March 16, 2026

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

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

Send a text Sponsored by RV Roofing Solutions Afraid life on the road means giving up your books? Jennifer is joined by full-time RVer and health insurance advisor Dealora Snyder, a fellow book dragon, to bust that myth wide open. With Tasha busy moving into her new rig, Dealora steps in as guest host to share her own confessions, tips, and tricks for staying well-read while living the RV life. From Little Free Libraries to audiobooks, there are ideas for every kind of reader — digital,...

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Season 2

Send a text

Sponsored by RV Roofing Solutions

 Afraid life on the road means giving up your books? Jennifer is joined by full-time RVer and health insurance advisor Dealora Snyder, a fellow book dragon, to bust that myth wide open. With Tasha busy moving into her new rig, Dealora steps in as guest host to share her own confessions, tips, and tricks for staying well-read while living the RV life.

From Little Free Libraries to audiobooks, there are ideas for every kind of reader — digital, physical, or audio — without compromising your storage space.

Learn How:

•           RVers can access hundreds of books for free or almost free

•           Digital library cards work on the road

•           Audiobooks can replace screen time on long travel days

•           Physical book lovers can keep reading without the clutter

•           Families & roadschoolers can find curriculum & kids’ books affordably

•           Virtual book clubs connect readers across time zones

Links & Resources:

🚐 RV Roofing Solutions (sponsor): rvroofingsolutions.com

📚 Libby: libbyapp.com

🎵 Chirp: chirpbooks.com

🎧 Hoopla: hoopladigital.com

📖 Amazon Kindle: amazon.com/kindle

🎶 Spotify: spotify.com

📍 Little Free Library Map: littlefreelibrary.org

📚 Book Club is My Alibi (Facebook): Join Here

🏫 RoadSchooling Resources: learntorv.com/roadschooling

📍 RV Travel Tips: learntorv.com/travel-tips

👥 Join Our Free Facebook Community: Learn to RV: The Podcast Community

📸 Follow Our Adventures: @LearnToRV

👉 More RV Life Resources: learntorv.com

📺 Watch on YouTube: Learn To RV Channel

🎙️ Podcast Website: learntorvthepodcast.com

💛 Support the Podcast:

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Buy Me a Coffee (drop us a tip☕)

💬 Are you a book dragon? Share your favorite reading spots and go-to apps in our Facebook community!

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WEBVTT

00:00:04.959 --> 00:00:08.400
Hey Natasha, did you forget we're recording today?

00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:11.199
We're recording Jennifer, I'm moving.

00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:13.359
What do you mean you're moving?

00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:14.400
Oh.

00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:19.280
So we're supposed to be recording books on the road today.

00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:21.359
I have I have eight books.

00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:23.519
They're in a on a shelf over there.

00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:26.399
Okay, so it drops in two days.

00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:30.320
Do I need to find a co-host that like I don't want to take you out of this?

00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:31.120
What do you think?

00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:35.920
Should we find like a guest co-host for this episode so you can focus on moving?

00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:36.719
Wait a minute.

00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:37.840
What do you mean you're moving?

00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:39.280
We got our new rig.

00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:43.759
So we're moving from Flick to our new toy hauler.

00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:47.439
And I was so excited because I was like, look at all the shelves.

00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:53.280
But all the cabinets are much shallower than our cabinets in Flick.

00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:56.479
So yeah, there are more of them, but they they're not as deep.

00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:01.119
And so I'm really struggling to find ways to make things fit.

00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:02.640
But I did find things.

00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:04.640
I found a place to put my book.

00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:12.159
So maybe the episode I could just be like, look, this is how you can fit your books on the road, and I can just read my book titles.

00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:17.760
Do you think maybe you maybe you sh maybe you should get a co-host to fill in for me?

00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:21.200
Well, I mean, who all right, but you're gonna be back next week, right?

00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:22.640
Yes, yes, 100%.

00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:27.280
I this is just this is I'm drowning.

00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:29.120
I'm drowning in quote.

00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:30.560
I got this.

00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:33.519
I actually think I know exactly who to ask.

00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:34.799
They're an avid book reader.

00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:35.920
Do you know who I'm thinking of?

00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:36.879
I think so.

00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:39.359
But you you tell me who you're thinking of.

00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:40.239
Well, you know what?

00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:43.760
I think you might just have to wait till you edit this to find out who I chose.

