Ah. The Wonder Years.
I left home at 18 and shacked up with a Czech bird that was working in UK illegally in a factory job.
New Road, Littlehampton, 1999 to 2001 in a small bedsit. 3 years of debauchery, sex, music, poverty (although didn't feel like it at the time), working my arse off for crap wages. I credit that bird with teaching me the ways of the world.
First time she sent me shopping on my own I bought a couple of pizza bases, 9p Tesco twinkies, a milkshake and pack of biscuits. I was never sent again.
A special 'date' would be taking bus 700 or 702 (iirc) to Brighton, for her to go listen to classical music in WH Smith and for me to go to the pier and play arcade games or read a book in Borders I couldn't afford to buy. Or we'd go walk along Littlehampton 'beach front' (icy cold wind, filthy brown water, stony beaches). Or the Spotted Cow pub where we'd share a couple of beers and plate of chips. Mostly we just stayed home, played music CDs we got a guy to burn for us for free, and shagged, a lot.
As with females being more mature than men, she eventually started talking about babies and I simply couldn't fathom doing that. It was crazy talk. We'd be young forever, we'd do this forever, why mess with a good thing. Plus we had no money.
She moved on and back to Czech, I moved out and went to university. And then life just became grey for 3 years. Moved to London at 24, shared house thing. And learned how to shop, suffer, go hungry, be sensible. Probably too much needless suffering, relative poverty and struggles with aimlessness. I kept that up to age 32 (although finances improved somewhat), moved to NZ for a change and laugh, did the same here for a year or so, found myself to be closer to 35 than I ever thought possible and sorted out my **** overnight and grew up. 41yo as I sit here, wife asleep in other end of house, 14 month old baby asleep in her own room. An extremely comfortable retirement about 9 years away. I've probably come a long long way from New Road but by the gods it felt like trudging through mud to get here. And I'm not a 100% sure I'm neccesarily happier now than I was then, eventhough my wealth and circumstances are just galaxies away from those times.
Side note. Czech bird found me on Facebook in 2012 just before I logged off for good. She was married, 3 kids, husband had good job, her own home and all that she thought she wanted. But all she wanted to do was to wind back the clock a decade and go back to New Road for some Oasis or The Corrs on a burned CD, a small bedsit and a young English boy in bed with her
I always thought that if my life blew up, wife left me, etc. I'd get back in touch, rent the same bedsit again (still there on google maps) and see if she wanted to come over.
Anyway, probably a mile away from the OP question, but got me reminiscing.
Edit.
Eventhough we have the means for our daughter never to go through the poverty and suffering I endured (wife from more hoity toity background), I still think there was some beauty in that. Definitely not at the time, but not so terrible with some distance and hindsight. I want her to experience the same things but with the knowledge that she has the funds to draw on if ever she needs it.