Can you imagine quitting your job and selling your house and possessions to travel the world for an indefinite amount of time?

I can, and I can’t.

Adventurous Leslie, who existed in college and for a few years afterwards, would consider this. Mom Leslie, who exists now, of course would not.

Adventurous Leslie who is somewhere still deep inside of me (maybe??) especially appreciated The Yellow Envelope: One Gift, Three Rules, and A Life-Changing Journey Around the World, a memoir by Kim Dinan that reads as a travel and relationship diary. It is honest, engaging, and beautifully descriptive about many places in the world I will likely never see firsthand.

It is, however, the additional element of the “yellow envelope” that moves the memoir beyond just another story of a couple traveling the world.

The “Yellow Envelope” includes a sum of money given to the couple before they leave on their journey. They are instructed to give the money away on their travels as they see fit. The only rules are: don’t overthink it, share the stories of giving if they choose, and don’t feel obligated to give it all away.

What I loved most about these stories is that they showed the good in the world. The author has extra money to give away to people who help her, and she does, sometimes, but sometimes she allows the people to help because they want to give what they can to her. Yes, there is hate and horror in the world but there is more good and beauty. We must always remember that.

These stories also appealed to my no-longer-so adventurous side. Because I have to admit I don’t feel adventurous at all anymore. I can’t imagine riding a train in Europe by myself – with no cell phone – as I did 20 years ago.

I can’t at this point magine going to India even though it fascinates me.

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The author though is transformed in India, where she participates in a rickshaw race across the country with two other women.

“I held the thought of India in my mind. What was it about that country? Something big had happened to me there, an inner shift from one way of being to another. India had forced me to surrender. I realized, to uncurl my fingers, loosen my grip, and let go. And the world had not crumbled around me–just the opposite. The world had come to my aid and shown me that I could be so much more if I let my guard down and revealed myself.”

Although I could not imagine following her path I applaud anyone who can. I can now understand her confusion here:

“More than once I’d lamented to Brian about how backward I thought it was that our culture accepted that people spent lots of money on houses and new cars and buried themselves under mountains of debt but that saving up a tiny pile of cash and then spending it on traveling could be considered irresponsible and selfish.”

She loved how fellow travelers asked her where she had been instead of what she did for a living.

The book shows all that can be gained through travel, especially through the kind of travel that is not “comforts of home repackaged in a foreign land” but travel that makes you “enter other worlds.” This is the difference between vacationing and traveling, she notes.

Though Adventurous Leslie has transformed, I am thankful I did at one point experience some of this type of travel for myself, and even though my sense of adventure may have lessened, traveling gave me much that I will have in me always. And I appreciate this book for reminding me of that.

Kim Dinan finds herself feeling stuck in her corporate life in Portland, and convinces her husband to join her in quitting their jobs and traveling the world. They basically sell everything they own and set off to try to find themselves as they learn about and experience other cultures. The adventure takes them through South America and Asia, and in the process they discover who they are as individuals as well as who they are as a couple.

Just prior to them setting off on their amazing journey, friends of the couple offer them money in a yellow envelope to be offered to others along the way. The money is free for the giving... the only thing is that they have to follow three rules: Don't overthink it; share your experiences; don't feel pressured to give it all away.

This memoir shares the experiences found from the yellow envelope money, as well as invites the readers to step out of their comfort zone and live fully. Kim finds herself questioning things along the way, but is a more confident and secure individual at the end of the journey.

As I read the adventures across different countries, I was reminded that to truly live, I have to be willing to take some chances. That's not saying I'll be quitting my job anytime soon, but I can definitely look for ways to impact others along the way.

This book is well-written and the story is easy to follow. Each country brings new challenges for Kim and new life lessons for the reader. By the end, we realize the truth of the importance of not overthinking things, and the reality that sometimes we do just that.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys memoirs, especially travel memoirs. It's a positive read and I finished with a greater sense of obligation to make my corner of the world a little better.