00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:45.599
And that way Yeah.

00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:49.280
I'm gonna have some serious FOMO going on.

00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:50.640
I know, but you know what?

00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:52.480
You get to see it before everybody else does.

00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:58.319
That's true and it's gonna drop Monday for Patreon, so you're gonna get to edit it before everybody else does, anyways.

00:01:58.719 --> 00:01:59.359
That's true.

00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:01.760
You know, okay, all right, okay.

00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:03.200
That's fair then.

00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:03.840
I'll take it.

00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:04.159
All right.

00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:05.280
Well, we'll see you next week.

00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:10.159
Save that time, save that channel, but hopefully the house is a house by then.

00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:11.039
I hope so.

00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:12.400
That I hope so.

00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:16.479
And your camera and your light are all back because you look a little green today.

00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:20.560
I don't even know where my video camera is right now.

00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:23.280
I don't know where my microphone is.

00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:31.439
Well, you go find all those things so we can record next week, and then I will go reach out to the person I'm thinking of.

00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:34.240
Okay, and I will touch base with you soon, okay?

00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:35.840
Okay, and I will be surprised.

00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:36.319
Okay.

00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:36.719
Okay.

00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:37.599
Hey there, guys.

00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:39.759
Welcome back to Learn to RV, the podcast.

00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:42.080
Today is kind of different.

00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:44.400
Um, I'm actually here with Dolora Snyder.

00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:45.599
She's a friend of mine.

00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:47.919
You might have recognized her from season one.

00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:53.840
She's actually been on the podcast a couple of times talking about how she specializes in healthcare coverage.

00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:54.960
So welcome, Dolora.

00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:56.240
Thank you for having me.

00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:57.280
I'm excited to be here.

00:02:57.520 --> 00:02:57.759
Yep.

00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:09.759
So um we're gonna actually not talk about healthcare coverage, but I want you to just kind of do a quick intro about how you travel and go on the road full time and what you do helping people with healthcare coverage.

00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:10.240
Sure.

00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:14.719
So my family and I have been on the road for about six and a half years now.

00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:15.840
We're going on seven.

00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:19.120
We launched from North Carolina just before COVID.

00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:20.879
So we lived COVID in the RV.

00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:24.800
And we've traveled all over the US a couple times, a few times now.

00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:31.759
Um, I do remote work as a health insurance advisor, so that's how we have income on the road.

00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:32.960
And I just love it.

00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:37.840
I've helped so many RVers because we all need health insurance that travels with us.

00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:39.680
So it's it's really been great.

00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:41.280
I met Jennifer on the road.

00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:43.759
Meeting friends on the road is always the best.

00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:44.639
Absolutely.

00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:45.360
Awesome.

00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:46.159
Well, thank you.

00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:52.159
So today we're not gonna talk about health insurance, we're gonna talk about something, I don't know, that's just as important in some ways.

00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:55.199
I have entitled this one Book Dragon Confessions.

00:03:55.360 --> 00:04:01.120
I invited somebody that was also what I would probably consider another book dragon on the road.

00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:04.960
If you don't know what a book dragon is, it's somebody that reads while they travel.

00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:08.319
But a lot of people wonder, how are you ever gonna do that?

00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:11.439
You know, once you get on the road, how do you do that?

00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:18.319
So do you carry a stack of books with you, or do you, you know, so we're gonna dive into all of that today.

00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:22.879
I think to a certain degree, that means that you're kind of a bookworm to a certain degree.

00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:24.959
How many books a month would you say you read?

00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:32.240
On a good month, if I have my way and I have enough time and everybody leaves me alone long enough, 10 to 12, something like that.

00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:33.199
I read a lot.

00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:33.680
Yeah.

00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:38.319
So I mean, one of the things that people asked me was, did you give up books on the road?

00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:45.759
And my answer was always absolutely not, you know, and it looks very different today, 13 years later, than it did when we hit the road full time.

00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:50.879
But, you know, we're gonna get into kind of all of that and we're gonna tell you exactly how to do it.

00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:55.519
I thought it'd be fun to do just kind of a book dragon confession as we start out.

00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:59.120
So, what would you say the biggest thing you've ever done?

00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:03.519
Like for me, it was like I rerouted like 40 miles just to go to a bookstore.

00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:06.879
Do you have anything like that that you'd, you know, be willing to share?

00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:13.680
Not that um, I usually read electronic books now just because I can take it with me everywhere.

