What would you do if you stopped waiting for someone to join you?

Eating Adverbs is a memoir-driven guide to building a life of deliberate independence-the kind you choose on purpose, not because circumstances backed you into it. Through personal stories, research, and practical exercises, it invites you to reimagine the moments you've been putting off: the solo dinner reservation, the trip you keep planning with someone who never commits, the afternoon that belongs entirely to you.

Structured around five categories of adverbs-Time, Degree, Manner, Place, and Frequency-the book moves from the hesitation of Later and Someday to the fluency of Regularly and Always. Each section reframes independence as a skill-something you learn, practice, and eventually stop having to think about.

This book is for you if:

• You're navigating a life transition-divorce, empty-nesting, starting over after loss-and figuring what solo looks like now.
• You've been postponing experiences until someone else is available to share them.
• You already embrace solo experiences and want to go further.
• You're drawn to books that blend personal narrative with research and practical tools.

Tommy Hensel has spent a lifetime doing things solo-dining, traveling, surfing (once, in Costa Rica, on Christmas morning-a story illustrated in this book). His working premise: most people arrive at independence accidentally. Eating Adverbs makes the case for doing it on purpose.