As many of you already know, my husband and I roadschool our son while we travel full-time in our RV. This means we go through a lot of books. Unfortunately, carrying an enormous number of heavy books around with us just isn't practical. Therefore, we have come up with some great reading solutions that help us provide our little guy with all the reading material he needs despite our unusual living arrangements.
If you have found yourself wondering how to do all of your usual reading on the road, this is the article for you! Read on to learn how we handle this predicament.
Ebooks — The first and most obvious solution is to use ebooks. However, we simply cannot afford to purchase new ebooks every week. Therefore, we have found some great ways to get our fill of electronic reading material.
Our number one go-to solution is the Overdrive app. This app allows us to borrow ebooks from our home library, and is absolutely amazing. With just a few quick taps, we have access to a huge collection of books. While we do sometimes have to wait for a book to become available, the chance to read nearly anything we want is well worth the wait.
That said, the assortment of books available on Overdrive does vary based on which library you are a part of. Therefore, you will want to sign up to see what’s available to you before counting on this app too much.
As a secondary ebook solution, we also use Amazon FreeTime. This program is installed on our son’s Kindle Fire and includes a number of good children’s books. While there are not as many books available on this program, we do appreciate the fact that our son can use his own tablet to view the books in an easy-to-use format that he understands.
Local Libraries — When we were stationary, we made a point of visiting our local library on a regular basis. Once we began traveling, we assumed we would have to give up that pastime. However, we’ve found that some libraries in other places allow visitors to obtain a library card for a small fee. Therefore, we always try to pick up a library card when we will be staying in one place for more than a month at a time.
Book Exchanges — Finally, there is the option of book exchanges. This might mean taking advantage of the campground book exchange—usually found in the activity center or laundry room— or it could mean seeking out “Little Free Library” locations and trading our old books for something new to read.
It is also possible to visit thrift stores and purchase books for less than a dollar. This practice also allows you to drop off books you don’t need any longer in order to keep both your clutter levels and RV weight in check.
These are my top three ways of obtaining new books on the road. You can read more ideas here.
Have an option you’d like to add? Please let us know about it in the comments!
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