Age difference...opinions needed, please

LegacyUser

Hi everbody, I have gone unregistered for this...not for me but for the other person involved, since we are both long time boards users and I am not sure if it would be hard for him to read this...
I would need as many opinions as you can on a matter I am not sure I can be objective about...I'll try to make this post as short and clear as possible, forgive me if I won't be either short or clear...

The story: My boyfriend and I met on boards, we had a few chats and then he asked me out, at the time I was living in Cork (and he is from Co. Kildare, I am a foreigner, in fact I am italian) and he came and took me out for dinner...it was...the first time in my life that I looked in a person eyes for a whole evening, we kissed that night, then he came down to Cork again and we developed a relationship. After 2 months I moved to Dublin, where I live now...it was for him but also cause my sis lives here and I had a job waiting for me here...it was just "the right thing to do"...even if I miss my friends quite a bit, I still am happy with that decision.
Despite we sometimes said eachother "lets not rush"...we did rush...it just came spontaneus, we fell in love...we are together a bit more than four months now...in these four months we broke up 2 times...our I would call a very passionate love...those kinds of love that are difficult to handle at first cause they are actually scary...
The situation today: He just came back from his interrail 2 weeks trip and while he was away we had an argument (on something that is not so central to my main concern now)...after this argument was setted down he texted me that since it was the first time he had a long time for himself (he works lots for his age, tbh) he had been thinking about us a lot and, despite not taking any big decision, he wanted to let me know it. I couldn't be sure what he was talking about and we had another (via txtx) discussion...really stupid on our behalf. We almost broke up but I kind of forced him not to give up while away and by txts (it would have been too cheap and also, from a previous experience of me going 10 days to Italy, I understood then when he is alone he tends to panic and then regret it)...he came back yesterday night and I went to the airport as a surprise...we were both happy to meet and it's clear that love is still there and strong...
Today was the designed day for a proper chat and a proper chat we had...it comes out that while away he realized that something he told me previously has changed...
He is 23 and I am 33, once we had a serious conversation about when (more or less, obviously) we could see ourselves having a family...I said in a pair of years, he said in four...he then said between 2 and 4 years would have been ok with him, he seemed satisfied, genuinely...just a pair of days before leaving for the trip he also told me one of the reasons of his love was that " we want the same things"...
Today he told me that this travel with his friends made him realize he needs to live more like a 23 years old and he thinks he won't be ready for a family in less than five years...
He was sad saying this, is not something he threw in my face...
He is, in fact, quite grown up for his agel, he is, tbh, the most grown up person his age I know...he said he has no problem in having a partner or being faithful but he can't anyomre see himself marrying or havin a baby before 4/5 years and he doesn't think he could make a compromise on this.
I can see he is kind of disappointed in himself for "tricking" me...and I am not angry.
I don't want to lose him but I dunno if is right for me to be with him...
I would like your opinions while I try to form my own.
Thank you so much, everyone.

LegacyUser

I hope you don't mind if I bump this but i could really really use some external opinions, please...

Zaph

Seeing as you've had no replies and your thread has dropped off the first page I'm going to allow it, but if you still get no replies please don't bump it again as we don't encourage that on this forum.