This book was fine to begin with, but it got progressively more dull as it continued. I expected a beautifully written travel memoir that described the people and landscapes in a way that meant I could visualise them. Unfortunately this was not the case. The writing was just fine and a lot of the book focused on the authors marriage rather than travel. I think because I expected one thing, I was disappointed to find something else. Another reason why I didn't particularly find the book to be engaging is because it wasn't funny. I know that certain things went wrong, but I felt that the author missed a chance to make the memoir a bit more interesting by presenting the events in a certain way. I also found the way the author talking about her purpose in life and the idea of giving to others a bit uncomfortable and trite. I feel like this book has been done many times before and it had no truly unique angle or voice.

Travels means more than sharing selfies in the front of famous locations, it means sometimes also taking the challenge of a complete transformation and openly and frightenedly accepting the unknown. This book is an extraordinary memoir of looking and finally finding meanings, and trying to make the world a better place, through small acts of generosity.

The Yellow Envelope by Kim Dinan is part travel book and part memoir. Kim decides she is tired of living the life she is expected to live - the right job, big house, etc. She convinces her husband, Brian, that they should quit their jobs, sell their belongings, and travel the world. Reading this book was a bit like riding a roller coaster. At times I loved it, and at other times the author's complaining annoyed me. The yellow envelope is filled with money gifted by friends to Kim and Brian and intended to be gifted to others during their travels. Even with the ups and downs, I enjoyed the book.

I hate giving bad reviews when people are obviously trying hard to write a good book. If there's obvious gramatical errors, or you can tell that parts have been rushed, or lazy stereotyping, or an obvious lack of research, or glaring continuity problems, or no plot then yeah, I'll call you out on it. But his book is something worse. There's nothing that was bad about the story or the writing style, or the editing per se. It's the characters that I found immensely annoying - and as this is a non-fiction account about someone's world travels with their husband, there's not a lot you can do about that.

*Deep breath - tries to remain constructive*

If I were to describe this book in one sentence, it would be 'one miserable woman's trek around the world'. There are problems with everything. Her marriage seems to fall apart, then magically get better. At no point does she seem to be excited, despite the whole worldwide trip being her idea and nothing really bad happening. This gets a bit tedious after a while.

I hate to say it, but I really struggled to sympathise with the author, Kim Dinan. She seemed to find the negative in every situation and even criticised others for being too spoilt and self centered (to be fair, she does seem to meet some horrendous tourists) without seeming to recognise that she had also acted pretty ungratefully. I thought it was a bit rich to be acting like a worldly wise hippy who got annoyed with part time travellers when most of the book is about how much she isn't enjoying herself. At one point she discusses a situation with a friend where a fellow tourist hands out school supplies and takes pictures with local kids - which she criticises him for. Her friend sees it as a man unafraid to get involved, whereas Kim sees it as pushy and self serving. I would guess that the situation was probably a mix of all these things, but again Kim seemed unable to see the positive side for herself. It was this pervasively negative, glass half full approach that really ruined the book for me.

I also found the title of the book quite misleading. The actual yellow envelope (an envelope of money her friends gave her to donate to others) itself doesn't make an appearance until nearly half way through the story, and the whole novel seems to be a more introspective account of Kim's thoughts and feelings about her life and her relationship. I failed to connect with Kim on an emotional level (I didn't understand her relationship problems AT ALL) so I wasn't really interested - I really wanted to hear more about the amazing places and cultures that she was experiencing. I simply couldn't understand why someone would convince their husband to sell everything (house, car, pretty much all of their possessions), quit their job and embark on a worldwide trip (with no plans to ever return home) if they were unhappy in that relationship - especially as her husband wasn't particularly keen on the idea and she had to spend months trying to get him to agree to it.

