Kim has got the life she’s always wanted to live: a good job, a husband who really loves her and a nice house in a good neighbourhood. Still, at some point of her life, she starts feeling like something is missing. Anxiety never lets her alone and her life doesn’t seem to fit her anymore. One day, she realises what she really wants to do: to travel the world and to write books. These have always been her dreams, but she’s given up to them a long time before. At the beginning, her husband Brian is really skeptical about that, but then he gives in and the couple finally decides to sell everything they own and to start travelling the world. Shortly before their departure, Michele, Kim’s first boss, gives them a yellow envelope which contains a short letter full of instructions and a 1000$ check. There are just three rules to be followed. One of them consists in giving away that money following the instinct and nothing else, in order to make the world a better place to live in.
From Ecuador to Argentina, from Nepal to Indonesia, Kim and Brian’s journey entertains the reader while teaching him that life has to be taken as it is, without forcing it or trying to be something we’re not meant to be.
I really enjoyed this book and I’ve finished it in few days. What really strucks me is the complete honesty of the book. Kim never tries to soften the blow and she doesn’t want to make travel seem as a 24/7 happy adventure. On the contrary, she tries to show us how travel can be heartbreaking and emotionally hard to bear and, at the same time, she also explains how the world can be supportive when things become unsustainable.
I think this is an incredible good book to be read not only for travellers but also for anyone else. Indeed, the main aim of the book is not to tell you “Look how brave I was! You should do the same!”. Not at all. The main aim of the book is to make you question yourself and the life you’re living, in order to understand that sometimes life is worth a radical change.