To ask what you’d do if single, childless and likely to stay that way?

[muddywatersedge]

Aged 38.

Depends do you feel happy to be so?

I’d book a travel holiday / adventure type thing with other single people

@LucyMorningStar Basically I would relocate somewhere obscure for a fantastic job

Sweet mother of god that simple sentence had my eyebrows shooting off the top of my head, in a huge dawning realisation that I could do that relatively easily.

That's some food for thought, thanks

I'm divorced now, but all I wanted from life was to have children, I have two DDs, but I would have been devastated to not have had any.

I've never been interested in having a career

Just my personal opinion so don't jump on me, but I'd feel my life was pointless without children

Bank as much money as I could and retire early

It's really not that bad! Honestly. I have a fabulous life.

Probably keep traveling as I did in my 20’s and be sad about it. But I’d do the travel food and wine etc etc I can still travel have good food and wine but for me having a family has given me other experiences apart from that.

I would get a sperm donor

All the things that I fantasise about when I am feeling exhausted and constrained by being a parent and wife with a full time job, really.

Get more qualifications. Apply for jobs that my family circumstances mean I can't even consider. Relocate if I want to. Spend my wages on things I love sometimes, not just things other people need. Live alone and revel in it. Socialise. Do more than work-home-tea-baths-bedtime-sleep-work in the week, more than housework-groceries-dc activities at weekends. Read All The Books. Go to gigs. Go to midweek things. Get properly active in local politics. Join the community litter picking groups more than once in a blue moon. Learn sign language. Take adult swimming lessons (I can swim, but I would like to be a good swimmer).

Just get on with your life and make the best of it. There can be downsides, loneliness at times, having someone there when you're ill etc. Find something you enjoy and do it. Sometimes being with someone is just as bad if they're not the right person.

I sometimes have a little fantasy in my head for a few seconds that this is me..Coming home to a tidy quiet home instead of the noise and mess that comes with having a family. But the reality is that my kids and husband make me very happy and I can't really imagine the reality of being alone.

@ShotsFired so jealous of you!

Save up money, buy a smallholding in a warm country, use solar and wind energy, live off the land. Get a dog. Live happily ever after.

I would go and live in another European country for a bit and then come back and become a nun, probably. Not saying you should do that, but it's what I would do.

I would foster children. Particularly older children who might otherwise not be easy to place.

I think I would join army/navy too

Can you join the army/navy at 38?

I’d probably get into fitness stuff like running clubs/ swimming etc.

Spend money on clothes/ shoes/ lovely stuff the house/ lots of holidays. Yes I would be happy going alone! I’d probably do a backpacking type trip.

I would need to get a dog though.

I would travel. I had no idea how much having kids and a husband would tie me down. It’s like being a prisoner! Travel.

48 single no kids.

Slightly wish I have a live-out boyfriend. I can suddenly see why older ladies have 'companions' whom they go to dinner and on holiday with but they don't let them move into their house.

I learned Spanish and I now have Spanish friends and go hiking with them. I meet new ones every year, on the pilgrimage routes. I love it.

Sailing holidays (surprisingly affordable as you sleep on the boat). Scuba, used to do horse riding, singing lessons, travelling on my own (India, New Zealand, Indonesia, Egypt, Morocco) not on a guided tour. Always meet people on travels, never lonely then.

I go to classical concerts on my own, but I would rather go with someone. I am in touch with my best friends from school, and uni. I do find it challenging to maintain local friendships as I live in a city where people come and go a lot. I have two friends I see almost weekly, they are quite new friends. I do get lonely sometimes, don't dine out much due to cost.

Am not saving enough for retirement which worries me and I live alone but don't own my flat.

I'm 37. I'm getting used to the idea. But I wish people would stop telling me I'm not trying hard enough or the clock is ticking.

I would try and do something which took me away from thinking about myself, especially if I had regrets. So volunteering abroad, helping / building projects in Africa, South America (with research first to make sure they weren't doing more harm than good), or even the what-shall-I-do-with-my-life default of Teaching English as a a Foreign Language. Actually, being a native English speaker puts you at such an advantage - you're in demand in Russia, China, everywhere.

Definitely go and do charity work abroad for some time.

Also would strongly consider joining the army.

Oh I took adult swimming coaching too. I don't have a tv.

Can you join the army/navy at 38?

Good point. Maybe not.

Tell my perinium how much I love it. has killed me off for today. Thank you.

I'd travel everywhere, go places I've never heard of before, throw darts at a map. Go alone, do a small city break first and build yourself up. A lot of places (i.e. India, Peru etc..... the more exotic experiences) have plenty of people travelling alone who all meet up and end staying together.

There's a difference between likely staying that way and wanting to stay that way. Do whatever appeals to you.