00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:21.680
My confession right now is I probably do have a stack of eight or ten books next to my bed that I'm like, oh, I'm gonna read it.

00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:23.279
It's been there for like two years.

00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:33.680
Because when you get into it and you start reading, and especially when you're d a digital reader, um, you know, you always see like when you're finding your book that you want to read.

00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:36.480
It has all the recommendations, and I'm like, oh, I want to read that.

00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:39.040
And so I just always have a pile of books everywhere.

00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:44.000
I have a pile on my phone, I have a pile like physically in the bedroom.

00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:47.120
And I I do read physical books, you know, here and there.

00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:49.759
So I'm just not willing to get rid of them until I read them.

00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:51.040
I I just can't.

00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:52.399
That's fair though.

00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:59.759
So I mean, I think that we can't really fully appreciate where we are now because you know, I know I'm way more digital now than I was when I hit the road.

00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:01.920
Yeah, but we need to understand where we came from.

00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:10.399
So going back to your house, your sticks and bricks before you hit the road, and many of our listeners are actually like part-time RVers, so they may relate really well to this.

00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:13.600
In my house, I was always a homeschooler.

00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:17.199
We had probably close to 3,000 books before we hit the road.

00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:21.360
We had shelves all throughout the living room, a couple shelves in the bedroom.

00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:24.879
I I am a dedicated book dragon by nature.

00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:26.639
When people would say, Oh, what do you have?

00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:31.360
And I'm like, Oh, I went to every library book sale on the planet, and I knew all the librarians.

00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:34.560
I'd have some sneak peeks into the library book sale.

00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:36.560
My daughter volunteered there back then.

00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:41.439
You know, it was a great way to do it, but giving up those books was really hard for me.

00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:44.800
Like it was probably one of the hardest things I gave up on the road.

00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:45.519
What about you?

00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:48.319
What was your life like with books before you hit the road?

00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:48.879
Yeah.

00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:52.000
So I am also a homeschool mom or was.

00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:56.399
I still like to stay at homeschool, but my kids go to virtual charter school now.

00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:59.199
They're actually in a public school, but they never go to school.

00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:01.040
They're at home virtually.

00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:08.720
But anyways, in my homeschool, my real homeschool days, I would take the the kids to the library every week for story time.

00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:17.759
And we would always spend an extra hour there, and my kids would come home with a total books, and I come home with a few that I could read for the week.

00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:30.399
So I did used to read a lot of paper books, and I still, you know, it's a it's a little bit of nostalgia when I get my hands on a book and I really get into it now, and I'm I'm reading a physical and you can smell it and everything.

00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:31.680
That that was hard.

00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:33.839
That was hard to kind of switch.

00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:38.480
And you know, you just you learn, you learn to to like new things.

00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:46.639
And and even back then at the house, I was a little bit of a digital reader because when digital reading began, I learned really fast.

00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:50.000
I never without my book, and I just love it.

00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:57.279
Otherwise, I'm sticking the paper book and my foot I mean, my purse, and it's getting all messed up, and maybe I forgot to put it in there or something.

00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:00.879
But yeah, definitely a uh challenging transition.

00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:01.279
Yeah.

00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:05.120
So we're gonna talk about some of the big methods of how to find books on the road.

00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:11.439
I have a whole list over here, and we're gonna just see where Delore has lots of information or a little bit of information.

00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:13.120
She doesn't know what's coming.

00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:20.319
That's kind of the magic of this is actually having those authentic conversations about life on the road and that sort of thing.

00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:25.920
This is like kind of like the conversation we'd have at coffee, you know, one morning if we were sitting there at Starbucks.

00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:29.519
So, you know, I like to start with something called a little free library.

00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:34.159
And I don't know if you use those, but there's actually an app where you can go find them all over the country.

00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:37.759
And it's basically just a little wooden box, two shelves high.

00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:42.480
And so it's there's a searchable map, and you can now go find books all over the country.

00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:45.120
And a lot of people think they're just for kids, but they're not.

00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:49.120
Like there's all sorts of books you can find in a little free library.

00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:51.360
And I've even found one at campgrounds.

00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:55.120
So have you ever done a little free free library for starters?

00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:57.279
I have not done one of those.

00:08:57.440 --> 00:08:59.840
I've seen them and stereotype.

00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:02.080
I was like, oh, they're just kids' books or whatever.

