It’s vacation season, which means you are probably in the middle of planning your amazing adventures. Whether you read on a screen or carry a paperback book, planning which books to bring can be a challenging part of packing. After all, how can you possibly predict what you’ll be in the mood to read after you’ve spent the day sight-seeing in Portugal or hiking in Vermont? What book will you want to end your day with? What book will be a fun read at the cafe while you’re people watching, or on the train traveling through Italy? It helps to separate out different traveling reading needs into categories. That makes it easier to find books to bring on your trips. I’ve got some what to read when travelling suggestions for you here, so keep reading 🙂
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What To Read On A Long Flight
It’s important that this book be long enough and engaging enough for those long flights. If you’re tired and the book isn’t engaging, you might fall asleep mid-read. This can mess with adjusting to your new time zone and affect how you handle jet lag. To avoid this, I’d recommend a book that is long and jam-packed with action and intrigue. Here’s a suggestion for you. Two books by Jamie Ford: Hotel At The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet; The Many Daughters Of Afong Moy
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What To Read When Travelling On A Short Flight
Sometimes your travel adventures are only two or three hours away. In this case, you want a story to entertain you for the trip, but you know when you get to your destination you won’t have much time to read. You want a quick read to make that short road trip or flight seem even shorter. Choose a good short read and before you know it that short flight and that short read will be over! Here’s a suggestion for you: Attachments, by Rainbow Rowell.
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The Quick and Easy Beach Read
We all have a favorite beach read, right? It’s that book that is interesting, but it’s not going to spoil your relaxed mood. You’ve got the ocean in front of you, the sand beneath you, the sun is shining, and that cool beverage by your side is perfect for the occasion. Some people like murder mysteries, or romance novels, or celebrity autobiographies.
The Calming Read
Whether you’re an adventurer who travels often or prefer a resort with all the amenities, you know that vacations and trips don’t always go according to plan. Luggage gets lost, you get lost, and time spent in airports is stressful. After you’ve had a full day of mishaps and misadventures and you’re wondering how this can possibly be called a vacation, it’s easy to feel down. Sometimes you just need a book that can ground you when you’re on unfamiliar terrain. Many people enjoy reading poetry or books that lean into the spiritual aspects of life. Whatever your choice for reading as a way to calm yourself, you want to create a mood that leaves you feeling hopeful and fresh! One of my friends enjoys re-reading mysteries for their calming effect—go figure 🙂 She likes the alphabet series by Sue Grafton.
What To Read To Psych Yourself Up For Adventure
Are you traveling to a brand new place? That makes you a brave adventurer. Even so, maybe you’re feeling a little nervous about it. Will you like the food? What if you don’t like the accommodations? What if you don’t make friends where you’re going? These are totally normal and valid concerns. So it’s time to put on your brave face. A great way to practice your brave face is to read your favorite characters putting on their brave faces! It can help to read about other people throwing caution to the wind and living life to the fullest. Maybe after reading about people going to space or trekking through the Himalayas, your plans to hike in the mountains or kayak in the Sea of Cortez might feel more doable and maybe even tame.
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What To Read When Travelling and You’re Homesick
You might say that you’ve traveled plenty and really did enjoy most of your trips. Still, though, your bed is the best bed and you miss it. Maybe you miss the routine of making coffee in the morning. Maybe you miss your family and friends you left behind to go see the world. Whatever it is, there’s something you miss. This is the reason you packed your homesick book. It’s a book that, either because of the content or because of the situation you were in when you first read it, reminds you of home. Whatever that book is for you, it never fails to bring you home when you’re feeling alone.
Reading About Your Destination
Of course when you’re thinking about what to read when travelling a destination book makes sense, right? You’ve read all the guide books and you’ve booked multiple tours, check. Your accommodations are in place, check. You have researched all the best restaurants, check. But what are the local people like? Were the guidebooks just catering to tourists? The best way to figure all this out is to read a book written by someone from the place you’re traveling to. And have that book be set in the destination as well. For instance, maybe you’re heading to Ireland. Learn about James Joyce. I’ll bet you will read Dubliners by James Joyce. This is just one example, but I’m sure wherever you’re heading you can match up some great destination reads.
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Final Thoughts On What To Read When Travelling
I hope these seven categories gave you some ideas about linking moods to what you’ll read while traveling. Maybe you already subconsciously do this. If you have some other categories that you consider when taking along good reads when you travel, please let us know. Here’s to Happy Travels and Good Reads!
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