I Turned 27 And This Is What Happened To My Social Life

One year ago, my younger brother asked me if I wanted to get married any time soon. My response was ‘no way! I’m so young. Not only do I not have money for that, but I’m totally not ready.‘ He laughed and told me I would probably have a completely different answer in a year.

I rolled my eyes at my then 21-year-old brother for assuming that once I turned 27 and entered my ‘late 20s,’ I would immediately transform into a boring, old person who didn’t go out anymore and whose weekends were consumed by weddings. Just because you get older doesn’t mean you start changing, I thought.

But then I turned 27 and everything changed.

Literally. Everything.

Nearing my 27th birthday, I was still going out with friends every weekend getting *drunk* and being a degenerate. One night, we went to this bar/club/room with dancing and some guy tried to hit on my friends and I. For some reason, the topic of our ages came up and he asked how old I was. I said 26 and he said ‘good for you.‘

Good for you??? Was this guy for real? I was only 26. Are 26-year-olds not supposed to go out?!

‘What do you mean?‘ I asked him.

‘You don’t look 26 at all. I would have guessed 23. And you’re still partying like this. Wow.‘

While I knew that this guy was obviously delusional and probably underage or something, I still felt kind of awful about myself. Should I have been at home watching Netflix? Was I not supposed to go out dancing anymore? Should I have been thinking about settling down and getting married? I looked around the crowded bar and felt old and out of place.

This was not the first time I had felt ‘old’ while out. I live in Boston and because there are colleges on every street corner, the city is YOUNG. Every bar and club is basically full of people in their early 20s. I remember even being 23 and thinking ‘everyone here is 21’ when I would go out.

For this reason, my desire to go out over the past year has definitely diminished. I love going out with friends, but this city provides no cool spots specifically for people in their late 20s who aren’t old yet and still want to hang — but who are definitely not young anymore and have no interest in ‘raging’ and being surrounded by wasted idiots who have just graduated from college.

As I’ve stopped going out as much, I’ve noticed that I have a lot more money in my bank account when it doesn’t all go towards booze, Ubers, and new ‘going out clothes.’ With each day, I get more tired than the day before and I grow closer to my couch. I have also discovered that my friends have really interesting lives and I actually want to hear about them instead of getting blackout drunk with them on a regular basis, but literally having no idea what they do for a living.

I am also definitely interested in the idea of settling down. I’ve even dabbled in looking at real estate, something my 26-year-old self would have laughed at one year ago.

This doesn’t mean I have no interest in going out anymore, though. In fact, last weekend, my friend and I were about to go into an old favorite bar for a friend’s birthday when a young Andrew Rannells lookalike started hitting on us. But then he asked how old we were and upon saying the magical numbers ’27’ and ’28,’ he starred at us in horror for a few seconds before saying ‘you guys are really hot for being old as shit.’

After that, we didn’t go into the bar. We went into a different bar and laughed at how absolutely ridiculous his comment was.

I have basically been pushed out of the nightlife scene here in Boston, but that is very much okay with me. I enjoy staying in. I enjoy saving for my future. And while I still enjoy ‘going out,’ I use that phrase differently than I did in my early 20s. I like going out to dinner. I like getting drinks (and drunk!) with friends in a casual setting. Yes, if I really wanted to, I could go out and ‘rage’ like I used to, but I’m just not interested in that anymore. Does that make me boring? Because I’m not sure I care.

My younger (and wise) brother was right. Everything did change in a year. I can only imagine what else is going to change in the two and a half remaining years I have left in my 20s. And while I’m kind of nervous for what’s to come, I’m excited.

And lastly, I want all guys in their early 20s to know that you should never comment on a woman’s age negatively at a bar. Like, who are you? No person is ever too old to do what they want. Especially people in their 20s. Because when you’re in your 20s, you’re still young as fuck.

Related: 18 Changes Every Woman Goes Through In Her Mid-to-Late 20s