00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:04.559
So I never actually looked in, but yeah, I've seen those.

00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:05.039
Yeah.

00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:09.200
So I mean, they can be outside laundromats, they can be at a park, they can be at the beach.

00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:10.320
They're crazy.

00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:13.120
You know, it's just fun to find those.

00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:20.320
And I actually found a signed book, and I don't know if it was the real person that signed it or not, but in one of those, which was also very fun.

00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:26.240
What's nice about that though is, you know, the fact that you can, you know, gift those away later.

00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:28.159
And we'll get there in a few minutes.

00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:31.039
Okay, so let's go digital a little bit.

00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:32.159
Library cards.

00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:33.919
We kind of talked about those.

00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:36.879
So I actually carry Libby cards.

00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:43.840
Do you are well, they're not really Libby cards, they're digital library cards that you can sign up for an app called Libby.

00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:46.720
And Libby, you can, it's like going to a library.

00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:47.840
Do you use Libby at all?

00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:48.639
Oh, yes.

00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:49.600
Absolutely.

00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:52.080
Okay, so tell me a little bit about your Libby account.

00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:58.080
So I have, I don't know how many currently, two or three library cards on there right now.

00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:07.840
I don't know if you know, but you can go to other libraries, whatever town you're in, go to the county library and get a library card as a non-resident.

00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:09.519
You have to pay for them.

00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:14.399
Um when I was in Huntington Beach, South Carolina, that's the first time I knew I could do it.

00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:15.919
And it was only five dollars.

00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:19.120
I paid five dollars for the year for a library card.

00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:21.519
And I'll yes, please.

00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:25.519
Um, and then I've been other places and they wanted like 130.

00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:28.399
Um, but that was that was only one time and that was rare.

00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:33.519
Typically, um, I pay about$25 and$22 for the year.

00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:44.799
Um, and I've learned that different libraries allow you to borrow a different number of books and put a different amount of books on hold.

00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:45.840
So I love that.

00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:47.919
I love having different library cards.

00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:50.960
And when one expires, I'm like, oh, I gotta go find a new library.

00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:57.440
The other thing it does is different libraries have different books and a different number of the same titles.

00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:04.399
So by having lots of library cards on your Libby app, if one library doesn't have it, you can look at a different library.

00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:04.879
Yep.

00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:11.759
So my Libby account comes from San Bernardino County, California, my my original one, and that's actually where we launched from.

00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:19.679
And I've been able to keep that because I'm a Marine Corps wife, and I actually have uh my mom lives there and I'm on her paperwork for her car.

00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:25.279
And so from a legal standpoint, I can legally have a library card there and they're amazing about it.

00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:30.480
But it's also the largest county in the United States, so I love that I get all sorts of them.

00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:35.200
Now they do charge for the Libby card if you are not a resident of that state.

00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:39.120
And I would pay for that one just because that one is so easy to use.

00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:47.600
I also have one for Las Vegas, um, which when we were there a couple years ago, they gave it to me for free, and they actually let me renew that one right online all the time.

00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:50.080
And so that one's a good one to have.

00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:52.320
Um, and they have a ton of kids' books.

00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:57.440
I have, you know, a 14 and a 16-year-old that love like uh like manga books and stuff like that.

00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:07.360
And they have a large selection in Vegas with those online as well, which I've never found anywhere else other than like memberships to like bookstores.

00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:11.919
They do carry us in a lot of ways, but the other thing they do is they do audiobooks.

00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:14.639
We are digital on a lot of travel days.

00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:26.799
Audiobooks will say, like, okay, this week we're gonna listen to, you know, if we're travel weekend is five hours long, we'll pick a book within that timeline and we'll listen to that whole book throughout the weekend.

00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:32.080
And it doesn't even have to be your genre, you know, because audiobooks do take longer to listen to.

00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:37.759
But what we love about it is just the family entertainment and the conversations that happen for the road school side of this.

00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:42.879
A lot of times we'll pick stuff that's local to the area we're going to and we'll learn about it on the way there.

00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:43.600
What about you?

00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:46.639
Do you guys use any type of audiobooks as a family?

00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:53.039
I well I would love to, but my kids are not totally on board.

00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:53.919
We have.

00:12:54.159 --> 00:13:02.879
I've actually done both, and we've gotten books and done read-alouts, and we all sit in the living room and we um our electronic devices.

