The story behind nomad reads
I started a multi-year trip outside the United States in August of 2023. As a lifelong reader who'd never used an e-reader, I was in a dilemma ahead of my departure.
I could gamble on getting a Kindle and hoping I would like reading from yet another screen or I could pack up some must-reads to come along for the trip.
But, when I looked through my bookshelves back in Chicago, too many of the titles seemed like must-reads.
So, I headed over to Amazon for a Kindle. Then, I bought an expandable canvas duffel bag with 55L of storage.
If my Kindle failed me, I'd still have a generous amount of books to keep me company during my trip. By generous, I basically mean a set of books that could revive civilization if some global disaster took place.
Fitting all these books, especially some of the larger ones like Shakespeare's Collected Works, Tocqueville's Democracy in America and Plato's Collected Dialogues into a travel bag was not easy at all.
Also, after seeing how the airport workers handled the checked bags, I decided to push my luck and bring the 55L duffel with me as a carry-on item. This plan worked, but it meant that I'd have to lug the bag on and off the plane. By the time I was at the baggage claim, I was almost always doing something like this…
Worst of all, I was barely reading anything from this bag as my trip continued. Naturally, I gave some books away to new friends in places like Costa Rica and Argentina. But I struggled to deliberately set aside time to read given all the other adventures I could be exploring in new countries.
In its own way, the ridiculousness of carrying the big bag of books that I wasn't reading ended up creating a heavy guilt that pushed me back into reading. I started nomad reads in 2025 during my return journey back to the US so I could keep myself accountable with my books.
It also serves as an ongoing snapshot into what I'm seeing, thinking and enjoying during my travels for friends and loved ones.
If you find yourself in the same country or city as my most recent post, feel free to reach out to me to see if we could talk books. I might be able to give you a few from that heavy ass bag!
The story behind nomad reads
I started a multi-year trip outside the United States in August of 2023. As a lifelong reader who'd never used an e-reader, I was in a dilemma ahead of my departure.
I could gamble on getting a Kindle and hoping I would like reading from yet another screen or I could pack up some must-reads to come along for the trip.
But, when I looked through my bookshelves back in Chicago, too many of the titles seemed like must-reads.
So, I headed over to Amazon for a Kindle. Then, I bought an expandable canvas duffel bag with 55L of storage.
If my Kindle failed me, I'd still have a generous amount of books to keep me company during my trip. By generous, I basically mean a set of books that could revive civilization if some global disaster took place.
Fitting all these books, especially some of the larger ones like Shakespeare's Collected Works, Tocqueville's Democracy in America and Plato's Collected Dialogues into a travel bag was not easy at all.
Also, after seeing how the airport workers handled the checked bags, I decided to push my luck and bring the 55L duffel with me as a carry-on item. This plan worked, but it meant that I'd have to lug the bag on and off the plane. By the time I was at the baggage claim, I was almost always doing something like this…
Worst of all, I was barely reading anything from this bag as my trip continued. Naturally, I gave some books away to new friends in places like Costa Rica and Argentina. But I struggled to deliberately set aside time to read given all the other adventures I could be exploring in new countries.
In its own way, the ridiculousness of carrying the big bag of books that I wasn't reading ended up creating a heavy guilt that pushed me back into reading. I started nomad reads in 2025 during my return journey back to the US so I could keep myself accountable with my books.
It also serves as an ongoing snapshot into what I'm seeing, thinking and enjoying during my travels for friends and loved ones.
If you find yourself in the same country or city as my most recent post, feel free to reach out to me to see if we could talk books. I might be able to give you a few from that heavy ass bag!
The story behind nomad reads
I started a multi-year trip outside the United States in August of 2023. As a lifelong reader who'd never used an e-reader, I was in a dilemma ahead of my departure.
I could gamble on getting a Kindle and hoping I would like reading from yet another screen or I could pack up some must-reads to come along for the trip.
But, when I looked through my bookshelves back in Chicago, too many of the titles seemed like must-reads.
So, I headed over to Amazon for a Kindle. Then, I bought an expandable canvas duffel bag with 55L of storage.
If my Kindle failed me, I'd still have a generous amount of books to keep me company during my trip. By generous, I basically mean a set of books that could revive civilization if some global disaster took place.