Rarely do I leave the house without a book. Since the age of 9 or 10, I’ve always had a book with me wherever I went. In fact, I wouldn’t feel complete without a book. I remember how my mother used to scold me about adding unnecessary weight to my bag. It didn’t matter if I had five textbooks to carry for school; a book to read for personal enjoyment always had space. That extra weight never is unnecessary. I always need to have a book in my bag.
The Companionship of a Book
Books offer companionship. I don’t care if I’m surrounded by people who won’t talk to me, as long as I can read. When I commute, I read in the subway and listen to audiobooks in the bus. Any time I spend waiting in queues, books keep me company. Books are why I don’t mind having to wait in line for half-an-hour. While other people impatiently tap their feet or glare at their watches, I happily lose myself in a book.
Perfect Time to Read
No matter how busy I am, there always is time to read. That time is commuting time. That hour spent travelling from one place to another is begging to be filled with something useful to do. While it’s good to spend some of that time daydreaming, there’s also no better time to read. As much as sitting by the pool, sipping a smoothie and reading a book sound very appealing, we don’t always have that luxury of time. Yet no matter how busy we are, sneaking in time to read isn’t impossible.
In my Bag/Purse
When I pack my bag or a purse (I rarely carry one; they’re so small), there are a few times that I always include:
- Wallet & keys — I don’t think I need to explain why.
- Mobile phone — Also a given. I have an iPhone that’s my communication device, my music player, my map, my calendar, my camera… You get the drift.
- Earphones — I need them to listen to music or audiobooks. They’re also much more portable than headphones.
- Paperback book I’m currently reading — Paperbacks are usually small and light, which makes them very handy when carrying around.
- Kindle or iPad mini — Usually it’s one or the other. If I’m reading a non-fiction ebook with illustrations, I prefer to take along my iPad. For text-heavy ebooks I prefer my Kindle.
- Umbrella — I don’t like being caught in the rain and flash showers do happen.
- Water bottle — When daytime temperatures average at least 30ºC and can reach a real feel of 39ºC, keeping constantly hydrated is a must.
Then there are those items I carry with me most of the time:
- Hardcover book I’m currently reading — It has to be reasonably exciting for me to want to carry that weight and I’ll only carry it if I don’t have a lot of other things to carry. If I don’t wish to carry this, then I only carry my Kindle.
- Portable charger — When I’m going to be out long, then I bring it along in case I need to charge my phone or my Kindle.
- iPod — If I think my phone can last without charging for the duration I’m out, I leave it at home, unless I have music on it that isn’t on Spotify because I didn’t load any music directly onto my phone. Data coverage is generally good and I have enough monthly bundled data for Spotify on my phone.
- Small notebook with a pen or pencil — I rather write down little notes on paper than type them all into my phone. I already spend a lot time looking at screens as it is.
Lastly, these are things I carry with my once in a while:
- DSLR — I don’t tote it around with me all the time because of its weight. Usually I pack it when I’m attending a special event or am travelling abroad.
- MacBook — Thankfully I don’t need to carry it with me everywhere, the way I did during my undergraduate days. For the most part, I do things that require a computer at home.
Bottom line, reading materials always are a priority for me. I always make it a point to have a book in my bag. Even if I’m not sure that I’ll get to read my book at all, I rather carry it for nought 10% of the time than regret leaving my book at home 90% of the time.
Reading book is how to improve your knowledge and exercise your brain. Making friend with book is making your time meaning full and useful.
I only leave the house without a book when I go grocery shopping or something like that when I know I won’t read or know for sure I won’t have time to read, but in any other situation I’ll take a book with me. I just feel better knowing I have a book with me and I love reading on the train. I usually take my Kobo with me or the paperback I am currently reading. I always put it in a small plastic bad, so it won’t get wet if it will rain.
Beside a book I usually take with me: wallet and keys, cellphone, a bottle of water (I hardly go anywhere without a bottle of water), a case with some pencils, a nail file, and a pair of scissors.
Same here. If I go grocery shopping, I do leave my books at home. Firstly, to make space for groceries in my backpack and secondly, because as you said, that’s the one time I surely won’t read. I do load audiobooks on my phone though to listen to on the bus.
Yay to bottles of water! I’m always surprised to see that this doesn’t seem to be a habit of all that many people. And scissors? That’s intriguing. Why do you carry a pair of scissors with you?
Indeed I always take my backpack with my to grocery shopping and not cvarrying my book makes a bit more space and I won’t read during grocery shopping nayway.
