I’m going through a moody, introspective phase at the moment because I’m about to hit the big 3-0 yet everyone I know is 18-21. 
It’s a nightmare, but for the last 10 years or so, everyone I know has been in that same age bracket.
I keep moving from town to town and taking up new and interesting hobbies, thinking that I’ll finally figure out what late 20’s early 30’s people actually do, but whenever I start a new hobby, I find out that everyone at that particular club/group/whatever is about 20, if not younger.
It was great in my early 20’s (loads of people my own age), pretty damn good in my mid 20’s (loads of fit girls smitten by me), but now I’m a bit old for the girls, too old to go round to friends houses when they live with their parents, too responsible to play silly buggers with them, I just want to find some people my own age… but where???
So I come to you, my fellow dopers, to ask a quite simple question - what do people 29-30 actually do? Where do they hang out? Where can i meet someone my own age? (bear in mind that I’m quite shy and I’m in training to be a policeman, so I probably can’t do anything too extreme!)
That’s a problem. I’m 25, but have a job, house, cars, dog, wife and daughter to look after. None of our friends (our age) currently have comprable living styles, and to tell you the truth, I don’t know what they do either. i haven’t lived around my family and friends for three years, and what little I know about what they do any more has mostly to do with playing Internet video games and hanging out at strip clubs.
Sounds like you’re single and childless, so honestly I don’t know what you can do either. Sounds like you can do whatever the hell you want. I just don’t have free time like that any more.
The folks we “hang out” with, **Biggirl and co., DaveW00, are rather older than us, but since they have families and are settled, we have more in common with them than most people our own age.
My idea of a good time? A quiet Sunday that I can sit and watch football with some snacks and beer and be left the hell alone by wife and kid.
Going out to the bar is still a lot of fun, but it’s expensive and difficult as hell finding a babysitter.
So what am I saying? I’m saying, “Me too.”
Yup, I’m single and childless. Although I really want to settle down and find a wife and have kids (can men get broody? 
)
Too shy to go out to bars on my own, and it’s not really any of my friend’s scene.
'Tis quite a quandary…
My current hobbies are : kayaking, kitesurfing/kiteboarding, windsurfing, ultimate frisbee, poetry, computer games and that other hobby that all men do.
Any ladies out there want to input here, what did you do at my age?
Re: the poetry - how about a reading/creative writing group? The one I attended was mainly people in their 30s. They’ll have information at your local library. And you’re always welcome to come to Wokingham for a quiet drink
Why don’t you get married. It didn’t stall my activities or my wifes at all. We still snowboard, we still build cool things at our house i.e tree/office.
We go boating, do lot’s. Not too much with other couples though…Sometimes. Most of my friends either have not grown up yet and will be perpetual bachelor’s or they have children and ae busy raising little humans. I’m sure we’ll enter that bracket when we decide to have a couple littl’ins.
Heck, I don’t know.
I’ll hit 30 in the first part of September. Halfway through grad school, most of my friends range from 22-25(ish). Sure, there are others in the program around my age, but what I’ve found is that they are married and either have kids or are thinking about starting families or whatever. That’s not where I am with my life, so I ended up with this other group.
What do we do? Well, we hang out, watch movies. We drink (though not to excess), we have parties (even if only we show up). None of us (well, one is engaged, but beyond that) are really dating anyone, and being in the library program, it’s mostly women.
Beyond that, we have a variety of interests and we are each involved with those in our own ways…there’s no specific thing we can say that we all do.
Well, QueenFran, I was a member of a creative writing society, but, guess what? They were all 18-20! D’oh!
Oh, and Phlosphr, most ladies in the 18-20 range (well, the ones that I know, anyway) aren’t really interested in marriage, much as I’d like to
Are there any hobbies out there that are considered more mature? I don’t mean pipe+slippers mature, but just something that kids wouldn’t really be into?
Note to self: join library program.
Fran Wokingham’s a bit of a way for a non-driver like me. Are you coming to Londope?
Round these parts, we mostly sit at the bar drinking and talk about what we’ll be doin’ when we’re in the 40’s age bracket…
I will certianly be at Londope, yes. See you then!
I thought I’d be living the high life at the grand old age of 28. The reality is I’m paying off my student loans, my car note, insurance, apartment rent, utilities, Internet & phone bills. I was clueless about the cost of living when I was a teenager and even in college.
I work in a library & while you might meet a lot of women in the library program itself, be prepared to work with a lot of fiftysomethings once you get a job. Young people don’t decide to work in libraries to hang out with people their own age.
I know many people play in intermural sports organized through their work, church, or neighborhood.
I go out to eat with friends, go to movies & local festivals, & browse in bookstores & museums. Cheap/free, all-day events are always desirable.
