How To Read More While Travelling

Ever find yourself stashing away books on a shelf that you never get round to reading? Have you been travelling, wishing you had the latest issue of your favourite magazine to flick through? Has it been difficult to get hold of the books and magazines you want to read during coronavirus?

This is me on all counts. I wasn’t ‘getting round to’ reading as much as I wanted to, and often found myself unable to get hold of the books and magazines I wanted to read. I decided to research a better way forward.

Here’s how I’ve increased my time spent reading whilst travelling and while living at home during the coronavirus pandemic:

1. Set out ‘reading time’ or a ‘reading goal’ each day

It’s easy to find yourself not making the time to read, so to overcome this I set myself a set time each day to read. I usually prefer to read for 30 minutes before bed, but on weekends I often like to read for an hour in the mornings as well. I’ll also sometimes set a reading goal during weekends to get through a certain % of a book or to read a set number of blog posts.

2. Get the Readly app to read all your favourite magazines

If you love reading magazines over books, I’d recommend getting your hands on the Readly app. You can read unlimited magazines, including Wanderlust and Travel + Leisure, for £7.99 a month. Sign up to a 1-month free trial to access over 5000 magazine titles.

The app works online and offline, so you can read at home or whilst on trains, planes or buses. It works on phone, tablet and desktop. You can also share the subscription with up to five family members, which really gives you a lot of bang for your buck if everyone reads different magazines! You’ll get alerts when new issues of your favourite magazines are released too.

3. Support local bookshops

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably reading a lot more during this current coronavirus lockdown in the UK. Many local bookshops are still operating home book deliveries or book collections with over-the-phone payment. If you can, then support local bookstores by going directly to them. You can see my favourite local bookshops in Brighton who are still operating during lockdown here.

4. Borrow or trade-in books

Get your hands on more books by borrowing or trading-in rather than buying brand new. I always scour local charity shops and secondhand book stores for titles I’d like to read – when I’m home in the UK and travelling abroad. Most hostels also have trade-in bookshelves where you can take a book if you leave one, and some backpacker cafes do too.

The other option is of course to borrow or trade books with your friends, family or other travellers you meet on the road. This is also a great way to save yourself on the cost of buying books all the time!

5. Check if your local library has BorrowBox

We’re very fortunate that our local library in Brighton uses BorrowBox. The BorrowBox app lets you access the virtual shelves of your public library. You just need to sign-in with your library membership, and you can read books and listen to audio on your phone or tablet.

6. Subscribe to your favourite bloggers

I love reading travel blogs, but often forget to check when new posts go up. To save myself time, I’ll subscribe to the newsletters for all my favourite travel bloggers to get notifications every time a new blog post goes up. I’ll either read it when I get the email, or I’ll bookmark it for later and save them up for a blog sesh.

7. Take a coffee break

If I haven’t found time to read my favourite magazine or book yet, a break for coffee always gives me the time I need. When travelling, I’ll often nip into a cafe for a long black. When at home, creating that ‘time’ for coffee and reading helps you feel relaxed and it gives me a real sense of escapism.