We went to the zoo with my mom and her man a while back and they didn’t took a bottle of water, I thought that was so weird. It was pretty warm weather, so taking a bottle of water was certainly nessecary.
I think the pair of scissors is still left from when I went to high school and uni, then it could be handy to have those. But even after that I’ve had a few times it was handy to have them around, like when we went on vacation and needed to open something we bought. I am surprised at how often those scissors came in handy!
I pretty much ALWAYS have to have a book with me. 99% of the time I never end up reading it, but I think it’s more of a comfort thing than anything else. I take public transportation, and while most of the time I listen to music (because if I’m reading I don’t pay attention to when my stop is), but I like to have a book for the longer trips. I’m one of those people who are always, “well, there’s a .01 percent chance I might want to read, so I better be prepared.”
Wow. I think if I didn’t get to read my book 99% of the time, I might not carry one with me after all. Haha. But I’m totally with you on the comfort having a book with you brings. I do get so engrossed in reading sometimes, I forget where I am but I’m so accustomed to reading on the go, my internal body clock nudges me when the usual duration of a trip is up. This means I only miss my stops maybe two or three times a year, which is not too bad.
No way am I ever leaving the house without a book … and a back-up book in case I’m halfway through the one I’m reading, and it’s a possibility that I might finish it when I’m out.
My back-up is always my iPad or Kindle, so I can pick my next read based on my mood, which tends to depend on the book that I was reading before that :)
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t carry a book/e-reader with me. There’s an odd comfort in knowing it’s there with me, even if I only crack it open for a few minutes before work. Like you mentioned, while other people might get antsy and upset by a longer wait, I’m more than happy to get settled in and read. I know I’ll always have something to keep me entertained.
The way I see it, every moment spent reading, no matter how short means progress with a book, which can only be a good thing. Some people need an extended amount of time to get into a book though, so I guess this only works for people who can slip in and out of books without any trouble. For me, the moment I realize I’ve more than five minutes to spare, I whip out a book.
I always buy a bag with in the back of my mind ‘does a book/e-reader fit in here with all my other stuff?’ I even bring books with me when I KNOW I don’t have time to read, but always ‘just in case.’ The only time I leave it at home is when I’m going shopping.
I DO THIS TOO! Whenever I order a bag online, I will check the measurements and only order if I’m certain a book and water bottle will fit :D For me there always is time somehow, even if it’s just ten minutes.
My mom gets mad at me if I do bring a book, and I usually don’t end up being able to read a book when I go out, because the most I go out to is when I need to buy something at a mall. And the most that my bag has is earphones, a water jug, and my phone. I depend on my mom for the essentials.
My mum used to get mad at me too but she gave up berating me when it became clear to her that her warnings were falling on deaf ears. Besides, my dad and his friends always encouraged this when I was younger, so my mum relented, provided I didn’t carry more than one book at a time. Lol.
I actually rarely bring books out with me because I find that most of the time, I never do end up reading them. I much prefer reading when I’m at home and have lots of time to spare over being out and hoping that maybe there will be a few minutes for me to catch. I used to bring so many books with me though going to school and going to the dentist’s and stuff like that. I had like stacks of four books with me and of course, I never got through all of them but I liked just knowing they were there if I needed them.
The only thing that I absolutely always bring with me (besides keys and wallet and phone which are necessities, I suppose) is my iPod. I cannot go anywhere without that thing any more! I feel really awkward walking out alone but with my earphones in, I’m a little more relaxed and I don’t feel like I have nothing to do with my hands or my body (I don’t know why, I just think about my movement a lot when I’m alone walking) and I relax a bit easier.
And I think that’s usually all I have in my bag! And a chapstick and some gum (never spearmint though). And if I think I absolutely will need reading material (usually music is enough to help pass time) then I’ll bring a magazine of some sort!
Sitting down to read at home to read is the best place, in my opinion too. But I had a crazy busy student life, so I learnt to use every pocket of time I could find to read.
Then again, an iPod is good too. I always am in mild panic when I forget my earphones at home because this means I can’t block out the noise on public transport, which stresses me out, especially when I’m taking the bus. Lately I’ve been using commutes to listen to audiobooks rather than music though.
Ah, yes. Chapstick. A must for me as well :)
I always bring a book with me, too! I mean, not ALWAYS, but pretty much almost everywhere I go, if I think there’s even the slightest chance that I’ll have any extra time to read. A lot of the time, I actually don’t end up reading it, but sometimes I do, which makes it worth it!
Exactly! A book is always worth it ;)