It’s no secret that your friendships change as you get older. When you’re teenagers and in your early twenties, meeting and bonding at university or in your first jobs, your interests, your level of energy and priorities are very different to life in a decade or two.
As you get into your thirties, you’ll find you have careers rather than jobs, partners rather than boyfriends or girlfriends, and maybe even young families. Hangovers get more debilitating and energy levels decline as budgeting gets more responsible so impromptu nights in the pub till closing slip down the agenda.
Today we’re taking a look at how to maintain friendships under the changed conditions of the 30-something peer group.
Planning in Advance
One of the most important things you can do is make plans far in advance – and stick to them. This means making slightly bigger plans than meeting up for dinner, on the level of a weekend away in an AirBnB or rented house.
Settle a date in a group chat or using a poll, and then stick to it – unfortunately, sometimes waiting to find a compromise that suits everyone means you don’t end up setting a date for anyone. You may have to accept that you won’t see your entire friendship group at every event every time, but that’s better than not seeing them at all.
Be Spontaneous
When you have friends that live nearby, it can be more rewarding to be spontaneous. A quick text asking if they’re free that night to go to the cinema or a pub quiz might be better for a casual hangout than bigger plans made longer in advance.
This can lead to regular routines that are easier to maintain, like meeting for the same pub quiz each week or sharing Sunday lunch together as a matter of course.
Family Days Out
As people start to have kids, planning a family day out you can all share becomes a more important way to stay in touch. From walks in the countryside to trips to museums or zoos, think about things you can do together as emerging young families. One thing to consider is the scavenger hunt, now much evolved from the matchbox scavenger hunts of your youth. With plots, clues and local history woven in, a scavenger hunt could be a great focus for a family day out with old friends. If you’re looking for a great central location for a treasure hunt, Bristol is a good place to start, allowing friends from across the country to meet up for a weekend and catch up together.
