle of friends, was literally partying Friday to Monday and going on clubbing holidays to ibiza, magaluf, kavos etc. I'm content with life now. I've 3 very close friends and my wonderful DS who bring a me do much happiness. It would be nice to find Mr Right though

I’m 27
Have a steady-ish boyfriend
No children
Bought a house last year by myself.
Have an interesting worthwhile job I love

Done London/living abroad when I was a bit younger
No children, in my spare time skiing, long weekends in Europe and drinking too much beer

Im the youngest in my group of friends and only one of them has children

I was working, recently finished all my studying (professional quals), had a hous3 & mortgage.
Was single & happy - going out, gym & whatever I wanted really. Met XH at 27 though...

I had DC1 at 27, so I was busy with a baby / toddler. Working, baby groups, running the house etc.