00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:07.360
My kids, like I said, are in online virtual school, so they have to have a tablet.

00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:18.559
So they have Libby on their on their tablets, and my husband has it on his phone, and so we can do a read-along together and we can all follow along as somebody's reading each chapter.

00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:20.399
Oh, I hadn't even considered that.

00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:21.200
That's really cool.

00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:22.720
Yeah, it's awesome.

00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:24.159
I had so much fun.

00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:46.879
I only got the kids to read like two or three books, and you know, it's one of those commitment things where you really have to schedule it and make sure it happens, and we've talked about doing it again, and then you know, there's a million other things going on, and it just is on the bottom of the list, sadly, but it was a lot of fun, and the kids actually enjoyed it more than they said they did, you know.

00:13:47.039 --> 00:14:01.039
I knew they did, and we just set a time like every evening to read together for like well, I did one chapter, but you know, some books have really long chapters, so you know, either a a set amount of time we we really do need to get back to that.

00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:09.039
Um and then on the flip side, my husband and I actually have figured out that we like to listen to the same books sometimes.

00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:20.080
So he will get the book on his device, and then I will get the book on my device, and we'll put our headphones on and we'll press play at the same time, and our speed is set to the same.

00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:23.679
And so, you know, I I listen, I audiobooks are my thing.

00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:25.840
It's the only way I can get so many in.

00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:27.840
I listen to books while I'm working.

00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:32.320
And so if I want to listen to something with him, that's usually what we do.

00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:35.519
Or like when we go out for a walk, we might be listening to our book.

00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:42.879
And so people are like, Oh my god, they're not talking, they're wearing headphones, and we're like, Well, actually, we're doing something together, we're listening to the same story, you know.

00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:51.440
Yeah, well, and that just proves that people don't realize what they don't realize a lot of times too, even when we're together, we're doing things that are very much the same sometimes.

00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:54.000
So that's a really neat perspective on that.

00:14:54.240 --> 00:15:01.600
Yeah, and I have asthma, so if you ever see me out walking and I don't talk to you while I'm walking, that's why because I can't talk.

00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:07.039
So we started listening to audiobooks, so it wasn't like a one-way conversation.

00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:10.960
You know, my husband would be talking to me and I'd be like, you know, breathing heavy.

00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:16.960
Now we can just listen to our books and go for a walk together, and it's a lot more it's just better.

00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:17.919
We're doing something together.

00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:21.200
We're walking and we're getting our our book in at the same time.

00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:28.480
And then we press stop at the same time, and we're like, okay, yep, we're at, you know, five hours, 43 minutes, and 28 seconds.

00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:31.919
And he might be at 33 seconds, but we're right there together.

00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:38.399
And we'll what's even more fun about that, I would think, is that you know, you can have a conversation about what you just listened to.

00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:44.000
That just sparks a whole nother, you know, whatever, or you know, I can't believe that happened, you know, that moment.

00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:45.440
That's always fun too.

00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:52.080
But so I think doing it together is it, I mean, that's a great challenge for couples that maybe are looking for new ways to connect.

00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:56.960
You know, not that it's therapy, but it's a great way for just to keep a different part of that conversation.

00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:03.919
Because I think the more you travel together, the more you fall into kind of certain routines where he'll do something and you'll do something.

00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:06.159
That's a great connection point, really.

00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:07.919
Genuinely, that is.

00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:10.720
Yeah, we do that by going to bookstores.

00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:18.799
Um I'm gonna hit Goodwill and thrift stores because we actually found one in Sarasota this year that is a dedicated Goodwill bookshop.

00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:19.600
Oh neat.

00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:22.240
It was very cool, and it wasn't overpriced.

00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:24.720
And on Sundays, kids' books were 50% off.

00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:33.279
And my daughter, who is 19, still loves to read princess books, so she's stocked up on her fair share of them and she'll give them away as she finishes them.

00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:38.480
So, but the other time of year to do that is to like post-graduation.

00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:46.000
Spring cleaning is often time a great time to get books, and I say goodwill, but any thrift shop can have great book selections.

00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:53.600
Uh deseret bookstores or thrift shops, which are usually out west, are great places to get books as well.

00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:57.120
I feel like there's just larger book selections in those places.

00:16:57.279 --> 00:16:58.399
And then the library.

00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:04.960
We've been to a bunch of events where the library sets up like a friends of the library book sale outside during their event.

