I Forgot a Book: This Business Traveler’s Worst Nightmare

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“I forgot a book.”  Those are the words my husband texted me once while waiting to board his flight for a business trip.

For me, not having a book for a long flight – especially one without kids – is what nightmares are made of, but to him it wasn’t a big deal. 

I plan for weeks what my reading material will be when I’m flying. How many books to bring, which ones will be on the Kindle, a magazine for times when electronic devices must be shut off.  I even make sure to have an audio book loaded up on my phone in case I can squeeze in some listening time.  And a long flight without kids?  A reader’s heaven.

But my husband is not a big reader. It’s not completely his fault, due to his dyslexia, so it didn’t surprise me at all that he didn’t think to bring a book.  I read more books in a month than he reads in a year.

If by some slim chance I did find myself awaiting a flight with nothing to read, which is highly unlikely thanks to the Kindle app on my phone, you can be sure I’d be hunting down the airport book store.

I am flying next week for business and after booking the itinerary and making plans for the kids for the days my husband will be at work, I immediately began to plan my reading material. GoodReads is taunting me that I’m consistently 3-4 books behind my goal for the year, so this is the perfect time to get caught up.  Or, do I buckle down and read that “book more than 600 pages” for the Pop Sugar Challenge?

Two 3-hour flights, plus 4 nights alone in a hotel, means a lot of reading time, whether it’s multiple shorter books or one long one. Not to mention any audio books during my drives to the airport and any walks I might squeeze in.

So the next question is, what to bring?

I prefer to not bring physical books, and I have Kindle First books downloaded, the Pop Sugar Challenge to continue working through, and a couple of review books. Fortunately the review books are digital, and most of the books I want to read for Pop Sugar are also available on Kindle, though whether they’re available through the library is something I’ll need to find out.  I’m sure I’ll come up with a plan before I head out of town.

Tell me, where is reading in your list of priorities when planning to travel? Do you spend weeks deciding what to bring or just grab whatever’s on the top of your to-read pile?

In case you missed it, last week we shared where you can find cheap — and FREE — books for your eReader. So you can get stocked up!

Also find more book suggestions on our Books Pinterest Board.

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