I think so, I was at uni in '92 and emigrated in '01. One of the best bits was being able to be bored - no cellphones, no constant online life, genuinely needing to find things to do. And limited information, so you ended up falling in with others and stumbling across stuff randomly (now we have algorithms that filter the world for us, it's not random, and there's no need to explore or meet people).

For me, it was also very affordable. Despite being a student, we'd go out clubbing once or twice a week, and in Birmingham that was heaving, as a postgrad I and my friends had National Trust discount memberships (and yup, student discounts were heavy), so regular weekend expeditions somewhere cool in the Midlands, and yes, going out with a group of you was kind of normal.

Oh, second hand books! Cavernous or maze like old bookshops still existed, my partner and I had our obsessions and we did expeditions to Haye-on-Wye and Edinburgh, back when they were bursting at the seams with them for stuff from the 20s and 30s. Mind you, on trips to London (Kew Gardens was a cheap day out, West End shows were in our budget even if a treat), Foyles and Forbidden Planet were worth the pilgrimage. Nowadays they're small and limited. Even Forbidden Planet in Birmingham was wonderful as it had US books and authors unknown in the UK - I did a double take once when I found myself holding the door open for Terry Pratchett.

In my case, my interests were pretty techie. I was into music and audio, which somehow led me to running across vintage hifi, which meant glowing valves and a fascinated obsession that had me checking out radio rallies over summers and falling in with a group of elderly radio enthusiasts. And having to learn stuff from old books from the library. Or in the early dial-up days, quickly logging onto CompuServe with a modem (if the line in our flat was free, phone calls were negotiated and our phone was on a 10m cable) to synchronise my newsreader with the newsgroups I was on. The Usenet was rather like Reddit and I became active on the audio ones.

Oh, and chatting was possible on IRC - internet relay chat - though I'd want to grab an hour on a university network for that. Very small global community of people, but I knew people that way, and we'd chat and argue in groups in real time. And which was cool, this was the wonders of the JANET backbone, something that expanded as the early internet became a thing.

Music was definitely better. There seemed to be a massive hit every month, and having only limited radio and TV channels, we all knew it. And we all had a general idea of who was who even if we had different tastes. I'd go and buy singles as they came out (originally 7", then mini-CD, then CD) as albums were investments and could be a bit of a risk as it wasn't easy to find out if you'd like the other songs.

General living, well, from rundown student accommodation to a first flat - incredibly affordable then, even if in a roughish part of town, I do remember it being more cheerful. Just been refurbished, so dark wood frames, white walls, and we got chintzy curtains. So generally light, warm, cheerful. Cheap IKEA in bright colours, colourful crockery, a collection of mismatched mugs. Everything still made in the UK. Ridiculously bright as halogen bulbs were a thing and we had a hot uplight in the living room. Still haven't moved on from colour and eclecticism, I'm so glad we're leaving the grey-on-grey with bare concrete era, shame it's gone straight into 60s revival meets dingy victorian.