love is stronger than some coward who tries to step on it

i drew these comics in 2018 and 2019. for context, i’d completed a 5,000-mile solo bike tour across america, singlehandedly created and implemented a program to help send a handful of needy students to college, and just finished a hard season at McMurdo station. i was living in philadelphia for the summer — the first time i’d been living in one normal place (i.e. not a research base in antarctica or a lodge on the denali highway) since ithaca in 2017. i only knew a couple people there, and most of my days were spent writing, doing hot yoga, and going on long bike rides, so i decided to get on Tinder to meet people and have conversations.

back in ithaca, i thought i couldn’t love and learned that no, in fact, i totally can. then in denali, i met this guy who seemed perfect… and it still didn’t work out. “i’m not a relationship person,” i concluded. but that summer in philly, dating around and seeing who’s out there, i had a few epiphanies that ultimately led me to a fulfilling relationship. i say “epiphanies,” but they’re not exactly earth-shakers. then again, anyone who’s been “unlucky in love” can probably relate. sometimes the simplest lessons are the hardest to learn.