Knowing he is a 30-year-old with life experience and wisdom is something that impresses you.

Compared to the men your age or younger, he seems to have a lot of class and knowledge.

It feels as though a life with him would teach you a lot and enlighten you in a number of ways.

The guys your age or younger never give you a sense of wonder or intrigue.

If anything, they seem immature.

They don’t know as much as you do and don’t seem to have much of a direction in life.

Everything with them seems to revolve around having a good time in the moment.

There never seems to be a plan with them.

Additionally, their ability to solve problems never seems to be up to par.

Whenever you are around them, it always feels as though you are the one who is taking the wheel and guiding them.

You are the one solving problems and coming up with ideas for what to do and where to go.

Suddenly, you encounter a 30-year-old who is the antithesis of what you have experienced with men your age or younger.

He is so self-assured and has so much knowledge and life experience.

Whenever you talk to him, there is so much you learn from him.

It’s as though he is a library of information.

You feel so much safer when you are around him, both mentally and physically.

He has everything taken care of and takes charge.

He knows where to take you without you having to brainstorm ideas with him.

On top of this, he isn’t financially broke.

Yes, the men your age or younger tend to be financially challenged.

They struggle to pay their bills.

Several of them live as roommates to help pay the rent and split bills.

There have been several times you have been sitting in a clustered apartment among several of his roommates, crowding the meager space while they played video games and drank beer.

Little to no privacy.

Not so with this 30-year-old man.

He has his own place.

He doesn’t need roommates to help him pay rent and split the bills.

His place is immaculate too.

Unlike the guys your age and younger, his place isn’t filled with empty pizza boxes and beer bottles.

His place is organized and clean.

Whenever you open his fridge, it is filled with quality products and actual food, unlike the men your age and younger who barely have any food in their fridges.

There is so much you love about this 30-year-old man.

Yet, you worry about the 8-year age gap.

It is something you aren’t used to.

There is a constant worry about what your peers will think about this.

You worry that it is inappropriate.

To figure out whether dating a 30-year-old man when you are 22 is too much of an age gap for dating, think about what your experience has been so far dating men who are your age and younger.

Weigh those experiences with what you have experienced so far with the 30-year-old man.

Has your experience so far with this 30-year-old been significantly better than what you have experienced with men your age and younger?

Does it feel like you have a stronger emotional and physical connection with the 30-year-old man?

If this is the case, the 8-year age gap isn’t too much.

What matters most is how a man treats you and the connection you feel with him.

If you choose to keep dating men your age or younger so as to fit into a conceived notion of the appropriate age you should be dating, you will continue ending up being dissatisfied, and those relationships will be short-lived.