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Age has almost nothing to do with it I'd wager.
Youth is gone when you decide it is, or if it's taken from you.
It gets harder to be carefree the older you get because you've accumulated things you care about. Jobs, kids, relationships of all kinds, possessions. The cruel trick here is that everything is changing, and almost nothing is static. You could get fired from a job you love, have kids grow up and turn rebellious, love fall apart or friends drift away. Everything could burn in a fire.
Youth as you're using the term is the carefree attitude towards these things. It just gets hard to be carefree about certain things.
But a life without attachment to anything becomes devoid of meaning pretty damn fast. Just hope that the happiness you get from something doesn't weigh less than the pain you get when it changes.

If that's what makes you happy man, go for it.
Successful is a word I would use to describe your situation.
We could trade fightclubisms all day. It boils down to are you happy?
Many "adults" that I know are just pretending anyway, denying themselves things they feel are reserved for youth. Others trade happiness for money. Big ol pile of screw that.

But it seems like you're happy and doing what you want.

I'm no therapist, but if I was, that would be $200 payable in models, see you next week.