Customer Reviews

Delaying the Real World: A Twentysomething's Guide to Seeking Adventure

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am certainly not the target audience for this book. A few of my children would be among those for whom the book was written. That being said, I was in my twenties once and have some idea of the decades that come afterward.

The notion of the book is that a person has the whole world open to them in their twenties and need not - should not - simply rush into the mundane world of work and simply accept the easy and obvious job waiting for them when they get out of college. When you are in your early twenties you have time to take risks and even start over. The cubicle will always be there. An opportunity to visit exotic locales or take an internship to explore a fascinating career will not. Eventually, you have to get serious about life. For most people marriage comes and then children and the ability to just take off and explore something simply for the experience becomes something in your past.

This is NOT a book about slacking. It is a book about releasing the energy of your youth and contains all kinds of helpful information that will help you explore your dreams. I think it will even help people develop dreams. Why not say, "why the heck not!" and go do something cool?

I know from firsthand experience that simply living abroad for a couple of years is a terrific educational experience. It broadens your view of the world and enables you to see your previous life as an outsider. Most helpful in relating to others as you get older.

All this encouraging support being said, I do have to add this bit of caution. If you want to pursue an aggressive career to the "top", you have to remember that you are competing with everyone in your age cohort whether you know them or not. The most talented are likely using these years to move forward with great focus and determination. The competitive problem will only become apparent later when you have fallen out of serious competition. While you were building a rich experience base, they were building a resume that can get attention. So, while you dream and experience, try to use these experiences to move forward as well.

Fun book. Good job.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

You might also want to look at:

How'd You Score That Gig?: A Guide to the Coolest Jobs-and How to Get Them

Escape from Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams

This book is definitely a good brainstorming tool for those who seek alternative means of long-term service work. However, it is overwhelmingly catered to a middle/upper-middle class audience (not everyone has parents/relatives who would willingly support them for free, Colleen) and is borderline derogatory towards readers who have obligations other than self-righteously "experiencing life to the fullest." (I had to take an office job in D.C. after graduating so that I could be near both my boyfriend while he works to pay off some of his college debt and my father while he struggles with illness; the first few chapters of Ms. Kinder's book made me feel frantic and frustrated for being so "tied down" so young. Not very inspirational.) The testimonials that pepper the book, though sometimes interesting, are more distracting than anything and are basically repetitive variations on the exact same theme.

All that being said, the resources that Ms. Kinder lists are helpful. The tone and organization also make this book very magazine-y so that the reader can flip through to relevant sections without really "missing" anything. I would recommend this book but NOT to anyone more than a few years out of school and only in conjunction with more thorough, serious literature on the subject.

While the author does share some good resources and helpful hints, there was nothing eye-opening about this book. Basically it's just some advice from young people who share their stories and tidbits on venturing out on your own.

It gives many motivational first hand account "stories" told by various twenty-something year olds of experiences they've had abroad or in a new city.

Based on their "voices", positions they are in,(desirable internships, research grants, etc.) most of them seem to come from priviledged backgrounds as does the author, (it seemed she didn't venture too far from home for the interviews!) so this advice is slightly biased.

The tone of the book is cheerleader like designed to rally the confidence of the reader and while, yes, it is positive and possibly encouraging I found it to be a bit on the overly optimistic side as well as slightly pretentious.

This has been one of the few books I've ever read that has truly changed the way I think about life. It isn't just a list of awesome jobs, internships and opportunities around the world, but it's a way of living. The working world can wait! Why act like your 35 when your only 22? You've spent 16 years of your life being educated the way they want. Now spend a few years of freedom and independence to learn about the world your way. See the world, see the people in it. Money and material things can wait; they can never replace experiences, memories or relationships.

This book talks about all that. It gives you hundreds of very specific ideas on jobs, finding jobs/opportunities and how to make ends meet. The whole book is mingled with personal accounts from people who actually went out into the world and lived an amazing life. I work in a news room for my college newspaper, and half of the staff is seniors. I've left the book in the office, and everyone of them reads it and tells me how great it is. Best $10 I've ever spent!

I was searching around Amazon.com a while back for something that would maybe inspire me a little to do something out of the ordinary when I graduate college. Little did I know how amazing and mind blowing this book would be. I call it my bible. I already have about 20 bookmarks in it. Basically it inspires the heck out of you by telling you anything is possible and you can do and go anywhere in the world no matter how much money or who you are. And then it tells you exactly how to go about doing it. I would definitely spend the dollars for this.

I've read a lot of inspirational books, but nothing quite like Delaying the Real World. This book encourages people of all ages to step off the proverbial bandwagon and do something extraordinary.

But, unlike most other books, this one goes one step further. The author actually provides her adventure-seeking audience with all the details necessary to "delay the real world." And, no, it doesn't require parental funding. Delaying the real world is actually possible on a limited budget.

This book provides real life examples of people doing amazing things and going to amazing places in an effort to avoid the traditional 9-5 desk job. READ IT AND YOU'LL SEE WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!

This book serves as a catalyst for big ideas. Not everything is about "delaying the real world," much of the book revolves around readers identifying their own talents and putting them into action. It jump started my own thinking on how to make the best out of my twenties and beyond.

This book and others like it should be required reading for all college grads and other young people. It is full of ideas about how to avoid getting trapped in the work-a-day world too early in life. This book was of great value to me during my 20s (I turn 30 next week). I've enjoyed lots of character-building adventures in my 20s and this book always helped lead me towards rewarding paths. For example, I was a backcountry ski guide at a Colorado Dude Ranch, built a Swiss-Chalet style house high in the French Alps, backpacked around Europe, Ran with the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain and taught English around the world. My next adventure will be a complete 'Round the World (RTW) trip. This book is also good for suggesting ways to find fulfilling jobs and encourages the reader to always follow his/her dreams.

This book is absolutely great! I am 24 years old and was looking for a book that would give me ideas for traveling abroad and it definitely had everything I wanted to know and more. I highly recommend this book!

I enjoyed this book and thought it had some great ideas, especially for those who are young and not terribly tied down. Even better if they have a bit of money or help from parents. Not everyone does, and I certainly didn't fall into this group. At a certain point in my life, this book would have been really useful. Some of the ideas for having "local" adventures still are things people forget, though, and the others may be in the future if finances improve. Wish I'd gotten a copy of it sooner, but I actually think I read it not long after it came out, so that would be impossible! Even if you are somewhat settled in life, you could still get something out of it. There is this overall feeling the book gives that only young, single people with money can apply these. That's not true at all and other books point that out. Anyone can apply the basic ideas. They might just have to wait for the right time, sacrifice way more, and work much harder than she did. Another complaint is that in the version I read, there were some comments that certain groups (particularly religious groups, including one I'm part of) might find at least mildly offensive. I'm used to such comments, so I shrugged it off as plain old immature silliness. The author was still young when she wrote this, and probably didn't think her audience was so broad, and she may not really care. I also could have done without so much party talk, as it seemed to be needless fluff ... but that's just me. While some found them repetitive, I did actually enjoy the different versions of stories from her contributors, although they were all along the same theme. That's what the book is about, though, and I would much rather hear several people brag about what fun or exciting thing they did than just one! That said, I think twice about giving it as a gift to certain people. Otherwise, great read, and could make a nice graduation gift for many college or high school students, especially if they are into partying, have no obligations and a little money ... and not one of the groups that could take certain comments about their faith the wrong way. ;-)