What does your social landscape look like, and are you content with it?

At the ripe old age of 26, I find that my friends are scattered all around the world. I’ve noticed lately that it’s troublesome to me—I’m used to having a couple close friends, and then a wider network, and right now it’s just the wider network, really. The people I do socialize with regularly (mostly coworkers) often aren’t game to go out in the evenings or on weekends, and I’ve noticed that people who are coupled off tend to be even more susceptible to that.

So I’m wondering, what does your social landscape look like at your age? Has it changed over your life (e.g., once you had many acquaintances, and now it’s just close friends), or has it remained relatively stable (e.g., always preferred just a couple close friends)?

Do you think your social life affects your general day-to-day happiness much?

How often would you like to go out and socialize, ideally, and does your reality measure up to that?

Has being in an intimate relationship changed the way you socialize with people? What about other life changes, like leaving school for the workforce, or going back to school? Have you gone from dissatisfied with your social life to more satisfied, or is it relatively consistent?

Feel free to answer any one of these questions or all of them; I’m really just interested in hearing everyone’s stories.