Hello! I [28/M/straight] am recently out of a relationship and am finding this age range to be… strange. I was wondering if I could get some advice on good places to meet people in similar circumstances to myself.
I’ve added context, below but for those who just want a tl;dr, I’m asking for recommendations on where to meet women of my age bracket without the use of dating apps.
For context, I’m in the UK and am looking for alternatives to dating apps. I am on Bumble - which is how I found my previous 2 girlfriends (so I’m well aware this method works) and have been going on dates through it. I intend to keep doing this. The purpose of this post is for advice on branching out to alternative methods of finding dates.
I have been looking at speed dating. It seems like a nice way to meet single women without having to jump through the dating app hoops that can be time consuming and emotionally draining. However, these seem to be very rare, expensive, and annoyingly - and this is the part I really want to highlight - the dating age range I seem to be classified in is ‘25-38’. This seems crazy to me. There is, especially in today’s economy, a huge difference between a 25 year old and a 38 year old.
I went on a (Bumble) date recently and this issue was quite evident our interests were aligned and we could (and did) sit and talk for hours. However, she (a 34 year old) was just in a totally different life category to me. She was a director, owned her own house, had experience being self-employed in the past, was divorced, and - this is the real kicker and a big issue dating women in this range - wanted kids before it was too late.
I, meanwhile, am still living with my parents (I could, hypothetically, start renting, but that would mean never being able to afford a mortgage deposit, which seems like a crazy sacrifice to make just to appeal to women), have never had a permanent job (I’m still in that process of trying to get experience by doing internships, maternity covers, etc. - competition for entry level jobs is crazy here in the UK), still get treated by colleagues like I’ve just graduated uni, and can’t afford to have kids right now.
On the flip side, dating people under the age of 25 is tricky because a lot of people in that age bracket seem to, from my experience, be in ‘party mode’. Clubs, pubs, house parties. I’m a bit old for that, I wake up at 5 to make my commute to work and am in bed by 9.
So, my question is, has anyone else experienced these problems? Can anyone please recommend good ways to meet single women in the 25-30 age bracket besides dating apps?
Ideally I’d appreciate recommendations for things to go to that are specifically for dating. Whilst organically meeting like-minded people by starting hobbies and joining clubs is a valid method, it’s risky to go down that route in a post-me too world (women going to those clubs and platonic socials probably don’t want to be bothered by advances), and it also doesn’t play to my strengths. I’m quite introverted.
Thank you!