Beyond Reality discussion

Talk to us about your reading habits when you travel. What kinds of books do you bring along? Do you listen to audiobooks on road trips or airplanes? Do you buy a new book at every destination?

I like to bring along book(s) that take place in the location I'm visiting, if I can find something that appeals. Preferably ebooks for ease of transport.

I thought of this question because I've been preparing for an upcoming trip by searching for books to bring! We'll be visiting Germany (Berlin and Hamburg) and Norway (Oslo and Bergen) so if anyone has suggestions I'm open!

Its been a while since I've done any real traveling and even longer since I did so for pleasure.

I do go through and make sure I have a bunch of audiobooks queued up on my player. I don't plan reads to match up with where I am going, just do my usual read what matches my mood at the time.

I always have my entire ebook library synced to my phone, so I have plenty to choose from there.

Almost always listening to audiobooks in the car, even if I'm just driving to the store. If its not audiobooks, it will be a podcast or radio show. I actually really enjoy road trips for this reason. :)

Flights can be different. There's something about airports that are unsettling to me and I can never feel comfortable enough to read or listen to much of anything.
On flights I think there is something about the noise that can make it difficult for me to concentrate as well. When I listen, its usually either something I don't need to really pay attention to much (rereads, comedy radio shows/podcasts/etc) or I just listen to music.

Another problem with audiobooks and airports/planes. There's nothing to do with my eyes or hands. While driving, I'm watching the road and interacting with the car. But there, I just sit and stare and do nothing. Its difficult for me to just sit there with nothing to keep my hands and eyes busy. This makes crossword puzzle books an absolute must. I usually buy a stack of them before I leave.

Its funny. I adore flying, I love watching the clouds below us and imagine the various shapes as castles and kingdoms and similar. I just hate everything else that comes along with flying. :D

I make no reading plans for traveling. I don't look for anything specific, I don't co-ordinate with my destination. I just make sure I have a couple ebooks downloaded. I always have audiobooks and podcasts.

Road trips alone are all about the audiobooks. Usually stick with music when I'm road-tripping with others.
I don't do any reading or listening on kayaking trips. I usually have something digital just in case, for down down at the camp site, but seldom get through much.
Planes, trains, and public transportation are inevitably audiobooks. I always try and sleep, with no success, on planes, so I keep my eyes closed a lot. And other forms of transportation I'm usually trying to drown out the noise, but I still want to see everything.
Airports are for ebooks, maybe in a rare instance a paper book. It feels too weird to listen to a book and then just stare at people, so I go with an ebook usually. Stare at my phone like all the other people in the airport.
Sometimes I take a trip that is purposefully for doing nothing, a nice location with a lake or a pool or the ocean, where it's just about the view and relaxation. I usually have a few paper books in this case, something that been on my shelf for too long.

I don’t purposely choose books based on my itinerary. I try to take paperbacks that my husband either has already read or won’t want to read so I can leave them in the airport/hotel/plane/ship when I’m done. Usually I’m interested in a pretty fast-paced story—mysteries & thrillers are good so I can get fully immersed in the story. Nothing too massive if I’m flying. I listen to instrumental music on the plane to drown out auditory distractions. I also make sure I have a couple ebooks downloaded that I can read if they appeal to me more than the paperbacks I brought along.

For road trips, it doesn’t matter what I bring, probably whatever I’d likely be reading at home.

I don’t buy books when I’m flying (don’t need the added weight & usually can’t spare the space). If there’s a cool used book store, I might buy something when I’m on a road trip. The classic example of this was when we drove to the Pacific Northwest years ago & went to Powell’s City of Books in Portland. We bought 3 grocery bags full of paperbacks!

I only listen to audiobooks when I’m driving alone. When I’m with others, I either play music or nothing so we can talk or the passenger(s) can nap.

I've only been to Powell's once and only had half an hour. I'm dying to go back. It's a dangerous place!

I usually bring me ereader, there are 100s of books on it
I will read but I never read a lot. I tend to either be hungover, at a inclusive resort or I am wandering around looking at the sights and reading only happens on the plane or at night before bed.
Now with that said it all depends on where I am.
I went out east a few years and my mornings were on the front porch drinking a coffee and enjoyed reading my book for a hour or two

I don't travel for pleasure, but on road trips to go see family I do as Kathi does - easier reads that I can dispose of when done. Paper. I still am not comfortable with ebooks. And unfortunately I can't hear audiobooks over road noise in this car. (I miss my 2010 Altima so much for so many reasons!)

My latest plane travel was to Hawaii and back. Ten hours for me each way. I don’t like audiobooks, so I read the e-book from the library for A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold on my phone. I also had the paperback of the book as a backup if I lost connection. The other thing that I did on the flight was to download the movie Apocalypto onto my Kindle Fire and I watched that. I also worked on writing a story for my writing group, so I was busy.

Not *too* busy I hope! :)