My husband, John, and I recently returned from a thoroughly enjoyable vacation on a European cruise ship. I’ve blogged before about the fact that I try to take a book with me every time I travel because you never know when you’ll be stuck waiting for a plane, a train, or whatever. Books always help me pass the time. Plus, reading is a part of my life that I hate to leave behind, even if I am on vacation. But this time I did leave it behind. I considered taking my iPad with me so I could read an e-book, but I worried about risking the loss of a valuable item during the bustle of travel. For the same reason, I wouldn’t take a library book with me. In the airport, I scanned the shops for a good book or magazine to purchase for the flight, but nothing appealed to me. Oh, well, I decided, I’d spend time with John and watch whatever video entertainment the airline had to offer. That worked fine for the flight to our destination and throughout the cruise, too.

On the return flight, it was a different story. Unfortunately, John and I were not seated together on the plane. And, again, I found no interesting reading material to purchase. Oh, well, I decided, I would rely on the video entertainment to keep me amused. Big mistake. The video player at my seat didn’t work! Oh, how I missed my books!

Though I was able to have a perfectly wonderful time on the cruise without a  book to read, flying without good reading material is something I will never do again.