The yellow envelope money is just such an amazing gift but Kim and her husband seem to massively overthink the scheme and don't really engage with the idea. They do give money away, but they seem to struggle to do so and don't seem to get much pleasure from it. I thought this was such a shame as the money could obviously make a massive difference to the lives of so many people (many of whom were living in abject poverty) but again there was a negative overtone to the process which turned what could have been such a positive into a negative experience. I also got quite annoyed at a situation where a monastry asked specifically for regular donations not one off gifts - which the couple completely ignored and gave a one off donation. There didn't seem to be any kind of consideration to setting up small regular payments (even for a defined time period). Having worked as a charity fundraiser myself I know how important regular donations are (imagine trying to budget if you randomly got paid differing amounts every month) and it was this complete lack of awareness that really got to me.

I didn't like the way that Kim and her husband Brian failed to really engage with the locals. They seemed to keep themselves to themselves and didn't try to understand what life was like for any of the people that they met. Kim seemed to be so afraid of making a mistake that it really held her back, which for me was understandable, but a real shame. Because the couple seemed to just pass through destinations I failed to get any sense of place from Kim's writing which to me is the whole point of a book about travel.

Some positives - the writing is well structured and flows easily. Some of the places described (albeit briefly) sound incredible and there are some funny moments. There's also a happy ending which (I think) shows how far Kim and Brian come as a couple.

However - I just REALLY didn't enjoy this novel.

Perhaps if I had been more interested in Kim as a person and I could engage with her emotionally then I might have enjoyed the book more. If you're that type of reader, you may enjoy this more than I did - as I said, there's nothing wrong with the writing itself, its the content matter that simply wasn't for me.

Sorry Kim.

2.5 stars
Dinan is unhappy with her successful life. She plays by the rules, went to school, got the job the marriage the way society expects success to look. She decides to leave it all, with her husband and go on an adventure with no end goal. She wants to travel, see different places and experience the world. her friends give her an envelope with some money in it to spend making the world better as she saw fit.
So they go, and travel, but the book has little of the travel experience and focuses on the emotional turmoil Dinan is dealing with. The book became an emotional inner dialog of Dinan, and her complaints. it felt like she was so focused on herself she missed everything going on around here. It was not what I was expecting from the blurb, I was looking for the travel experience. This is more of a emotional development read than a travel adventure.

The narrator of The Yellow Envelope does what many of us have dreamed of doing: selling everything in our lives to travel the world, write, and discover who we really are. This is a must read! Honest storytelling and well written in a way that allows the reader to go along on the quest. Having talked her husband into going with her, she explores the emotional consequences of having made this daring decision, and she doesn’t hold back on the risks and benefits. Travel around the world with Kim and find yourself discovering some of the same revelations

I am disappointed by this book. I was really excited about the idea of the book especially the aspect of the Yellow Envelope, which is unlike any other travel book I have read. Yes, they go on many exciting journeys and escape the hum drum. 8-5 life that most people in the United States push through in hope of a brighter tomorrow that never seems to come soon enough, if ever. They also get to impact people in small but powerful ways as they distribute the Yellow Envelope money. At times it was even encouraging and thought provoking. This is why I didn't get it one star and if this book was mostly about this I would have given it a 3.

She mentioned how long they waited until they actually went on the trip and in that time she never learned Spanish so they would be more beneficial to the cause they were supporting in Ecuador. They also never mentioned a real plan. Meaning, a budget or loose itinerary. It all seems very irresponsible. The fact that they didn't even have a cell phone in late 2012 while traveling across the world was astonishing to me. There were so many times that they just really lucked up and got out of a bad situation.

So why they two star? Kim is one of the mostly unlikable people I have ever read about. She wrote this self deprecating book about her and her husband. She laid out all of their marital struggles and pointing their flaws. I understand this was to show who she was and how far she came but even by the end they still seemed to self-centered and have the same poor communication skills that was the foundation of the majority of their struggles. If she was able to talk to her husband the way she could talk to Wendy they would have had a better marriage to start with.

This book could have been a great book if it weren't for all the relationship struggles that made me feel super uncomfortable.

Gah, my feelings on this are SO mixed!

