Originally published on Unwritten by Katie Smith.
For many recent graduates and twenty-somethings, learning how to spend your free time outside of your college bubble can be a challenge. While new friends, new cities, and new jobs present a whole new world of places to explore, it can be pretty damn exhausting.
Your new "adult" life can sometimes leave you feeling like a grandma who falls asleep in her wine glass watching reruns, it's also pretty awesome most of the time! Here are 20 ways going out changes in your twenties, for better or for worse:
1. You can't always make it out on a Friday night. Working 9 to 5 really takes it out of you!
2. "Going out" sometimes means just drinking with dinner - and sometimes just eating dinner.
3. Happy hours are a Monday through Thursday gift from God.
4. A close second is brunch. If you have a regular work schedule, you have to get those drinks in while you can - even in the morning!
5. You go where the drink specials are. When you work 40 hours per week for your money, you can't just throw it away!
6. The bars aren't walking distance from your campus anymore.
7. Which means you can explore so many new (not college) bars and cozy drink spots.
8. You are slightly more open to bars with cover charges than you were in college (even though they're still pretty bullshit).
9. Bars seem to be only organized into "college bars" and "adult bars" - and sometimes you feel like you don't belong in either.
10. And you're kind of over the guys you meet in both places.
11. Now bestowed with a real world paycheck, people our age are weirdly into craft beer, a welcome relief from Keystone Light.
12. Drinking with your coworkers is an exciting and totally acceptable new pastime, where everyone can break out of their shells a little.
13. No more homework and pretty regular weekday responsibilities (especially if you work a 9 to 5) means that drinking on weeknights is totally rationalized.
14. Netflix and a bottle of wine are a pretty normal Thursday night.
15. And it's even better on Sundays.
16. When you're not looking for a spot to grab a drink, your weekends are filled with whatever free, trendy events you can find.
17. Said events probably include yoga. Because it's hip, gives you an excuse to wear cute workout clothes, and it's a great way to blow off steam from a long work week!
18. The times you carve out for weekend coffee dates and meet-ups are pretty cherished, so you don't share them with just anyone.
19. You learn what friendships from college are worth holding onto, while finding which friends from your new city or job are really here to stay.
20. Every day, every outing is a chance to learn something new, spend time with great people and grow into our beautiful grown-up selves!
Our weekends may sometimes feel very different than they did in college. Whether this past weekend was spent with a bottle of wine and your bed or out tearing up the town, remember that it's all part of our new adult lives! Take the nights out with the nights in, and enjoy every moment not spent at work.