At the risk of sounding like a Pinterest quote, we’ll just come right out and say it: Everyone’s journey is different. Some people meet their soul mate in freshman-year biology. Others might not happen upon that for another couple of decades. For those of us in the latter camp, let’s relish in all the ways this is to our advantage.
30 Reasons Being Single in Your 30s Is Awesome
Four words: sleep like a starfish
1. You can travel anywhere in the world you want—without varying opinions and work schedules to deal with.
2. You can do whatever the hell you want while you’re there. (None of which includes beer-distillery tours…unless that’s your thing.)
3. You can teach yourself to be a pretty great cook. Because experimentation is a lot less embarrassing when done solo.
4. You learn how to be financially independent. Taxes? Pshhh.
5. You don’t bat an eye at handiwork. Even if you do feel the need to Snapchat your air-conditioner installation.
6. But you know when to ask for help. Because not every shelf-hanging project has gone perfectly in the past and that is OK.
7. You can sleep as much—and as stretched-out—as you damn well please.
8. You can crank the AC and bury yourself under a million blankets.
9. And snore as loud as your dream about Ryan Gosling encourages.
10. You can drink from the carton.
11. And eat from the pint.
12. You can spend hours in the bathtub.
13. And a few more picking at your pores in the mirror.
14. You can date a 25-year-old or a 50-year-old...and neither one is creepy.
15. But also bring a girlfriend as a plus-one to a wedding and have way more fun than anybody else.
16. You get to be the hit of every dinner party. Why? Because of those could-be-Pulitzer-winning Tinder stories.
17. You get to discover what you want (and what you don’t want) from a partner.
18. And what you want (and don’t want) from sex.
19. Your house is exactly as you like it.
20. Six words: No beard trimmings in sink drain.
21. Ten words: No gross dude toenails touching your legs in the night. (Do they not understand nail clippers?)
22. You’re not constantly hounded by your family to start having babies.
23. But you can love hanging with all your friends’ cute four-year-olds.
24. …And love it even more when you get to hand them back at the end of the night.
25. You can focus on your career in those key ladder-climbing years. (Promise: Baby time is still in your future.)
26. And meanwhile, your body still looks killer in a bikini.
27. You can shop to your heart’s content. What joint checking account?
28. You can binge as much Fixer Upper as your DVR will allow.
29. You can go to the movies alone, at like 10 a.m. on a Saturday. (Most underrated activity of all time.)
30. You can dream about being Chelsea Handler. Or Coco Chanel. Or Jane Austen. Or Oprah. Or any other massively successful lady who’s said marriage is for the birds.