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How Traveling Revived my Love of Books
I have a special travel tradition. While I’m waiting to board the plane, or the train, I take a picture of myself reading a book. Later, I’ll post it on Facebook, Instagram, and WeChat. The books become the beginning and the end of each trip. The stories end up being just as significant as the traveling itself, making me associate the book with the place. I’ve been doing this for about five years now. It’s one of those things I actually enjoy posting on social media.
There’s something fun about it. I could tell you what book I was reading while on the plane back to Beijing from Chengdu.(Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston) As well as the book I was reading in Bali. (A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemmingway) The books were just as big a part of the trip as all the things I did while I was off somewhere.
The Payoff
As a result, I enjoy flying more than I normally would. It made the longer flights seem shorter than they were. Movies made you aware of the time. Books didn’t.
It started turning into a routine on the plane to take out multiple books and put them in my seat. You’d be surprised how many people on the plane would be fascinated if I ended up finishing every book I brought with me.