I haven't read anything previously by this author, so I went in with no knowledge about how it was going to turn out. I'm an avid traveler who would love to travel the world someday, but so far it's been "limited" to the US and most of Europe. I was fascinated by the places visited in this book, but felt like their details often lacked depth. I felt like more time was spent on the relationship between the author and her husband, vs the author and the places she visited. I actually thought the book could have been a little longer, and I don't say that very often! In the places where she does go into more detail, I did really enjoy the interactions with the locals, the dog(s) she temporarily adopted everywhere she went, and the descriptions of places...I just wish she had gone into that level of detail in more than 3 or 4 places in the book.

I thought the yellow envelope approach was brilliant - kudos to her friends who set her up with that. How it's woven into the story and how their friends' names now are written all over the world is very cool. I like how that theme progressed throughout the story!

I've noticed a few other reviews stated they thought the author complained a lot. I thought that too - at first. It's subtle, but her attitude shifts throughout the book as she grows, and the complaints are fewer and the appreciation is greater (aside from complaints about that one american on their tour later).

Overall I enjoyed it, but I didn't expect it to be a book about a relationship with her husband (vs travel).

I really wanted to love this book. I thoroughly enjoy memoirs. I also love traveling so I thought this book would be perfect. I'm sorry to say it just wasn't for me. I found the author, Kim too much of a complainer. She is traveling to places most people can only dream of visiting. How many of us can just up and quit our job and travel the world with our husbands to write about our experience? Not only is she getting to live her dream, friends give her money in an envelope to just give the money away without question. WOW, traveling and writing about it with a chance to be a philanthropist on someone else's dime! Most of us would be thrilled if we were able to do this, not the writer, she complained so much I just couldn't enjoy her description of the places she visited. The one great thing is she writes the scenery so clearly, I envisioned being there as well. Unfortunately, that just wasn't enough for me.

This real life story of a travel around the world is absolutely breathtaking. I loved this book. It is a tale that is altruistic and inspiring. I loved the premise of The Yellow Envelope and think everyone can fall in live with this book. I high recommend it.

Only a 1* for The Yellow Envelope by Kim Dinan. An autobiographical diary of Kim and her husband who, at her insistence, quit their jobs, sell up and travel through Asia backpacking, staying in hostels and staying with the locals. Before they leave, her friend Michele gives her a Yellow Envelope containing a cheque which she is instructed to convert into local currency and give away on her travels. The only three rules for the envelope: Don't overthink it, share your experiences, and don't feel pressured to give it all away. They struggle to decide when and how much to give away to all the deserving people, dogs and communities along the way and it almost becomes a burden to them. I did not enjoy the book, even though it is well written, because the main character annoyed me too much. She dillied and dallied about whether she liked her husband any more or even wanted her husband with her on this journey (even though she insisted he came) and i felt no sympathy for her complaining about things because she could so easily pack up and go home (in fact i told her to a couple of times), whereas those she met had no choice but to live their struggling lives. I finished the book because Netgalley sent it to me to read and review, but otherwise unfortunately i would have given up on it.

Kim Dinan is unhappy and wants to explore the world. So she and her husband sell their house, and all their worldly belongings, so they can travel around the world for an entire year. The journey ends up being one of person self-discovery and comes close to destroying their relationship for good. Keeping them going is The Yellow Envelope - an envelope of money that is to be used to help make the world a better place, in little or big ways.

I quite enjoyed this book. For a non-fiction book, it had a really great flow to it and was very story-like. It didn’t come off too preachy and I really enjoyed finding out about Kim’s journey and all the different people she meets on her journey. Her relationship with her husband Brian did irk me at times, more so because there was a point she did seem to be unnecessarily selfish though I liked that she was eventually able to recognise this and apologise for it. The relationship problems came close to overpowering the story of the travelling and different countries at times. Near the end of the book, Kim did appear a bit pretentious at times with her opinions on other travellers and she seemed to place herself within a higher power of travellers and seemed to think she was better than others at time because she had seen and done more at that point.

