'When I was young' means 20 years ago for someone, and 50 years ago for another. The phrase can not locate any specific date. But you could at least say that it is not hundreds of years ago. When you hear 'When I was a child', he is mentioning something in the past but it is obvious that he wants to share the something with you. He is saying we belong to the same kind of time named history.
That said, when I was a child, road was a dream. I remember. It was an impossible fantasy for this miserable defeated country to have the modern transportation network.
It is just amazing to see the well maintained smooth carpet inviting us to everywhere nation wide. This is almost a stupid science fiction.
