This situation sounds quite similar to me. In my mid 30s now and the COVID pandemic has pretty much killed off the social life I used to have. A group of us moved from the UK to Canada about the same time 10 years ago and for a few years we used to do everything together. We'd be that big group at a restaurant on a Friday night, ordering cocktails and sat there for 3+ hours that everyone else rolls their eyes at. Someone would always be up for doing something at the weekend and no one was ever really alone. Today that group chat has gone cold. The last text message was from about Dec 2019. No one wants to do anything anymore, some have got married, some have had kids, some have bought that cabin up in the sticks and spend weekends there.

I go to the movies alone now. Instead of going to restaurants with a group I now sit alone in McDonald's or maybe a ramen bar if I'm feeling fancy. I'm a loner, I'm not really interested in romantic relationships, I might get a dog one of these days but the time isn't right at the moment. Do I feel sad? Not really. I've kind of resigned myself to this realization that this is the way it's going to be. This is my life . It's lonely socially and I don't have a huge number of friends left, but I'm super busy at work. I'm in (and actively leading) teams calls from 9am to 6pm, monday-friday, literally non stop. I get home exhausted.

My solution to all of this - VR. My oculus quest headset provides me with a great outlet on those fairly rare occasions I feel sand and lonely and need to reach out. I can play poker with a table full of people often with exciting and colourful lives of their own. I can watch a movie with a theatre full of people making witty or insightful comments at just the right time. I can play 1 on 1 mini golf with a stranger and have some deep interesting chats for an hour or so.

For me this is enough.