I know several people who joined dating services & met their spouses that way. They thought it was worthwhile.
I thought I’d be living the high life at the grand old age of 28. The reality is I’m paying off my student loans, my car note, insurance, apartment rent, utilities, Internet & phone bills. I was clueless about the cost of living when I was a teenager and even in college.
I work in a library & while you might meet a lot of women in the library program itself, be prepared to work with a lot of fiftysomethings once you get a job. Young people don’t decide to work in libraries to hang out with people their own age.
I know many people play in intermural sports organized through their work, church, or neighborhood.
I go out to eat with friends, go to movies & local festivals, & browse in bookstores & museums. Cheap/free, all-day events are always desirable.
We don’t go to bars, b/c the common wisdom is, “When you go to bars to meet guys, you’ll find guys who hang out in bars.” You can barely have an audible conversation in most nightclubs, anyway.
I know several people who joined dating services & met their spouses that way. They thought it was worthwhile.
Brian sounds like you are trying to let go of something. I’d recommend just letting go. Hang out with people your age, make yourself do that…
Hobbies:
I snowboard. I’ve been snowboarding for 15 years. Since before it was really popular. I blow kids 10 years younger than me off the mountain. Most can’t believe an old guy like me can snowboard… I’m 33. I do it because I like it, it’s a way to release for me. So is doing projects at home.
The point is just because I have a hobby that young people like to do doesn’t mean I hang out with them.
They get married. And when two or three married men are gathered together, they will talk about grouting.
I don’t recall ever hanging round with people my own age, once I’d left school. When I was late teens/early twenties, my friends were gernerally older. Now, they’re pretty evenly distributed between 10+ years older and 10 years (give or take a few younger). I tend to forget my age until someone mentions they’re 24 or something, then I seek out the company of older folk to restore my equilibrium.
Now you mention it, Brainfizz, I’ve read a fair few threads lately where posters mention their age, and I’m thinking “you’re X years older/younger than me” – so I’ve not noticed many around my age, either. (And if it’s any comfort, I’m much older than you).
My theory is mid twenties to early thirties is the serious relationship and getting married phase, so they’re wrapped up in each other, building a home and career, etc. Older or younger people aren’t doing this so much so have the time for plenty of friends or hobbies.
Interestingly, I’ve found something to be quite the opposite of the OP. I’m 20, and any hobbies I try to persue seem to be filled with 30 - 40somethings. No-one my age seems particularly interested in doing hobby-type things.
**TP]/b] what kind of hobbies are you talking about?
Let’s see: I’m a 28 year old female so maybe I count.
I have 1 very time consuming hobby: competitive horseback riding. In the US this sport is about 95% women however I think in the UK it is considered slightly more manly (I do Eventing, which is one of your more dangerous horse sports). You’ll be up to your ears in ladies in tight pants if you take up riding. LOL. Another place where you’ll find many a woman is in any type of craft class. Ever try painting/drawing/pottery?
Other than that, I pretty much just work and hang out with a small handful of friends.
I almost never meet new people, to tell you the truth.
I’m in my late 30s, many of my friends are the same or older, and quite frankly, as a group we don’t seem to do much of anything particularly exciting in our wonderfully long island (yes that land forming the south-east of New York, accept NO substitutes)
Most of the people my age seem to be raising their families, and apparently the other singles lock themselves in their rooms at night and whimper, as my friends and I don’t seem to come across them (the worst case scenerio is that… they just don’t exist and we’re it - horrors!).
As to group activities, we used to have a rather full and interesting schedule (dances, picnics, trips, tours, etc.), but this seems to have collapsed in the past few years (In a ‘What the Hell Happened???’ manner)
The dance club scene on Long Island is pretty dead if you’re over 25, the few Catholic social groups left are kinda sputtering (and they know who they are), lots of people seemed totally wrapped up in Volleyball, Tennis, or Golf (none of which I find particular interesting, but maybe you can check out leagues like those in your area). Organized hikes and walks seem to bring out very nice people in their 50s and 60s (since I go on walks and hikes because I like to, and not with the goal of meeting anyone, this is not a problem), and I have already worked my way through most of the interesting (well, to me anyway) night classes at the community college (One guess as to which male doper from the Industrial NorthEast took apparently the only Ballroom dancing class in which men greatly outnumbered women).
All in all, it’s been a bit depressing these last few years…
There’s always graduate school… (4th degree’s the charm!)
When I was in my early 20’s I lived in a more cosmopolitan area, and had a very active social life. Lots of friends and stuff to do.
Now I’m in my 30’s and live in a rural area. So everything is pretty much the opposite. I’m very absorbed in my hobbies, so that’s where most of my free time goes. However, my girlfriend and I do sometimes pine for others to spend time with. It’s hard where we live.