Introduction

You’ve got this pearl of a decade in front of you: THE TWENTIES. This is the prime of your life! You’ve been on a straight educational path since you learned to tie your shoes, and now suddenly you’ve got a diploma, enough energy to run the length of the globe, and all of the freedom in the world. So how are you going to spend the glorious days of your independent youth?

In a cubicle, perhaps? Filing papers, or maybe crunching numbers? How about answering phones and scheduling meetings?

Wrong! Now is the time to do exactly what you want to do and fulfill your wildest dreams. Don’t be in such a rush to become boring! Let the early years be more unconventional and experimental. Try things you might never have the chance to do again. When else in life will you have such freedom? If you wait for retirement, the experience won’t be nearly as cool. A thousand fleeting opportunities are waiting for you, and there is nothing holding you back from taking your pick. A year of teaching in Brazil? How about working on a vineyard in New Zealand? Or maybe biking across the U.S. strikes your fancy. From event planning at a Las Vegas resort to counseling at a wilderness camp for homeless children, you have such a rich variety of options you won’t know where to start. Delaying the Real World is the perfect tool for beginning your hunt.

Every chapter has a handful of stories from young people who have done wildly inspiring things and lived to tell about them. So if it seems like everyone around you is doing the same 9–5 routine, let the spirited tales of these adventurers knock your socks off and give you a taste of what you too could do with a leap of faith. Pick one of the delicious options from the book and you’ll be the envy of all your suit-wearing friends.

The coolest thing about any adventure you choose is that it will be a valuable experience and may even catapult you into a future career. You can never go wrong in doing what you love, because it will only lead you further into your passion. Anyone who says doing the Peace Corps in Botswana or acting in a Shakespeare festival is a waste of time needs to crawl back into their office space. Every experience in this book has the potential to be enriching, useful, and even life-altering. To ease any doubts you may have, the "Keeping It Real" sections at the end of each chapter highlight ways that your chosen post-college adventure will be constructive for your future.

So read on, dream big, be gutsy, and make your twenties the sweetest decade of your life.

◊ Get started now with the “Ten Pillars of Delaying the Real World”

◊ Find out what other delayers have to say

Essays and articles by Colleen Kinder: ◊ One Man’s Prison @ Salon ◊ “What Will YOU Do After Graduation?” ◊ Original essay written exclusively for Powells.com