Feeling like you're the only person on the planet who still hasn't had a real, bona fide relationship? Well, even though it may not seem like it, you're not alone. Don't believe me? Take it from these 11 women's quotes about being single until their 20s. In a recent Reddit AskWomen thread, women who didn't enter their first relationships until they were in their 20s shared their stories and, oh man, they are deeply relatable.
Actually, before we get into their stories, let me kick things off by sharing my own. I met my now-boyfriend at 23, which in retrospect, doesn't feel that old to me at all. But at the time, it felt really old. All my friends had been in multiple serious relationships by that point, whereas my most serious relationships were with guys I had casually hooked up with for any time longer than two weeks. I had never been in love. I had never even had the experience where I liked a guy and he liked me back and we just... dated. In fact, that experience sounded foreign to me, and I was pretty convinced after a while that it wasn't going to happen.
But the point is that it did. I bet that if you feel like I did back then, you'll wind up having a similar experience, like these ladies below did, too.
Close up shot of stylish young woman in sunglasses smiling against blue background. Beautiful female model with copy space.
I always felt like I was late in dating. I was 26 when I met my now husband, I never had a boyfriend before him. He had experience another girl before me. He was my first ever kiss and first ever person I slept with. My cousin told me I should have experience with different guys before settling but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. My husband also believed in dating exclusively instead of dating multiple people. We’ve been together 6 yrs now and married 7months and we’re expecting our first child together :)
Met my now-boyfriend at 27 (now 28); he's 32 — we're both each other's first. We've found that our wait helped us to know ourselves better and what we wanted from a life-long partnership with another adult. Speaking for myself, my 20s were awkward and full of me trying different things, making mistakes. I would not have trusted me to make such an important decision back then.
We met on Hinge last December. Just started discussing our future plans (getting married) with his family this past weekend. We couldn't be happier :)
I started dating someone at 28 and it was a really big learning curve for me. Even though we only dated for a few months, he made a big impact on my life. I had to learn to adjust certain things about myself like doing things together instead of doing them independently like I’m used to, planning things out so that we could maximize our time together instead of just doing things on the fly, sharing a bed, etc.
I think there are some things I missed out on for not dating at a younger age, but I think I’m more stable and sure of myself now so I’m happy I waited.
I was around 25. It was a mess and I didn't know what I was doing. I broke it off so many times but he kept coming back. After a year he moved to another city and I was looking at job/apts there, but then he met another girl (his now wife.) I was devastated and it took me 3 years to get over. But I learned so much from it, and I don't regret it at all. I was a late bloomer.
The closest thing I've ever had to a "relationship" was at 28 and it recently ended. As I'm going through that heartbreak, I think I'm taking it harder now than I would have in my teens and early twenties.
Romantic couple dating in pub at night
I started dating my first boyfriend at 24 and had a lot of firsts with him. It was kind of nice to be late to the game because I knew myself better and was comfortable as an individual! Rather that going out and partying most of our dates were pretty low key. Now at age 26, we are on our way to getting married in 11 months! People make it sound like it is a bad thing to be a late bloomer in the dating arena, but I see it as an asset!
Not great. I had my first real boyfriend at 21. It was so much later than everyone else in my life that I was a bit desperate to just BE in a relationship. So I put up with a lot of shit that ideally I shouldn't have.
First real relationship/boyfriend at 23. Got married a year later, and will be married for 17 years next month.
I think not dating til I was a littler older, worked out well. Both of us were a little more mature, and ready for a real relationship.
First and only relationship was at 28. It last only 3 months, and god damn was there a huge learning curve. Fell so hard for that boy, who was 7 year older then me. But he just wouldn’t grow up....
I was 26 when I had my first relationship. I know it isn’t the latest but it felt late to me. (Im 28 now)
Anyway, he was my roommate and it only lasted four months due to his mother not approving of our relationship. He was cool besides that.
I’ve been single ever since. I’ve always been a bit picky(hence the late dating) and normally it takes much longer than most to find a relationship.
I'm 29 and never really had a relationship before I met my boyfriend last January. It's going amazing. We are just so compatible in terms of life plans and personality, and we treat each other so well. We've not had a single argument and we've weathered some really hard life shit in a supportive and loving manner. We're getting engaged in September and married next year.
I feel its 50-50 luck and experience to have hit the jackpot on my first real go. Not my own personal dating experience, but watching the relationships of my friends and acquaintances gave me a really good idea of what is really important to me and what I wont tolerate.
I just had no real interest in dating and a negative view of how men generally treated women, especially when they become mothers. It took meeting a genuinely good and kind man to change my mind, and that took unti I was 28.
Edit: the amount of people thinking early 20s (or even teens!) is late is very amusing.
At the end of the day, there is no right or wrong time to enter your relationship. The right time is when you feel like it. That's all that matters.
