Remember when you were a kid, and you couldn’t wait until you were old enough to have candy for dinner without anyone telling you no? And then you became an adult and realized candy for dinner is disgusting and a one-way ticket to a terrible sugar headache? What we once loved in our younger years — cotton candy ice cream, grape soda, mountains of ketchup, etc., — probably seems downright bizarre the older we get. One viral thread on Reddit explores just how much our tastes change as we get older — not just in the food realm, but also in what we enjoy, what we want to do, and what our hobbies are — and it reveals just how much we’re all seriously getting old.
In Reddit’s popular r/AskReddit community, Reddit user u/eternalrefuge86 began a thread asking the community to answer: "What are y'all starting to like the older you get?” Reading through the 3,500-plus comments, there are a few things that stand out as nearly universal experiences for all of us. Getting old...kind of rocks?
1. Bedtime is the best
For Redditor, u/_Goose_, now that they’re older, the best part of life is adequate sleep. “Actually getting 8-9 hours a night,” they wrote. “Rather than sitting up dreading the next day. It makes that next day go by much faster anyway.”
u/TheEvilQueen agreed and called naps — especially uninterrupted ones — “glorious.” And for u/Captainkarma95, it’s all about “naps on clean bedsheets and covers.”
u/PissedTuna replied that now that they’re older, there’s a certain type of nap you can only unlock when you’re on PTO — and it’s the ultimate relaxation station. “The nap on vacation when you get back from the beach at about 2-3pm. You sleep for about 2-3 hours then get up and get ready to go out for dinner. Don't even need covers because you are nice and warm from the sun.”
2. Solitude rocks
Several other Redditors admitted that now that they’re older, they really love to be alone and away from large crowds of people.
“Solitude. It's so goddamn amazing,” u/occasional_Sniffer answered, and U/NoTimes9511 agrees: “I enjoy being away from crowds, parties, [and] group gatherings.” u/ Dwayne7bucksjohnson, added that “peace and quiet” is something they enjoy now. “Didn’t care as much when I was younger.”
u/ New_Section_9374 also loves silence: “I’m an introvert and used to fight it, thinking if I just went [through] the motions and got out there I’d adapt and begin to enjoy it. Now, now I’m retired and happily living in a rural area.” Ah, quiet. The sounds of the birds. The sound of nothing. How relaxing!
3. Birds are beautiful
Now that u/Loan_Bitter is older they really like “watching and feeding birds.” Far from being a fringe hobby, a surprising number of people answered similarly.
“Just love... where [I] can only hear birds singing, the wind blowing and not much else,” u/Boegeskoven90 explained. And u/TheOriginalBodgy replied: “Birds. I bought a book to identify the birds I see in my area. I even looked into a bird walk. Please send help.”
4. The joys of reading
Not every kid was bookish. A ton of us wanted nothing more than to escape into the woods for an afternoon or play kickball rather than be forced to sit down in front of a book. Well, that’s changed for a few Redditors who now really enjoy reading as a pastime and not a school assignment.
“Reading… I used to hate reading when my mom used to tell me to read, now that I’m 20 and out of her house I have read 30 books in the past [4 months] and set a goal to read 100 books this year,” u/No_Builder_5709 shared.
For u/PlentyPossibility505, they enjoy reading now, too, and particularly certain themes: “I like books and movies about old people,” they admitted. Interesting!
5. Weekends with nowhere to go
Just like people now enjoy being by themselves, it’s not surprising there were several others who love not having to make any plans — or having the plans change for the better.
“Weekends with no plans. Free to get personal projects done or just simply relax and treat myself, with no obligation to go anywhere or see other people,” was how u/xDanSolo answered. “We used to go out every weekend, sometimes Fri and Sat nights. Drinking and partying with friends, out to dinner, some event, etc. It's expensive and exhausting.”
u/Musicalsandglitter and u/dintzii like having their weekends free, answering they now love “Weekends doing nothing,” and “not going out on a Friday night.”
And multiple users talked about the euphoria of canceled plans — even when they’re canceled last minute.
6. Pickles, health foods, and sandwiches
Another commonly answered theme in the thread had to do literally with taste, with many food preferences changing over time.
“Certain foods that I refused to eat as a child/teenager have become some of my favorites,” said one Redditor.
u/harrtsroob, for example, now loves “pickled food” and u/JinxFae now appreciates the health benefits of food: “I don't know why but nowadays it is impossible for me to eat McDonalds, BK, and all this kind of fast food.”
And u/absoluteScientific can’t stop thinking about sandwiches. “Sandwiches. More. More sandwiches. I liked them OK before but now I want sandwiches all day every day,” they wrote. “Like proper deli loaded with top tier meats cheeses and breads. Gourmet spread. More. I would commit crimes for unlimited sandwiches. I don’t care if they cost $20 ea.”
To read the full thread of how our tastes change — check out the Reddit community’s post.
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