The best travel companion

Happy Friday, world!

Since my decision to move away from home, traveling has become a bigger part of my life that it ever has been before. Between trips home, having money from a stable job to take vacations, and traveling for work I've been on the move more than I have in my entire life. Although the airport can be a stressful and busy place, I find solo travel to be pretty enjoyable. I love having the opportunity to reflect on my trip ahead of me or the memories I just created as I await my plane. Another thing I love about traveling is the opportunity to get into a good book. I haven't found anything that makes a flight go by faster than a great read! 

When I was in college I realized that while I found reading to be pleasant, I never picked it as a recreational activity. I never read books for pleasure, had any lying around, or invested in a digital reader. The extent of my reading at that point in my life was textbooks and required reading for school. That disappointed me. I made the decision to put energy into finding good books and actually setting aside time to read them. My first step was buying a Kindle. It was an excellent choice for me at that time because I could bring one item and have multiple options all in one place! This was great for the beach or any traveling I happened to do.

After college, I found myself using my Kindle less and staring at the empty spaces on my bookshelf I kept in my room. Although the Kindle afforded more convenience and options, I was beginning to miss physically turning pages and having a concrete collection of the books I loved. It also proved more difficult to recommend a book to a friend. It's much easier in my opinion to recommend something and then let said person borrow it. They are more likely to read it since they don't have to seek it out! And truth be told, I love being on the receiving end of that! 

While I still keep my Kindle around for trips to the beach, {it's so much easier- especially on those windy beach days!} my favorite travel companion is a nice paperback book. They don't take up too much space or add excessive extra weight, and one book is plenty for the kind of travel I do nowadays. I picked up a new book a few weeks ago before a girl's weekend and am enjoying it so far. It's called 'The Paris Wife' and is a novel about Hemingway and his wife. 

I will be sure to let you know what I think after it's finished. If you're looking for a new book, here's a few I've read recently that I enjoyed: 'Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn, 'Wild' by Cheryl Strayed, 'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green, and 'The Life of Pi' by Yann Martel.

What are your favorite travel reads? Do you have a specific travel ritual that you love?

Have a wonderful weekend!

xoxo. T