I'm 21 at the moment, but I discovered sex back when I was a boy, somewhat on accident and somewhat as a result of my own morbid curiosity, and since then it's been plaguing my mind making me wonder "What would it feel like?", "When should I do it?" and "Who should I do it with?". I've had some experiences here and there, although I never got to have actual intercourse, those experiences marked me though and mixed with pornography and with all kinds of sexual innuendos spread through mainstream culture they make me ask myself those questions almost every day. And now that vacations started it seems like a good opportunity to try it, even more now that I've discovered apps like Tinder where there are all types of women, of all shapes, minds and ages.

Now the thing is... I grew up in a catholic family and so most of my values and moral principles come from my religion. One of those principles being that your virginity is a gift to your spouse. I think that is a beautiful thing because after all, you can only lose it once, so keeping it for the person you want to spend the rest of your life with seems like a very beautiful and romantic thing to do. I've tried to supress those sexual urges by remembering this, as I would like my spouse to also be a virgin before we have sex for the first time (I wouldn't ditch them if they weren't, but it would be a nice plus) but even so, the thoughts are still there, and part of my mind also tells me that I might be able to give my spouse a better experience if I already know what to do. So again, I'm stuck between two paths.

I must say too, I'm also very lucky to have some very understanding parents that even though they think sex before marriage is a big sin (which I agree with), they would understand if I wanted to experiment it before settling down for good, and they've also told me that if I decided to do it I should use protection and take care of myself and my partner. This in some way calms me down, but at the same time it almost seems like an invitation to try it, even if it means giving up on of my moral believes.

I can't be the only one with such conflicting thoughts, right? Has anyone here ever gone through this that can give me some advice or tell me how things turned out for you? Maybe you managed to remain a virgin until marriage? Or maybe you didn't? How was it like? Did you embrace it or did you regret it?

TLDR: I'm stuck between the decision of having sex before getting married or keeping my virginity as a precious gift for my future spouse. Have you gone through something similar? If so, what did you do and did you regret it or not?