This book has so much potential. The adventure was fun. The relationship turmoil...something that we all went through at some point of our lives, even the happiest couples. But, it need a "Je ne sais quoi" to GRAB you.
That little spice that turns a "good book" into a "must read".

This book was a bit interesting. I was thinking it would be more about the places she traveled, but instead was about her personal journey. Which got a bit annoying hearing about her relationship issues when all I wanted to know about was India. Overall it was an ok book.

Kim and Brian quit their jobs and decide to travel around the world with their savings. A close friend gives them a yellow envelope with instructions to give the contents away.

I had mixed feelings about this book. I was excited about their journey but completely bored by the author’s continually complaining. I felt really bad for Brian, who was forced on the trip and then pushed away. I wish this book had been more about the places she went and people that she had met rather than Kim’s internal dialogue about her marriage.

I went back and forth between three and four stars with this one. It's about a young woman who, along with her husband, leaves her life in Portland to travel the world. I didn't think it was the best writing (some things felt cliched and disjointed), but I liked how different the author's story was. It wasn't the death of a loved or or devastating divorce that set her out on her journey. And she was homesick. And she has to figure out her marriage troubles while traveling. Entertaining read. Definitely makes me want to travel!

I really enjoyed the concept of this book - Different to a usual travel book. The idea of spending the money in the Yellow Envelope for the good is a wonderful gift from friends. There were parts of this book that were compelling - particularly travelling through India. The end half of the book was not quite as strong as the start but there are poignant moments that hold the reader's attention.

I had not heard of Kim Dinan before I read this book. I thought it was an inspiring and wonderful read. It takes a lot of guts to give up a settled life to go travelling. It is very brave to sell everything and give up your job. I loved the idea of the yellow envelope. It was a wonderful gift given to them as well as those who received money from it. This book is about trying to live life to the full and about lessons learned and adventures still to come. It is honestly and simply written and I really enjoyed reading it.

The Yellow Envelope is a memoir of Kim and her husband Brian's travel experiences when they decide to quit their jobs, sell everything, and go abroad with no particular plans. Friends gift them with a yellow envelope of money before they leave to be gifted as they go along, and from their first encounters struggling and failing to give yellow envelope money to it becoming second nature, they learn more about who they are as individuals, as a couple, as people in the world.

This was a fairly large departure from my normal fiction or famous-historical-figure memoir taste, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it delightful. While the writing at some points seem a little wordy or rambling with offshoots that weren't necessarily interesting, the overall experiences of living both frugally and generously over a period of greater than a year were conveyed well and descriptively. It is inspirational in the way many books involving travel are, lighting a small flame of jealousy and desire to similarly see the world, but it also was able to capture a very different feel. The author manages to capture well the unique dilemma of traveling - of the fear that sets in at first, of the homesickness that never goes completely away, of the exhaustion of always sleeping in different beds in different houses. And while the author was lucky enough to have had momentous and eye opening experiences, she also conveys the disenchantment and disillusion that can accompany adventuring when it doesn't live up to all your expectations.

While the memoir is filled with some rather gross scenes, it comes off as honest and well-written. I would recommend this for anyone who loves travel memoirs, particularly the gritty kind that showers infrequently and never sees the inside of a five-star establishment of any kind. The concept of the yellow envelope is also fascinating and inspiring in its own right, and should be an interesting read for anyone who spends any time thinking about altruism and how altruism is conveyed and gifted.

Thanks to the publisher for an advance digital copy!