Book Dragon Confessions: How to Keep Reading While Living on the Road

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You pack up your whole life, hitch your rig, and are about to hit the road. And then it hits you: what about your books?

If the thought of leaving your reading life behind is the one thing still holding you back from full-time or part-time RV life or if you're already on the road and quietly mourning your old bookshelf (me, forever me), Jennifer has some good news. It turns out, the road might actually be one of the best places in the world to be a reader. Apparently, we just have to know how to do it.

What This Episode Is About

Jennifer is joined by fellow full-time RVer and health insurance advisor Dealora Snyder — a self-described book dragon who regularly reads 10 to 12 books a month — for a conversation that feels less like a podcast and more like a candid coffee chat between friends who really, genuinely love books.

Since I was busy moving into my new rig (the new toy hauler has shallower shelves, a very real RV reader problem), Dealora steps in to talk all things reading on the road. Jennifer has been doing this for 13 years. Dealora's been on the road going on seven. Between them, they've figured out how to stay well-read without hauling a moving van's worth of paperbacks.

They cover everything from digital library cards and audiobook apps to Little Free Libraries, swap-shelves at campgrounds, virtual book clubs, road school curriculum, and the eternal debate: physical book, e-reader, or audiobook? The episode is full of real confessions — including one involving a 40-mile detour to a bookstore — and practical tips you can use before your next travel day.

This episode is perfect for you if you're:

•        A reader — digital, physical, or audio — who's worried RV life means giving up books

•        A full-time or part-time RVer looking for affordable ways to keep reading on the road

•        A homeschooling or roadschooling family trying to keep up with curriculum and kids' books without blowing your budget

•        A remote worker looking for ways to fit reading back into a busy travel schedule

•        Someone who has ever stood in a bookstore, snapped photos of books they wanted, and then promptly forgotten about them

•        A new RVer who hasn't figured out the book situation yet and needs a starting point

What You'll Learn

We're sharing just enough to spark your curiosity — not enough to skip the listen.

Free and Near-Free Reading on the Road

Libby, the free digital library app, gets a full breakdown, including a tip from Dealora on how to get library cards as a non-resident in towns you're passing through, sometimes for as little as $5 a year. Hoopla also comes up as a companion app without waitlists and a different catalog. Between the two, you can access thousands of books and audiobooks without spending a dime.

Little Free Libraries get their own moment, too. Most people assume they're just for kids' books. They’re definitely not. There's a searchable map at littlefreelibrary.org that lets you find them at campgrounds, beaches, parks, front yards, and laundromats across the country. Jennifer has found signed books in them. My favorite haul came from a Little Free Library in the yard of a mortuary. The surprising thing about Little Free Library is the generosity of the take-a-book-leave-a-book system.

When You Want to Buy: Affordable Digital Options

Dealora shares Chirp, a lesser-known audiobook and ebook app that sends daily deals with books priced sometimes as low as a dollar. She uses it as a backup when she can't find a title anywhere else. Kindle Unlimited also comes up as a monthly subscription option for avid readers who go through multiple books a month. Jennifer shares her own strategy for using a Barnes & Noble visit without spending Barnes & Noble prices — and it's clever.

Swap Shelves, Campground Book Exchanges, and Finding Books in the Wild

One of the most underrated parts of RV culture is the book-swap shelf. Jennifer and Dealora talk about how to find them, use them, and give back to them — especially when you're traveling with kids. Goodwill, used bookstores, Ollie's Bargain Outlet, and the campground swap table all make the list.

Roadschooling and Curriculum on a Budget

If you're homeschooling or roadschooling, this section alone is worth your time. Dealora shares her go-to resource for affordable curriculum in multi-packs — including secular options that are genuinely hard to find elsewhere. Jennifer covers living-books-based programs and what she brought with her from her pre-RV homeschool life. For more on road-schooling resources, check out learntorv.com/roadschooling.

Virtual Book Clubs for Readers on the Move

Dealora is a member of a free Facebook book club called Book Club is My Alibi. It’s a free virtual group where members vote on what to read and meet monthly via Zoom or Google Meet. Jennifer and Dealora talk through the real challenges of virtual book clubs for RVers (time zones are a whole thing), and why a low-commitment, comment-driven group might be the perfect fit for a traveling reader. The link to join is in the show notes.

They also cover Goodreads, the DNF shelf, and what it means to be a reader who listens. And Jennifer makes a case for podcasts counting as books.

Ready to Dive Deeper?

The full episode brings all of this to life with real stories, real confessions, and the kind of advice you only get from people who have been living this for years. Jennifer and Dealora don't just tell you what works; they tell you what didn't, what surprised them, and what they wish they'd known before they ever left their home bookshelves behind.

For more practical RV resources and tips for the road, explore learntorv.com/travel-tips and the full archive at learntorv.com.

And if you're an RVer looking for reliable health coverage on the road, Dealora offers personalized help navigating insurance options at insurancewithdelora.com.

Campfire Crew members on Patreon get early access to every episode, exclusive bonus content, and a community of RVers putting these exact tips to work every day. Three membership tiers are available, each with its own perks, from free merch to bonus episodes and more. If you've been thinking about joining, this is a good moment to take a look.

Where to Listen and How to Connect

Catch "Book Dragon Confessions: How to Keep Reading While Living on the Road" on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and everywhere else podcasts are streamed.

Join the Campfire Crew on Patreon to support the podcast and unlock exclusive bonus content, early episode access, and member merchandise. Three membership tiers, each with different perks. Your first week is free — a pretty easy way to check it out.

Connect with the Learn To RV community in the free Learn to RV: The Podcast Community on Facebook, and follow @LearnToRV on Instagram for behind-the-scenes moments and travel inspiration.

Explore more RV resources, travel tips, and community guides at learntorv.com and learntorvthepodcast.com. Want to share a story or get involved? Email connect@learntorv.com.

You Don't Have to Choose Between the Road and Your Books

Giving up reading is not a requirement for the RV life. It never was. The road just asks you to carry things a little differently.

Whether you end up with a stack of library apps, a Little Free Library habit, an audiobook playing through your truck speakers on a long travel day, or a paperback tucked into whatever shelf you can find in your new rig, reading on the road is absolutely doable. And according to Jennifer and Dealora, it might even be better.

Learn To RV: The Podcast was built for every kind of RVer — part-time, full-time, or still deciding — who wants honest, practical community knowledge from people who are actually living this. This is one of those conversations.

Subscribe so you never miss an episode, share learntorvthepodcast.com with a fellow reader who's thinking about the RV life, and leave a review to help other book dragons find this community. The road is long. Might as well have a good book for the journey.

Sponsored by RV Roofing Solutions

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Visit rvroofingsolutions.com to schedule your free consultation. When your roof is taken care of, you're free to focus on what matters: the journey.

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