What is your 'I wish I was xx' age?

Kevin Peacocke

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If you could transport yourself back to a personal age, any age, what would it be? This question is not 'what era would I like to be in'? That is for another thread and we will put that under the title 'what era would you like to be living in', but rather just would you like to go back in time in your own life?

What prompted my interest in this topic is that people sometimes say "I wish I was 20 again", or whatever age. But having given it a lot of thought in my own context, I think I would pass on the transporter and stay right where I am, right now, at 68. For me the reason is simple - I worked pretty hard in life, educated the kids, went through some very lean financial times, but now I have eventually got to a point where I have the means to make the dreams come true, the means being the financial wherewithall, time and freedom to spend that precious time. Modern life with a good dose of nostalgia suits me just fine.

So do you have a time that was so utterly wonderful for you that you would go back there, or maybe for a few visionaries to jump ahead a few years is the way forward?
 
I have known folks who said they wish they could be in high school again. I have never understood that. I'm with you Kevin - the here and now suits me just fine. I still feel 23 inside but I have a lot of life experiences under my belt, the means by which to do a lot more cool stuff, and the perspective to truly appreciate those things when they happen. My "I wish I was" age? Heck, I was living it today.

A funny. Yesterday I was having a celebratory supper with my youngest daughter (19) after she filled her caribou tag. We were kinda talking about something similar. At 19, I told her, I had yet to kill a big game animal. I told her about how me and my best friend used to talk about the dreams we had for the future. I told her never in my wildest imagination did I think I would someday be camping in the wilderness of Alaska and guiding my daughter to a caribou. My best age? Absolutely, positively now.
 
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I'm with @Kevin Peacocke and @Tundra Tiger . Quite happy to be where I am right now. I bought a house this year, with my fiancee. Then had a gorgeous baby daughter, that I just fed. Turned my fiancee into my wife. And I have some safari in the not too distant future to look forward too. What would I want to exchange all that for? Go back to 22 or 25 and just get drunk every weekend night with people who were never really friends? No thank you.
 
I would not give up the knowledge and experience I currently have to be physically younger again. The decisions made along the way have shaped the life I now have. A truly happy life that allows time for things like hunting Africa. I'm blessed and would not trade it for anything.

I'm team "Old Age and Treachery", come and get me Youth and Exuberance.
 
Great topic as always, Kevin!

Honestly the thought of being younger in this day and age scares me.

I’m glad I made it through my 20s alive, met my wife there as my career started. Traveled to many places and experienced a lot of new things. Being 25 and turned loose with a corporate expense account and a frequent flyer number is something I never want to be challenged with again!

Became a dad in my 30s and made it to Africa finally!

Now, my life, career and mind are all better than ever… I think I’ll stay here for a while…
 
I think I'm good with my age now (40) but I wish my wife was 18 or 19 again, seems like she was more fun at that age hahaha
Buy her an R8 abd a pair of Courteneys.
 
I would take right now without hesitation. Retired, moved to an area of the country l really enjoy everyday. Have meet a wonderful lady, that l connect with like no one else in my life.
Kids are through college with good jobs. Life is great!
 
Great thread to cause one to think about ones time on this globe and reflect on what was wonderful in your life.
I would love to go back just a few years to age 53. The year my daughter graduated university, we went to Africa, no pandemic, and less woke bullshit. Wintered in AZ for the first time since retiring, met lots of wonderful people and decided that it was a great spot to be a snowbird.
It was a great year for me, however I am also very pleased with my life today as well.
 
I'm 48, and to me it's a beautyful age - so I would stay here, right as I am.
But, I really would have my age in the mid '70s or maybe 1980!
Plenty of everything, lot of good stuff "made in the right place", lot of hunting and fishing opportunities, less complicated life, lot easier to travel with firearms and import trophies, less "politically correct" (the cancher of our era), and...better music.
Definitely I would like to live my middle age in that time.
 
I'll just go back to being 40.

Once I hit my 60's health problems started to creep up on me and now at 69 they have hit hard. After my trip to South Africa this past summer I realized that life is going to get harder to keep up with what I enjoy doing if I can keep it up. I had to cancel a Utah muzzle loader hunt due to a couple new health problems. Now I just wonder what they next one that will creep up and smack me between the eyes is going to be.
 
It is hard to imagine giving up the experience and wisdom that comes with age. It took a lot of energy, perseverance, and patience to overcome life’s difficulties and failures.
One fear of going back in time is if the “do over” would result in things being different today. I feel blessed with where I am at age 46 and disinclined to risk changing it!
 
Minor aches and pains aside, I’m happy being 60 plus 9 months. I’m blessed with good health, a great family and I get to go on Safari on occasion. A good time in life.
 
I’m 71 and am happy with (or perhaps, indifferent to) my age. The life lessons and experiences I accumulate (and continue to) are priceless to me. I believe that every age of a person’s life has a different kind of beauty to it … as long as you stay physically and psychologically fit. I obviously don‘t want to die, although I understand that death is inevitable. I see it this way: No one can live forever, but the best we can do is try living as long and as healthily as possible. And appreciate the fact that we came so far.

And by God, that philosophy is working well for me. My father is 93 years of age and my mother turns 91 on Wednesday. Both are very active and my father is still the best snipe shooter I have ever seen. He swims for two hours everyday and can still drive better than most teen agers. At the age of 71, I decided to start shooting a .600 Nitro Express and still hunt most of my game with open sighted rifles.

But if I could go back to a particular era of my life which I have lived through, I would have to say anywhere between 1981 and 1989. I absolutely loved the ‘80s. Best music, best movies, best way of life. World was a simpler place.
 
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