In my mid 20s, when I lived in areas with good seeing, I could find the Andromeda galaxy quite easily on clear nights after getting acclimated to the dark. More recently, though, I've needed electronic help. A few weeks ago I spotted it from my driveway, light pollution & all, via an Olympus E-M1 EVF and Voigtländer 42.5/0.95 (at ~f/1.2). A very pleasant surprise! At 14x mag. with stabilization I could make out more structure than with my 10x50 binocs.
-Dave-