A Year Without Make-Up: Tales of a 20-Something Traveler

I'm a new fan of Stephanie and I love how her blog is funny and encourages 20-somethings to travel.I bought her book after a few other bloggers did positive reviews on their blogs.Despite how much I like Stephanie's blog, this is a review of the e-book so I'll stick to that.The book is made up of improved versions of her old blog posts. I have been wary about books using blog posts but the stories in the book didn't feel like they were posts. Instead, they felt more like short short stories and were very entertaining.Since I haven't been following her blog for too long, some of the stories were new to me (for example, the one about 3D porn--you HAVE to read that). Those new discoveries were the best stories in the book.My only gripe about the book is that it is too short. I was able to finished the book within an evening. I understand that $2.99 is the usual price for self-publishing authors but compared to other $2.99's, "A Year Without Makeup" ended too soon.Still, if you are a fan of Twenty-Something Travel, this is a good chance to support the writer that you like. But the thought that part of the money will go to Thought Catalog (the publisher) gives me a stomachache.However, if you are looking for a long read about traveling, then Catherine Ryan Howard might be a better choice for the same price.

I'm currently 20 years old living at home working a 9-5 job and still do not make enough to live on my own. Granite I live pretty luxurious buying a brand new car when I first got my job and eating out everyday almost. I could defiantly rearrange my life to were I could live on my own (which has been the ultimate goal since I was 16) but just have not done it. Basically I tolerate the life I live. For the past year I have dreamed of nothing more than to hike The Appalachian Trail. Nothing but excuses have stood in my way. This book has defiantly given me hope and encouragement to reevaluate my life and priorities my dream. After I got my car everyone said "well I guess your not going on your "hike" now" and would laugh. Everyone has laughed including my parents and siblings. I would always reply "yes I am! It's part of my 5year goal". Then I would think.. damn, that's a long time. I don't want it to be for five years! I want it tomorrow! I want it now! I'm so overjoyed and excited to start buckling down for a year to be excited for 6 months. And who knows where the Appalachian trail will lead me :) thank you Stephanie Yoder for the hope..

I feel like I just spent several hours curled up on comfy chairs and listened to a friend tell me all about her travel adventures over drinks. Which I love! She tells you how she felt, honestly, and let's you in on the good and the bad of the places where she's been. The good parts are told in a way that makes you want to jump up and go there, with just enough detail to give you an idea of where to start without sounding like a list or an itinerary. And she doesn't really complain about the not-so-good things, rather she made me want to still see some things on my own, but I feel I would be able to observe and quickly move on to things that are more my style. She definitely inspired me to think of long-term traveling as a possibility and not a far-off fantasy.

This book was... Okay. It wasn't terrible. It wasn't awe inspiring. It was literally just okay.The length bothered me the most. At only 111 pages, there should have been a lot more book. There really wasn't much meat and potatoes to it. It had very few specific anecdotes that went into such detail that it transported me to a different time and a different continent. And the spelling and grammar errors drove me nuts. I've read unbeta'd fan fictions with better sentence structure.My advice, wait until this book is available for a penny plus shipping and then get it. It is definitely not worth $13+.

First, the positive: the author spends her life doing fairly interesting and out of the ordinary things. Props for that.Now, what needs work...The structure. It was choppy and felt disorganized, like a series of blog posts.Editing. There were enough typos to warrant paying somebody to fix it all.Overall, it was short and breezy, but lacked substance. I've heard friends that have done less traveling, and to less exotic places, bust out more interesting stories with more striking lessons while sharing beers at a bar. The lifestyle is the perfect pool from which to draw content, and now I'd like to see her develop as a writer with a stronger voice.

I would have loved more detail about her trips through Asia, just when we were on one topic it moved on to the next. And for the price I would have hoped for a longer book. But there was some good insight into travel and tips for when you take you trip. A good, easy read but left wanting more information.

As a 23 year old who loves to travel as much as I can, I found this book to be really insightful! I've been to one other continent and reading about a girl that is young and independent travelling all over the world for extended periods of time has me wanting to quit my job, cash out my stocks, sell everything and just go.

"While your twenties are tough and emotionally exhausting, they are also pretty intense, fun and awesome. That’s the reason I’m so keen on people traveling in their twenties. It’s such an intense time, when you learn so much about yourself, and travel just accelerates the process. And that’s what I wanted you to know."

It's a good honest book for noob travelers. The author has structured it practically. It is more of a opinion article than it is "entertainment" reading. The advice, as the author says, may or may not works for everyone, and thus the book is full of suggestions that are short of a guide. It was a good start. If you need to hear someone's story for inspiration, and are not looking for accounts that attempt objectivity (i.e. You really won't experience or view SE Asia like she did) then this book is for you.

Decent enough read, however it should have been a blog post instead of a book based on the length. The author barely touches on her experiences, with only a few very short anecdotes throughout.

Amazing quick read. She goes through every question or worry that accompanies a long-term trip. We need more books like this!

I liked the summary of the book however it was far too short and I found a lot of her comments were blatantly obvious and a bit patronising. The idea was ok but it lacked any depth.

A really great book logging one young woman's quest to travel the world. Starting with how she got enough money together, to how she made her money last on the road,its a perfect read for anyone who would like to take the plunge to travel, but needs a push! Yoder shares her triumphs, challenges and how she coped with the unexpected. Nice read