How can someone 5 year younger be at a different life stage?

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Than me ?

When I was on a bus somewhere today, I got complimented about my scarf by this young woman who was studying at college and I complimented on the nice coat she was wearing, she seemed to take a liking to me, she seemed nice but I felt awkward and strange as I am someone 30+ and passed the days of college and she probably didn't know how old I was and I thought was younger but she never asked me and I didn't know what she was thinking. I do feel quite frustrated because I feel that as a man of my age I shouldn't go anywhere near going out with women more than 5 or 10 years younger than me because of being at a different stage of life to me.

You're right, that people in different stages in life usually have different needs and priorities, which can be fine for friendship but not necessarily a romantic relationship.

But, you say she complimented you first. That's a good sign that she is comfortable around you. Maybe she didn't realize that you were so much older than she is. Of course, she could also have gone to college later than usual, maybe after some time working full time, so the age gap might not be as large as you think.

Ultimately, you had a nice moment with a stranger. That's good. That's enough. If something like that happens again, you can offer to take them to coffee/tea/lunch/whatever makes sense at the time, and maybe that will happen or maybe it won't.

Keep being the kind of person that a woman can feel comfortable around, and at some point the nice moment will expand into even nicer moments.