How to save on books while traveling

NERD ALERT: I love reading!

No shame in my nerd game. In Indonesia, I would spend 3+ hours in Gramedia. It’s a gigantic 2 story bookstore like Barnes & Noble, except most books are wrapped in plastic and you can’t read it. You can ask an employee to open one for you, but sometimes I get nervous about them saying no. I am obsessed with buying a new book every week. (Even if I didn't finish reading the one I just bought).

Most people know that traveling with a kindle or any e reader saves a ton of space and weight. 

I love the feeling of holding a physical book or paper to read. However, I learned the lesson the hard way, when I tried to ship those books back to the US and lug more books to Vietnam. I admit I paid an unnecessary amount of money on over-baggage this past year. 

LESSON LEARNED

Instead I found a better way: U.S. Public Libraries

Some Americans have forgotten their tax dollars pay for libraries. I am taking full advantage of my Wyoming public library card now. My library in Casper, Wyoming has movies, video games, cri-cut machines, CDs, computers, etc. Now public libraries are embracing the digital age. 

The digital library saves me a ton of money! I've read over 10 books on the Overdrive app and listened to more than 5 other audiobooks FO FREE. I didn’t even know I liked audio books until I was able to listen to them FO FREE. The only down side is some books are so popular that the waiting list is like 2 months. For example, there was no way I could get “Crazy Rich Asians”. Current wait time is 9 weeks!!!!

As an avid reader, I saw that Michelle Obama’s release date was set for November 13. I am pretty proud of myself for being the first to place a hold on it because there’s only ONE copy and 21 other people now waiting.

The Overdrive library allows for 2 weeks rentals for audiobooks and ebooks. It really pressures me to set aside time to read it before it gets automatically (through wifi connection) returns the book.

CONCLUSION

I’m not here to sell you an Audible subscription for a free audiobook or even an Amazon reading list. You’re already paying taxes for these services. USE IT! Then you can save more money for traveling (like I do).