Monday, April 16, 2012

Vacation Book Reading


Some of you may have noticed my moaning this week (I can't remember where... Twitter? Goodreads?) about how vacation reading plans never seem to work out. It's so frustrating! So I thought I'd take my moaning further to a full on blog post here.

So let's see, this past week I took five books with me on vacation and bought one more while gone. One of those books I was nearly done with, I had maybe 30 pages left, and so I finished that, though it took me the first three days of the trip. (Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta)

Then, I started another book, and read 125 pages of it ( Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson)  And the other book I read about the same amount of pages (Return to Exile by E.J. Patten.) BUT, I had hopes of finishing them both, and starting on yet a third!

So why is it so hard to read while on vacation? Do you have the same problem? I always expect to have so much down time. I figure I can read while driving, and at night and in between things. But, it never happens.

In the car I end up wanting to watch the scenery fly by (what are road trips for anyway if you don't look out the window and watch stuff, you know?) Besides that, I'm not the best car reader anyway.

The down time never happens because we always end up going non-stop for the most part. When ever we find some down time, we are thinking... so now what do we do? What's next?

Which means at night, I'm exhausted and can barely hold my eyes open for a chapter or two. Such a bummer!

Then with this trip I also made the mistake(?) of taking the computer along and so many times I found myself playing on it instead of reading. Naughty!

I dream of a vacation where I CAN actually read all day if I wanted to. I wonder if it will ever happen.

How about you? Do you manage to read on vacation? Or are you always constantly going? Do you dream of a reading vacation? Or would you feel guilty about not getting out and seeing things?







15 comments:

  1. I am always on the go when on vacation. I usually want to do and see everything I can. I want my money's worth of excitement and knowledge when I take a vacation. I usually take a vacation from reading when I leave town.

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    1. Kami: Yep, that sounds like us on vacation, though I still wish there could be a happy mix between the two.

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  2. I always feel guilty for reading in the car. I do it, but I feel guilty.

    We're going on a weekend trip this weekend. I'm taking like 8 books, no lie. I will likely finish none of them.

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  3. I only read on trips when I'm alone. I had to travel for business a few years back and always read (or slept) on the plane and read in the hotel. But, because I wasn't doing any sight seeing for the most part, I could easily read.

    When I'm on vacation for real, I don't read hardly at all. Too much going on. Plus, I want to have fun doing other things, like swimming, shopping, amusement parks, etc. I think I'd actually have to plan a reading vacation to read.

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    1. Jenni: I've never once been on a trip alone. Maybe this should be on my bucket list?

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  4. I do not go on too many vacations but when I do I usually only bring one book. If I were to complete one book then all is good. Oh...maybe I bring two just in case. Car reading, by the way, has become more difficult the older I am getting - headaches set in...ugh.

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    1. Ibeeeg: I'm actually getting better at the car reading thing. When I was a kid... no way. But now, as long as we are going straight and steady, I can do it.

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  5. It all depends on the type of vacation for me. For example, when I went to D.C I brought a book to read on the plane and even went to a bookstore and bought a few books but I didn't read ON the vacation, it was just too busy. When I went to Oregon and spent a week in a beach house I read plenty. Because that's exactly what I went to do.

    So, yeah, it just depends on the type of vacation I want. It sounds like you guys had fun so I wouldn't worry about whether you got any reading done. ;)

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    1. Jenny: A beach house in Oregon? That sounds like total heaven!!!

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  6. I agree that it depends on the type of vacation. I almost always read in the car (when I'm not handing out snacks or trying to break up the sibling bickering!) and if we're going somewhere to just relax for a few days, I make sure to bring several books along!

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  7. I have to feel "settled" in order to get into a book, so it's hard for me to read on vacation. Maybe if I took one of those vacations where I just went to a resort and hung out at the beach all day it would work out better.

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  8. I always take a TON of books on vacation, but don't get to all of them. It always depends on where we go too. If it's a big city, I want to explore it and get out and about. If it's a beach hosue or little cabin I usually have more down time to read.

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  9. I always do the same thing! Plus, when the hubby is driving, I feel like I need to talk to him to keep him alert. I used to spend so much of the trip tending to the kids and it feels selfish to not be helping out in any way now.

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  10. For me, it just depends on the type of vacation it is and what mood I'm in. But I always take more than I could ever realistically read. I think my vacation record is 14 books during a two week vacation. And that's just crazy!

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