Reading real books on the road -

As part of our Life on the road series I could not, not include reading real books on the road!

There is nothing quite like picking up a REAL book. You know the ones, with dog eared pages, holding wonderful adventure, romance or intrigue.

Although we have a HUGE digital library with us, mainly educational, autobiography and travel books for educating Miss B while we travel. But we also do have fiction books in digital format.

There is nothing like Reading real books on the road

When we first took off over four and half years ago (this time, we have done it before). We were very conscious of weight. It seemed reasonable, that we did not want a library with us on the road.

Fast forward to free camping on the beach with beautiful weather and the sound of the waves rolling in and I was very grateful I snuck a couple in! (Just kidding he knew, but knew better than to argue with me lol).

Time for reading real books on the road

So, however long you have managed to get away for, while in the usual day to day grind of work, family and life, you had to fit in a chapter here, or a chapter there. While either going to and from work, dropping the kids off or waking up at ridiculous early o'çlock to fit some reading time in.

Now you are on the road and you finally have some time to relax, breathe and READ! You need a real book to fully immerse yourself in the moment. So, how do you justify the space & weight of having REAL books in your caravan or motorhome.

Finding books to read when travelling

The obvious one that jumps to mind is libraries. Depending on how long you ae in areas you can always sign up for a guest membership and borrow a couple of books at a time. In some states your existing library membership can be used for guest borrowing at other libraries which has proven beneficial to us on more than one occasion.

Then there is Street Library Australia. AMAZING is all I can say. These little beauties can be found all over Australia in all shapes and sizes, where you least expect them!

Little treasure troves suitable for all ages and ever changing so always worth stopping and investigating their contents.

Camp Kitchens

It is quite interesting what you can find left behind by other travellers. On eof the best places to check is in the camp kitchens at caravan parks. They, like all of us, hate to see waste and are watching weight in their rigs. So, when something has been finished with or not being used as much as they thought, they are more than happy to leave it for someone else, who will use it.

This is the same with reading material, books magazines ect. They leave them there, so someone else can get enjoyment and use out of them. Always check out the camp kitchen for reading material. Read it, return it or swap it for one you are finished with Share the love!

Laundries in Caravan Parks

Laundry and washing on the road is something we all must do even while on holidays or fulltime travel. As the laundry is a communal place, often you will find books, kitchen items and other things that again, other travellers have finished with and want to pass it on to someone who needs it. Check it out!

Opshops

We all know what gems can be found in opshops. Whether that be a remote country opshop open for two hours a day, three times a week, or a inner city huge opshop that takes you an hour to explore. These are great ways to pick up cheap books that you can then pass on at the next street library or camp kitchen you visit after you have finished reading.

Kids books - they read so fast and get bored easily with the same books

Especially young kids, we all want to pass on a love of reading but they get sick of the same book over and over and we don't want to diminish their joy of reading - it is something to ignite and will stay with them a lifetime.

The opshops above is a great place to source new books at an affordable price and keep variety in their life!

But there are also facebook groups of other travelling families, like Travelling Families Book Exchange that you can connect with and exchange resources & books and if you have young ones this is great to be part of!