I did love all the different, unique stories that Kim was able tot ell and all the wonderful people she met and who helped her and Brian on their journey. It does give a sense of relief that there are still good people in the world. Overall, this was a great look at different countries and their culture and the inclusion of the yellow envelope money gave the story a nice twist to make it stand out to others

The instant I read the synopsis for this book I knew I had to read it. The Yellow Envelope follows Kim and Brian as they travel the world after giving up their jobs, belongings and lives. This novel is everything I’ve ever wanted for my life to be; traveling the world and experiencing life as others know it.

As I am still trying to figure out how to manage traveling the world and not becoming stranded or putting myself in incredible debt, I love reading novels about how others managed it. This novel was everything I hoped it would be.

I loved reading about the Yellow Envelope and thought it was an incredible idea. While reading, I was taken over by the thought of carrying my own yellow envelope on my travels. During the course of this novel I was taken over by the thoughts that we don’t do enough for each other and for people we don’t know. We are so stuck in our own worlds that we don’t notice if someone else is struggling or could use some good in their lives. This novel was great at showing how wonderful giving can make you feel.

I enjoyed how honest and open Dinan was in her writing and her experiences. It was sad to read about the problems between her and her husband, but it really shows the stress that traveling full time/long term with another person can put on a relationship.

Overall I greatly enjoyed this novel though it did make me a tad sad to read as I wasn’t experiencing the type of wonderful adventure they embarked on. I highly recommend this novel to travel lovers as it will set fire to your wanderlust.

I feel I have travelled to all the places Kim and Brian went to, I cried at some of the stories
But it also makes you think about your own life and how as westerners we take so much for granted
I would never be brave enough to do this but through this book I have seen the world vicariously through my namesake Kim

A psychological travel book, with a strong message, yet full of cliches. So many doubts and questions about whay was really just getting to know oneself through meaningful actions and interactions with others. A bit tedious at times, yet full of interesting travel tips and beautiful descriptions, insightful reflections about life and growing spiritually.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
Kim Dinan had been living a life filled with all the material possessions society dictates she should want but her realisation that she wanted more from life would see her and her husband, Brian, dismantle their entire lives to embark on an epic journey round the world, discovering new cultures and places but most significantly discovering who they wanted to become and transforming into those people. Kim and Brian’s good friends give them a $1,000 in a yellow envelope to give out wherever they feel moved by goodness or kindness, or where they think they can make a difference. This creates a connection between them and the numerous people they share the money with but also allows them to be better at receiving kindness when it is directed towards them.
This travel memoir has hints of Eat Pray Love about it, our heroine has an existential crisis and sets off around the world to resolve it. The difference is of course that Kim is not alone on her travels and she has the yellow envelope. Kim and Brian’s journey causes them to question everything, including their own relationship, which is sorely tested by the difficulties of travel. They have left their previous lives behind but brought their marital problems with them.
This is a very personal and inspiring tale. The discovery that most people that they meet are good and that they can connect with people across the globe, even when they have no common language, brings a huge amount of joy to their travels.
This will appeal to fans of Eat Pray Love and those who enjoy a good travel memoir. It inspires an urge to travel and self-reflection.

I love a book that takes me out of my life and allows me to visit different countries and cultures. And one that allows me to feel what the writer felt and experience those countries and cultures right alone with them. This book certainly did all of those things for me and in such a beautiful way.

I felt like I was a personal witness to the anxiety that travel can produce, the stress of trying to figure out a relationship while doing that traveling and exactly what it must feel like to be out of your comfort zone for an extended period. But I also felt the joy of the journey, and was witness to so many abundantly beautiful moments. The experiences with the Yellow Envelopes especially touched my heart and reminded me of the graciousness of humanity and how it feels to honor and respect those around me.

I highly recommended this book to anyone who loves a good Travel Memoir with a twist. This one had a beautiful twist.