A Book Well Traveled

Picture by Debbie Tung.Me too.

I was one of those kids who always had a book with them. If I was leaving the house, I had a paperback clutched in my hand or a hardcover tucked unto my purse. Even if we were simply driving from our house in the country the nine miles to town for ice cream, I took a book.

I always had at least one novel stuffed into my book bag when I left for school because the 30 minute bus ride was just another half an hour I got to read. If my life was a movie, the other kids would've picked on me and tried to steal my book and called me a nerd, but my busmates were pretty cool. They just did their own thing and left me alone...

Except that one time a girl in the class above me told me to put a foil gum wrapper on a filling. Still makes me cringe in pain. But she didn't do this because I was reading, it was because I was an underclassman who she could pick on.

I digress.

My reading-in-the-car problem was probably the reason that I didn't know how to get a lot of places once I started driving. I was lost in the pages of a book rather than paying attention. That, and my shoddy sense of direction (thanks Mom).

One of the hardest decisions for my young mind to make while packing for a trip was how many books was enough to last the whole time I was away from home but not so many that I couldn't lift my bag.

Picture from Bushwick
That looks familiar.

I have books that are better traveled than some people my age. Some have gone to New York with me for family Christmas, one or two went to Mexico with me on a Girl Scout trip, at least one traveled to Toronto by bus with me to see the Pope, to Colorado/Missouri/Kansas/Wyoming to visit my sisters, dozens went to college in South Dakota with me, then home to Nebraska, then back to college- two dorm rooms, three apartments, and a house later they wait for their next adventure.

In the days before iElectronics, texting, and in-the-car DVD players (I realize that I just dated myself and it is happening more frequently with each passing year), my parents encouraged my siblings and I to bring books, travel activities, and pillows with us. And with a car full of four young girls, any trip more than 20 minutes was too long without distractions.

I realize now, it was for their sanity, not us.

My apologies. That was extremely mean to say about my parents. I am going to be doing so many dishes to pay for it the next time I go home.

Encouraging reading was just something my parents did and I thank the Lord everyday that they did. But I'll sing their literary praises in a different post.

Over the years, I have lost the need to carry a book with me everywhere all the time. It kind of happens when you are the one driving rather than being allowed to be an oblivious passenger. That, and all of the adult stuff I have to carry in my purse doesn't leave much room for a paperback let alone a hardcover.

Plus, wallets and flashlights, lotion bottles and knives tend to beat the heck out of a book. I have so many that went into my purse slightly loved and came out looking like they just went ten rounds with Ali, the neighbor's new Great Dane puppy. (There isn't really an Ali the puppy, but you know what I mean)

This book was pristine when it started living in my purse, poor thing.
(Not visible: the mental scars left by a heavy, blinged-out wallet)

I do make exceptions, though.

If I happen to be in the middle of a book that absolutely sucks me in, I might throw it in my purse to read over my lunch hour. Then I have to deal with being late back to work because I lose track of time and the inevitable haze that I get stuck in for the following hour because I want nothing more than to get lost in the story once again.

What about iPads and Kindles and Nooks, oh my?!

E-readers have definitely made traveling with books much easier. Instead of having to worry about making your suitcase so heavy you can't lift it, you can just throw a Kindle or iPad in your bag and tote thousands of books with you at less than a pound total.

It's not the same as a real book (I'm not a book snob, I'm really not!).

I have an iPad that I have a hundred or so books on. It goes everywhere with me. And e-readers are significantly lighter and hold more books and plastic holds up to abuse a little better than paper...

Still not the same.