📝 Back In The Day – Why Growing Up Felt Different
There’s something about getting older that makes you look back and realise how different things used to feel.
Not necessarily better in every way…
but definitely different.
In this episode of the podcast, we ended up diving headfirst into nostalgia — growing up, sport, old school parenting, arcade games, camping trips, competitive dads, and the weird little memories that somehow stick with you forever.
And honestly?
It turned into one of the most relatable episodes we’ve done.
🏏 Growing Up Competitive
One of the biggest themes that came up was sport.
Cricket. Footy. Backyard competitions. Trying to win absolutely everything for no reason.
A lot of us grew up in an era where dads didn’t exactly hand out participation trophies.
If you played badly, they told you.
If you got out for a duck, you heard about it the whole drive home.
And while there’s definitely a balance to all that…
there’s also something to be said for how much it pushed us to improve.
A lot of blokes our age were raised around:
- competitiveness
- resilience
- learning to lose
- and trying again next week
Not because anyone hated us…
but because that was just the culture at the time.
👊 The Shift In Parenting
One of the more interesting conversations was how much parenting has changed.
These days there’s a much bigger focus on:
- protecting confidence
- encouraging participation
- avoiding pressure
And honestly, some of that is probably a good thing.
But there’s also a line where competitiveness, discipline, and learning to fail can actually become really valuable life lessons.
A lot of the confidence we build as adults comes from:
👉 overcoming things
👉 earning things
👉 improving at something difficult
Not just being told we’re amazing automatically.
🎮 Arcades, PS2 & Simpler Entertainment
The nostalgia hit hard once we started talking about old games and growing up before everything was online 24/7.
Arcades.
PS2.
Vice City.
Split-screen gaming.
Actually going outside.
Back then:
- you’d knock on your mate’s door instead of messaging
- gaming was social in person
- and entertainment didn’t feel endless
There was something different about it.
You actually remembered moments more because everything wasn’t instantly disposable content.
🍻 Camping Trips, Fishing & Real Memories
Some of the best memories growing up weren’t expensive.
They were:
- camping trips
- fishing with mates
- random road trips
- backyard cricket
- family BBQs
Simple stuff.
And the older you get, the more you realise those moments were actually the important ones.
Not because they were perfect…
but because they felt real.
🧠 Why Nostalgia Hits Hard As You Get Older
I think a lot of people hit their 30s and start reflecting more.
You start realising:
- how fast life moves
- how much changes
- and how different people become over time
Friend circles get smaller.
Priorities shift.
Life gets heavier.
And sometimes looking back at simpler memories reminds you what actually matters.
Not in a “everything was better back then” kind of way…
but in a reminder to:
👉 slow down a bit
👉 appreciate your people
👉 and stop overcomplicating life all the time
🎙️ Final Thoughts
This episode ended up being a proper nostalgia trip.
A mix of:
- old school sport culture
- parenting
- gaming
- growing up in Australia
- and the weird little moments that shape you without realising it at the time
It’s funny how the older you get…
the more you realise the stuff you miss most was usually the simple stuff.
📺 Watch The Full Episode
If you haven’t checked it out yet, jump into the full episode on YouTube.
And let us know:
👉 What’s one thing from growing up you wish still existed today?