Life is like a hike. Leave your stuff behind in your Dad's basement and travel. I'm sorry to say that this book was not for me. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

I really like the message of this book, listening to your gut, managing the pushback you might get from opting out, keeping important people in your life even if they might not understand… I think the tone and writing style just didn’t work for me. All of the analogies were cute but didn’t always make sense, and it veered more into self-help and giving directions rather than telling the story of how she spent a year traveling from place to place. I think these days I prefer my “self-help” more in the form of reading what works for other people and taking what might work for me over an instruction manual, and that’s a little what this felt like.

I read Cait's first book and loved it. I had been following her for a few years before that. She puts a lot of heart and soul into her work and her latest book is no different. I loved the hiking analogy that was used throughout and the illustrations give that added outdoors feeling. It's a book that gives you lot to think about for sure. I am looking forward to getting a finished copy when it comes out.

This is the second book I've read by this author, and while I liked the book, I feel like there wasn't enough to fill a whole book. The book somehow felt lacking. But I did still enjoy it.

I’m not sure what I expected from this book. Like the author’s previous title, The Year of Less, it had an intriguing concept and the author/narrator is likeable enough, but it just seemed a little ... thin. This is the kind of content I might enjoy in the blogosphere, but when I settle into a book I guess I expect something a little meatier. I tend to like books that use studies, interviews, and other sources to illustrate their points, and this is more reflective of the author’s own experience (that’s on me for expecting it to be something other than what it was). Still, the philosophies presented here are worth engaging with in some form or another, and Flanders is both direct and accessible.

Thank you to NetGalley as well as the publisher for an eARC of this title. Views expressed here are my own.

First off, thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for this ARC; I read Cait’s first novel last year and fell in love with her knowledge and way of articulating words and Adventures in opting out is another brilliant piece. While the majority of the novel is travel/hiking based; you don’t have to be either of those things to enjoy it. Opting out is a personal journey, one that takes you on a journey (much like travel and hiking) with peaks and valleys, learning that even though that first step is terrifying it’s also the closest means sometimes you’ve just got to take a chance in opting out and finding out exactly what you want in life. It teaches you to celebrate and to be more deliberate in your actions and movement. It’s a self help book that’s slightly different than the rest, one that makes you feel like you can take that journey, you can take that step, that you can opt out and start whatever adventure you choose.

Second book I’ve read by this author.This one involves her year of opting out living a life where she gives up her home wanders without true roots.Very interesting idea very well written.The author gives the reader a lot to think about of our own personal life choices.#netgalley#littlebrown

Adventures in Opting Out is an interesting read and parallels the author's journey via the idea of hiking/mountain climbing. Each chapter develops starting from the bottom of a mountain until one reaches the summit. The author faced many challenges along the way, both in her personal life as well as on actual hikes and a trip to Europe. She gives up her home to travel for a year, only to have difficulties along the way. I really enjoy Flander's writing style but did enjoy her first book a bit more. I think it is because this book identifies itself more as a "self help" book, when I wanted more of a "Memoir". I wanted to hear more details about her trip, and not as many references to hiking. All in all, it was a good book that I am glad to have read. I would give it 3 1/2 stars. Thank you to Netgalley for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked the tone of this book! I wasn't familiar with Flanders work before I dove into this story.

Flanders shares advice from her life of travel and her pursuit of things that made her feel happy. I like the metaphor of climbing the mountain and each step being a phase along the hike to get to the summit. I like that the author acknowledges that it's hard and sometimes you lose friends and you change and that's ok.

I like the advice, but at times it felt like the author was trying to justify why she was giving advice, or share her credentials for advice giving which felt like it took away from the story to me. I was also confused because I haven't read Flanders previous work and was unfamiliar with her time traveling and thought the story would be more about that.

Overall the book was around 3.5 stars for me because the advice was interesting and I like the idea of being intentional when making decisions, even if that decision is to quit.

I liked the overall read about how to improve one's life as an analogy of climbing a mountain. I would have preferred to read more personal impacts/stories of how the author achieved this instead of just talking about the steps. Overall it was a quick read - would give 3/5 stars.

I'm very conflicted in this review as I love Cait Flanders and really enjoyed her debut The Year of Less. This follow up somewhat missed the mark for me. I kept waiting for her to dive into her life abroad but it was so piecemeal that I never felt I was getting into a flow. The book is organized into elements of a hike which is personally where I feel this book is flawed as there is. lot of style of substance. Nothing is bad in here--it just feels like a lot of very basic advice when I would have preferred to have more of a personal narrative of her journey.