How Did I Get Here, Love Edition: How I Evolved into the Empowered, Child-Free and Happy Woman I Am

If you’re new here, I’m a single, never-been-married woman in my mid-30s, who is traveling and dating around the world. Over the years, I’ve grown from verbally abusive relationships, infidelity, and body image issues, and I won’t settle for a relationship where there is dysfunctional behavior or treatment, a misalignment of values, or a lack of physical chemistry. How did I get here? I'll kick off this chapter with a quote by Rupi Kaur: "How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you..."

How I Harnessed My Single Girl Power

I find myself reflecting, once in a blue moon, about how I’ve been largely single these last five years and what that has been like: half a decade making meals for one, without regular physical intimacy, holidays spent without a special someone, trips and photographs taken alone... And I’m wistful for a moment, because I want these things. I enjoy building a life with someone. Waking up together in the morning. Flirting, teasing, trusting. Loving and investing, with my whole heart.  And then I remember...