I feel really lucky to have grown up in the era I did.

No cell phones, no Internet, just a lot of running around outside in the neighborhood and making our own fun.

It was a blast!

And I kind of feel sorry for today’s kids that are permanently attached to some kind of device from the day they’re born.

What will generations younger than you miss out on when they grow up?

Here’s how AskReddit users responded.

1. I remember it well.

“Being 100% unreachable.

No cell phones. No way to find you unless you told them where you’d be.

If I missed your call, it was just accepted I wasn’t at home and not ignoring you.”

2. I think I got it.

“Trying to memorize my friend’s phone number on the walk home from school so that we could tell each other if we got permission from our parents to have a sleepover.”

3. All summer long.

“Riding bikes all day until the sun went down without any contact whatsoever with parents.

We used to do that all the time in the summer. My mom had a big brass dinner bell, and she’s just go out on the back porch and ring it when it was time to come home. You could hear it from several blocks away.

So once it was starting to get close to dinner time, we just moved to within range of the bell. We’d still pretend we didn’t hear it the first couple times she rang it, of course, but that’s the way of the road!”

4. The anticipation!

“Waiting for a monthly magazine to arrive in order to get more reading material on a hobby/special interest.”

5. This is a big one.

“The ability to make mistakes without someone recording it.

Imagine not being able to make a horrific mistake, be lucky enough that the consequences aren’t too awful, and being able to move on with your life and reflect on it later.

One of the biggest lessons I spout for my kids is, “don’t do anything that other people will make you regret in 30 years”.”

6. Did you see Wayne’s World yet?

“Everyone saw the same movies and stuff at the same time on the same night.

So we all had common talking points at school the next day/Monday.”

7. It was very important.

“The Mix Tape.

The agony, the ecstasy, the cross-fade.”

8. The old days.

“Trying to call someone for a date and having to speak to their parents first.

There was usually only one home phone.”

9. Had to be creative.

“Having to spend a whole day, pretty much alone, at your grandma’s with no internet and basically nothing on TV.

You yourself had to figure out of entertainment and find fascination in the world around you. So what did I do, I read books, looked for small animals under rocks, mats, in ditches, looked for blueberries in the forest, climbed trees, practiced free throws, hit nails in pieces of wood with a hammer the list is endless.

Point is doing stuff like it is very important for the development of the brain and for better understanding of the world around you and for learning self sufficiency.”

10. I miss arcades.

“Legit arcades. Not the ticket redeeming variety.

And the smell of used cigarettes (burn marks in the control panels) and moldy carpets that came with it.

Added to the experience ironically.”

11. Keep your fingers crossed.

“Waking up early to watch the news to see if there was a school delay/cancelation.”

12. Little black book.

“Carrying a notebook handwritten with the phone numbers of all my friends and family.

That, plus actually having to remember phone numbers.”

13. Raised on the radio.

“The excitement of hearing your favorite band or a current song you love on the radio.

The wait, the anticipation, then the utter JOY.

That, and also when radio used to play in order the day’s top requested songs.

My cousins would wait and wait and then rejoice when Duran Duran again had the top requested song.”

14. We’re done here!

“Slamming the receiver into the cradle after a heated phone call.

Slamming it so hard into the receiver you ding the ringer a little.

My folks’ phone did that at least.”

15. The best!

“Waking up at 8 in the morning on Saturdays to watch cartoons.

Taught me diligence and punctuality because cartoons would run until noon (at least on the channel I was watching them).

So if I overslept then that meant I missed my cartoons for the week.”

What will younger folks never get to experience that you did growing up?

Tell us your stories in the comments.

We’d love to hear from you!