How a Bookworm Travels

All the books I brought with me to Wales

First, a big shout out and welcome to all the ladies from the retreat I was just on that are now here. Hi!! Thanks for being here and welcome to the bookish chaos.

I will be honest - nothing is worse than moving when you’re a bookworm. Yes, books are great and all, but have you ever had to put them all in boxes and then move them? It’s exhausting. Even with hired movers, I can barely be bothered.

Unfortunately, moving books can constitute a lot of things. Primarily just…transporting them from one place to another. As if one, say, were on vacation.

I always want to bring multiple books with me whenever I travel. Mainly to avoid the fate worse than death of not having a book to read. What if I finish my sole book and then have nothing to read?? How will I know what I want to read in this very different environment?? If I read a book a day for a week that means I need seven books right?? I have incredibly poor depth perception, so I always think I will have 1) more time to read than I ever do and 2) more space to transport books than I ever have. Have I ever finished all the books I brought with me on vacation? No, and that’s besides the point.

marissagallerani

A post shared by @marissagallerani

I make no excuses. I come from a very long line of over-packers. While I have gotten better in recent years, it is still very, very hard for me to even consider traveling with just carry ons. It makes me break out into a sweat. I did succeed when I went to Charleston a few weeks ago, but it helped that that was only for 2 days. Even still, this made me nervous. What if I needed something and I didn’t have it???¹

Behold my mighty triumph, aka what I brought with me to Charleston. Add the pink bag in the background and that’s all I brought with me to the UK. And yes I do like purple.

So, with this very bookish jaunt that I am on, I knew I had to pack light. At least when it came to books. I knew I was going to acquire more books on this trip. After all, I was going to Hay-on-Wye, the book capital of the UK. (And maybe the world, honestly.) Ultimately, I decided to go with books I had already started and long since should have finished.

The three physical books I brought on vacation with me, against a very lovely Wales backdrop.

What made the cut? And did I actually finish any of these books?

• Pachinko, by Min-Jin Lee. I was halfway through this book when I wrote my post on it last week, and I had fully intended to have finished it, but the election happened and I didn’t feel like reading anything other than a gothic romance.

  • Status: I did it! Pachinko is done. I finished it on the bus to Hay-on-Wye. While I probably should have been looking outside at the loverly scenery more, there were too many trucks with logs and I have seen that Final Destination trailer with the logs. So reading it was.

• Hearts that Cut, by Kika Hatzopoulou. This is part of a duology, and the sequel to Threads that Bind. This is also the special Owlcrate version, which I got because I hadn’t seen any other fancy book service do special editions of these. Before the trip, I was about a third of the way through it.

  • Status: Yeah I have not read a word of this book and it’s unlikely I’ll finish before the end of the month but stranger things have happened!

• Le blé en herbe, by Colette. (Green Wheat in English) Only a few pages into this one. I started, and the writing style was hard for me to get into, doubly so because it was in French and using vocabulary I wasn’t familiar with, so it felt like I was looking up every other word. I swapped it out for another French book (Tu ecouteras cette chanson by Lola Lafon) which was easier for me to get into and read. I still have to read 2 more French books by the end of the month, so here’s to hoping this short one goes quickly.

  • Status: I’m about a quarter of the way through now, and will be halfway through by the time I get on my flight back to the States. You might by thinking, Marissa, it’s only a 120 page book, you could probably finish it on the plane! Probably, but I had a whole special reconnaissance mission I undertook this morning to go to Waterstones because it’s release day of Carissa Broadbent’s new romantic vampires book and I need it because the UK copy HAS A BONUS CHAPTER. So that’s all I’m going to be reading on the plane to be honest.

I did also bring The Success Myth by

Emma Gannon

, mainly because I was going on one of her creativity retreats and wanted a signed copy. So that counts, too.² If you’re keeping track, that means we’re at 4 (four) books. Remember this when next week I tell you the insane number of books I acquired while in the UK.

• Status: Technically a success because I did get my copy signed!

No fancy picture because I couldn’t get the lighting right.

My iPad also counts. I have Libby, Everand/Scribd and Hoopla on my iPad, so technically the answer is the limit does not exist when confronted with the question of: ‘How many books did I bring on vacation?’ and not four.

I wish I was an e-read girlie. Most of the ladies in my book club are, and it would make my life so much easier in terms of book transport. I don’t own a Kindle, and while I am ok at processing on digital readers, I just like the feeling of having a physical book in my hand. I’m a very tactile person. Do my poor shoulders and back appreciate this? Absolutely not.

So yes, I went to the UK and Wales on a bookish creativity retreat

with EASE

and

Emma Gannon

of

The Hyphen by Emma Gannon

fame, and I have much more to say about that and how lovely a time it was. While the timing was a coincidence, oh boy was it nice to be out of the States for a few days. I was mistaken for a European a few times, and was at a book signing where two other Americans talked about recently moving to London. I am taking these all as good omens.

By the time that you’re reading this, I will be 35k+ feet above the Atlantic, flying back stateside. Next week, I’ll talk about what books I acquired in the U of K, and then the following week I’ll have some thoughts on writing community, and why going to retreats or conferences can actually be good for your writing. After all, everything is writing.

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No New Books™️

Just imagine me laughing and you’ll know where things stand this week. This was the big bookish trip for the year and it did not disappoint. Be prepared for a full accounting next week.

• Streak to Beat: 50 days (January 1st - February 19th)

• Last streak: 37 days (September 18th - October 24th)

• Current streak: 0 days (Tomorrow’s another day?)

Mug Moment of the Week

There’s really nothing more to say than look at that view. That is of the Black Mountains in Brecon and near the Brecon Beacons in Wales. Waking up to that view was sublime, and I was spoiled because the lovely ladies at

with EASE

brought me tea to my door every morning. Can’t get better than that, really.

1. At times like these I remind myself: you’re not leaving the country. There will be a CVS. This did not help for this current trip were I was leaving the country.

2. There is a heavy dose of irony with this one, which you will understand why next time.