anchorite

Gregory Hubbs writes about the joys of reading while traveling, showing some fine examples of books that complement the places, like daydreaming while reading the Flowers of Evil, written by the great 19th century French poet Charles Baudelaire, after retracing his steps in Parisian hovels or the Louvre museum or taking a train through the small towns in Provence, France, and reading the letters of Van Gogh (I’m not even considering the “Da Vinci’s Code” Louvre visits).

That’s a really nice idea, but I prefer to do something a bit different, while traveling I’d rather read something completely unrelated to the place I’m at, I love the feeling of being on a small medieval italian town while reading a book about a crazy trip in the 50’s America (*cough*On The Road*cough*) or a spiritual journey in India.

I save the books that complement the places for the preparation of the travel, so I can move around Provence with my perspective of the letters of Van Gogh, instead of reading them on the spot.