Visiting places that You used to be at a lot

Ever go back to visit a place you used to be at a lot, like a school or shopping center or anywhere else that you used to attend or meet up with people at? I know when I revisit some places, I remember the good and the bad. I am fond of the good times I had and sometimes wish I could have them back, but at the same time, wish some things had been better.

Would you still call it nostalgia if you long for a time that wasn't so great and wishing it could have been better or is there a different term for that? What places have you been at that brings back good and bad memories? I know for me, if I ever walk by a shopping center that has mostly restaurants and bars in it, I will wish that an acquaintance I met a few times there did not choose to become an alcoholic and ruin any possibility of having fun there by being nasty and just drinking too much.

If I ever see a school graduated from, I will be fond of the good times I had but at the same time, wish some parts of that time period were better, including not letting as many people use me or push me around. Sometimes when I see various places that have memories that are not so great, I use that as a learning lesson to reduce the possibility of any of the same negative experiences happen again.

I will say though, for some places involving being around someone who was an alcoholic or they were just not pleasant, I am glad I am no longer in those negative situations and in the future I can make better memories with different people in the future. Does anyone else have these moments where they can look back at a place and remember the good and bad, and if it was bad then you are able to learn from it. Just curious.

Sorry, but I wouldn't call that nostalgia. Hopeful perhaps. Nostalgia means to me a sense of longing attached to a warm memory. I myself don't link it to anything less than positive.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. I definitely don't miss the bad times. Heck no. I do wish they had been better though but yeah I definitely don't long for them.

I get nostalgic about a few places in my life...remembering good times with just a hint of bittersweet longing for the old times. Best wishes.

I don't like to visit places I used to frequent. I've been through a lot of trauma and all memories, even neutral/good memories, are "interwoven" with the traumatic memories, so it hurts even to visit places I used to like and/or be happy at and remember the good things.

Yes, I sometimes revisit places. Mostly I do it to re-experience good feelings, or just to see if the place is the way I remembered it. If not, how it's changed. And how I've changed.

Same with me. I like to revisit places to experience the good feelings. The places I have visited have not changed in terms of overall appearance. Although the college I went to did get a new interior paint job and new carpeting so it does look more modern but other than that, it is the same. The shopping center I used to frequent way more hasn't changed one bit, although I hear a major renovation may take place which it is in dire need of. I do agree with you though, revisiting old places I used to be at helps me experience good memories and I get to see how I changed over the years.

I do this a lot. The problem I have is that most of the places I feel nostalgic about no longer exist or are different places now. The Dominick by me is now a Mariano's. I used to go to Dominicks pretty much everyday when I was a kid. It reminds me of the summer and my childhood. I go into the Mariano's every now and then to try to get that nostalgic feeling, and I just can't.

I can think of only one restaurant I went to that's still around. It was a Mexican restaurant. I did feel a sense of nostalgia going there a couple of weeks ago.

Most of the places I feel nostalgic about only closed in the last 6 years or so.

I can understand that. It was the same way with my high school. Although I barely have any good memories of high school, any memories that may have brought nostalgia and even some of the bad ones really no longer exist since the high school I went to is gone. It used to be a 8 building campus style high school, which was unique. Now they tore it down and build a modern one building high school.

It no longer feels like the high school I graduated from. I have been in it several times for various reasons and not once was I nostalgic and not really even haunted by bad memories. I would hate it if they closed a place or completely changed it to the point where it is not even reconizable and I can't bring back nostalgic memories. Other than my high school, there are really no places that have closed or drastically changed. In most cases, they just received minor updates like my college did, involving a new paint job and new carpeting.

I worked at the Grand Canyon for 10 years, and I am revisiting the Grand Canyon right now. Visiting old friends, and seeing how things has changed.

Oh that is cool.

Since I started drinking, I have dropped hobbies and activities I used to enjoy, one by one. Part of my therapy is getting me interested in some, if not all, of these things again. I think that the hope is that this will re-commit me to those healthy activities and, in doing so, convince me to drop my unhealthy activity, the drinking. Recently, my counselor got me to commit to going to a park that I frequented every Sunday, for many years, to run. It is a two mile loop, and I've run as many as 7 loops before my "downfall". Visiting there brought back very strong memories. Training, races, studying the sport, breathing hard, weather, aches and pains, joy of hitting a personal best, agony at walking during a race...I started crying hard, realizing what I had lost. Well, I lost it, but could regain it again if I start to move toward reducing, or even stopping, the drinking.

It hasn't convinced me to quit, yet...but I am considering signing up for a local 5K. My adult daughter has said she'll run it with me if I choose to run it. I really need a healthier lifestyle...let's face it, none of us are getting any younger!

So...I have mixed feelings for my "nostalgia".

Since I've hopped all over the world thanks to the military, I would have a lot of places to go. But when I went to my family of origin because my mother was dying, it was so cramped and expensive. I wouldn't go back.

Places within my past generally retain little sentimental value to me, regardless of whether or not I revisit them. Ironically enough, I find myself experiencing significantly more nostalgia towards particular regions in which I have never visited at all.

I used google earth to revisit the places I went to in Rome way back in 1976. Knew I would never get back there physically. It brought back very interesting memories of the wonderful time I had wandering around Rome for 6 weeks.

I will be taking a trip back to Calif where I lived for 54 years of my life before leaving. Looking forward only to getting my horse....I definitely am not thrilled about the encounter it will mean with my ex as he is a real jerk but I have things I still want to get from the house. No fond memories of those 54 years at all.

Today I am going to an old building that I used to go to all the time when I was younger and into acting classes

I am pretty nervous the last time I was there I was there right after I got discharged from inpatient treatment and even though I had fun there I have many memories of being sick there

I took vacation to go back to where I graduated from. I had to see the lake. I mostly have good memories there.

Yeah I've done that I start to reflect and its almost as ghost appear of my younger self and people. Its sad when you see how much things have changed and the place is made with new things. So its not exactly all the things you once touched but there was a time you where there and it was different.

I agree, same here! That is how I feel when I see the college I used to attend. I can remember and picture how life there was back when I was there. And for the building that got renovated, even though the furniture, carpeting, and wall painting is new, I can still picture it as it once was and still remember how the old furniture looked like and where the booths that I sat at all the time to do homework and hang out with friends were at. Part of this is because the actual layout of the building is exactly the same, just new stuff inside it.

So I can basically see mental images of the past and everyone who was a part of it, including myself. But I will agree that it is sad how somethings will change over time and it basically symbolizes that times have changed. While what they did, renovation wise, was nice and actually was needed for years, it was sad to see it change a bit since it was different back when I was there. But I will always treasure the memories I had there, especially since I wasn't a big party person and I hung out basically in the same location almost every day for five years at that college.