For a variety of reasons (e.g. mental health issues, living at home, being broke, being in medical school), I didn’t really prioritize dating much between the ages of about 18-28. I hooked-up with a few girls and had a FWB for a couple of years, but other than that, relationships and dating really weren’t particularly important to me.
Now that I’m living independently, have my own career as a (resident) doctor, and in a much better place mentally, I have been actively putting myself out there via the apps and what-not. I’m getting matches and arranging dates, but one of the barriers I’m encountering is that, experience-wise, I feel as though I’m at the same stage as someone in their early twenties or early post-college years. Ideally, I’d like to date casually for a few years, get as much dating experience as I can, and try to determine from there what it is I want and don’t want from a relationship. The women around my age, however, are all at the stage of their lives where they’ve done the whole ‘casual dating’ thing and now they’re looking to settle down, which is understandable, but there’s clearly a mismatch in terms of where we’re both at. I try to be as upfront as possible about what I’m looking for by clearly stating my dating intentions on my Bumble/Hinge profiles, but I’m still finding that I’m encountering a degree of hostility from women after a few dates when I’m not willing to commit to something more serious.
What do you think that best way around this is? I don’t want to waste women’s time if they’re on a limited timeline and looking for a longterm partner, but, despite being upfront, I still keep encountering these women. Should I start dating younger women (my age range is currently 25-35)? Or go for older divorced women who are just looking for fun? Anyone else been in this situation and able to offer some advice? How do those of you looking for casual relationships go about it if you’re over the age of 25?
Thanks.