Book Review: Adventures In Opting Out by Cait Flanders
Opt out of taking the worn path and tread one of your own.
I got this book several years ago and it’s been on my shelf going unread for a while. It might've hit harder if I had read it back when I bought it.
I like the idea of opting out of things that feel like you have to do (having a traditional career path, living situation, etc) but I do feel like it’s hard to relate to sometimes, especially as someone who is home full-time with her kids. But then I realize that I DID opt out of something pretty major in 2020: I quit my job to be home with my child. In 2024 I opted out of some major websites because they made me feel icky (Facebook, Amazon). I also opted out of LinkedIn when I realized it made me feel terrible about my choice to leave the workforce to spend the earliest years of motherhood with my kids. So, even though the author and myself lead vastly different lives, there are ways I can apply “opting out” to my life too.
"There is a cost to staying on one path, especially if it doesn't feel like the one you should be on. Butt here is also a cost to walking away and venturing into the unknown. The real question that was embedded in each one of my concerns was, What price am I willing to pay?"
I sometimes got lost in the metaphors and didn’t completely relate to the author in her story (but that’s okay). Like I said, I wish I had read this before some I made some major opt-out's in my life. It might’ve made quitting the workforce a little less scary or uncertain. However, it has me considering where my community is as the person I am, and how I can create community with people on the same path.
Rating: ★★★.5
Book Summary
- Title: Adventures in Opting Out
- Author: Cait Flanders
- Genre: Self-Help, Personal Development, Memoir, Non-Fiction
- Who Should Read It? Anyone who may already be invested in Cait's story or is interested in a nomadic lifestyle and its challenges.
Synopsis: We all follow our own path in life. At least, that's what we're told. In reality, many of us either do what is expected of us, or follow the invisible but well-worn paths that lead to what is culturally acceptable. For some, those paths are fine–even great. But they leave some of us feeling disconnected from ourselves and what we really want. When that discomfort finally outweighs the fear of trying something new, we're ready to opt out.
After going through this process many times, Cait Flanders found there is an incredible parallel between taking a different path in life and the psychological work it takes to summit a mountain–especially when you decide to go solo. In Adventures in Opting Out, she offers a trail map to help you with both. As you'll see, reaching the first viewpoint can be easy -- and it offers a glimpse of what you're walking toward. Climbing to the summit for the full view is worth it. But in the space between those two peaks you will enter a world completely unknown to you, and that is the most difficult part of the path to navigate.
With Flanders's guidance and advice, drawn from her own journey and stories of others, you'll have all the encouragement and insight you'll need to take the path less traveled and create the life you want. Just step up to the trailhead and expect it to be an adventure.
