Pack Travel Themed Tomes 🧳

A tip for reading thematically when traveling.

The Miami hotel rooftop pool.

Tale ☀️

My late afternoon nap was disrupted by a sonic boom that rattled the plates and cups. I was awake instantly, fearing a tropical thunderstorm. However, my predicament turned out to be more alarming than that: A DJ had materialized by the rooftop pool.

The DJ had shoulder-length blond hair, and he was dressed in typical Miami fashion: Aviator sunglasses, a gold chain, an unbuttoned floral shirt paired with pristine white pants. He looked unbearably smug to me, but perhaps I was just grumpy after the rude awakening.

“It’s time to get the party started,” the DJ announced.

I looked around. The pool area was almost empty: Aside from me, there was a British couple on their honeymoon and a bored bartender. However, the DJ seemed unfazed by this lack of an audience. He put on his oversized headphones, clicked around frantically on his MacBook, and swayed rhythmically.

I begrudgingly admired his dedication to the craft. Since falling asleep again was out of the question, I decided to get a drink. I walked over to the rooftop bar, and the bartender brightened visibly at my approach. He expertly prepared a margarita in a salt-rimmed glass for me.

I walked back to my poolside seat, balancing the brimming glass and enjoying the cool condensation. After a sip of the surprisingly strong libation, I found my mood buoyed considerably.

The DJ, meanwhile, had moved on to pandering shamelessly. After learning that the honeymooning couple was visiting from London, he played back-to-back Dua Lipa songs.

“Double Dua!” the couple exclaimed in unison.

I settled back in my seat, flipped open my Kindle, and tried to relegate the booming music to the background.

Tip 🏝️

This month’s reading tip is a simple add-on to a common travel habit. Many people pack books (or download e-books) for their vacations. However, these books are often chosen haphazardly. An easy upgrade is to pick books according to a travel theme. For example, if you’re going to a beach town, you can pack novels set in similarly sandy and sunlit locales. You can also pack novels set in the city or country you’re traveling to.

For my Miami trip, I had packed a couple of easy-to-read and short novels set in South Florida:

• Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay - This was the gruesome book that inspired the popular Dexter TV series. I haven’t watched the TV series, but I struggled to finish this book. I found the prose to be stilted—with an egregious number of alliterations. The plot pacing was off, and most of the characters were flat and unlikable. But the descriptions of Miami traffic (and road rage) were accurate.

• Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen - I had watched the Apple TV series based on this book and enjoyed it immensely. I loved everything about the book too: the intricate plot, the flamboyant characters, the comedic moments. Highly recommend.

I’ve found several benefits to having a travel theme. It streamlines the book selection process. It builds anticipation before the trip. It gives you a local perspective on a place. And even if the story is fictitious, the locations mentioned are often real and can be added to your itinerary.