00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:12.799
Is there anywhere that you have a particular book place that you've been like, oh, this is just the greatest selection ever?

00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:19.680
Actually, I was waiting for you to get to this, and I was like, I can't believe she's not mentioning this, as we're all R Vers.

00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:25.680
But have you ever gone to the R V, like the community center in the R V park that you're staying at?

00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:26.000
Yeah.

00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:33.279
That's like some, some places are like uh thrift store on steroids.

00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:41.759
Like some places I walk in and I'm like, I can't even imagine, I I can't even believe how many books they have here, like shelves upon shelves upon shelves.

00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:44.480
And they're free because they're for the RV community.

00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:48.400
And so you don't even have to pay for them, and that's why I have a stack of 10.

00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:53.039
Because I took I think half of them are from my mom.

00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:58.079
She passed them she passed them to me, but I have a few from the campground.

00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:08.240
And when I started on the road, that was my favorite because it felt like a thrift shop to me, but I only had to walk up to the community center, so I didn't actually have to leave.

00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:10.000
I didn't have to spend any money.

00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:19.680
And you know, m a lot of people on the road are are retired or they they manage their time well because we all have to being on the road.

00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:28.720
And there's so many readers, and they're going and buying the new books that come out that I want to read, and then they fly through them and then they put them up there in the office.

00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:37.680
And it's so that's part of the reason I haven't read my stack because I keep finding, you know, up to date, like, yeah, all these ones that people are talking about.

00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:43.440
And the the great thing about it is whenever I go up there to grab a book, I take one of my books and put it on the shelf.

00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:46.319
So I take one off, but I put one on at the same time.

00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:48.960
So that's like my thrift store.

00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:50.640
Yeah, no, for sure.

00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:57.599
And there's a couple other places you can find those, but you know, some some campgrounds are better than others, you know, and you never know what you're gonna find.

00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:04.160
Sometimes you find I I remember we were at one and my husband was delighted, and I was like, but it was a whole thing of westerns.

00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:09.680
I am not a western reader, but he loved it because they had a ton of Louis Lemour books.

00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:19.279
That is totally his jam, and he doesn't love to read, but if he reads, it's gonna be paper because he's dyslexic and he needs to literally be able to follow along a little bit differently than I do.

00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:23.279
But I can burn through books like their candy, but the westerns are not my jam.

00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:28.880
But this whole place had like a whole shelf full of Western writers, which was wonderful for him.

00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:33.680
Some other ones that maybe you've seen is have you ever seen a book exchange in a truck stop?

00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:34.799
No, I haven't.

00:19:35.039 --> 00:19:36.960
Yeah, so I mean, that's sometimes fun.

00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:42.079
You know, some of the bigger ones where the lounges are, there's sometimes there's ones at truck stops.

00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:45.920
Pilot Flying J tend to be the ones where you're gonna find those the most.

00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:48.480
You can find new books at some of those as well.

00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:57.279
Um so if you're looking for something to read and you don't have a good signal, and that's the reason to have a paper book a lot of times on the road for me, is if you're, you know, doing that.

00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:00.880
You can download, you do download your Libby books, right?

00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:01.759
I do, yeah.

00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:03.200
So tell us how we do that.

00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:03.680
Yeah.

00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:10.720
So when you go into Libby and you borrow a book, there's a little button that says download, and it'll download your book straight to your device.

00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:16.720
And this works for actual reading books that you're gonna visually read and audiobooks.

00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:19.759
So you download them and then like I use that a lot.

00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:23.359
I have to fly my kids back and forth to North Carolina because they have braces.

00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:31.440
And so I always have a book downloaded on my device, audio or actual reading, and I can use it in airplane mode.

00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:36.240
So you do not have to have cell service for a Libby, and I use Hoopla too.

00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:37.519
You've heard of Hoopla, I know.

00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:39.039
I have not used Hoopla.

00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:39.599
Tell me about it.

00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:40.960
My gosh, Hoopla.

00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:43.440
I actually prefer Hoopla over Libby.

00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:44.000
Why?

00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:47.279
Because there's there's a few, well, okay, let me backtrack.

00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:52.400
There's there's one big con that I wish they would fix, but I've got a way around it.

00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:58.559
Um okay, so hoopla, if you're listening today, there's something that Dolores needs to tell you to fix, so pay attention.

00:20:58.720 --> 00:20:59.359
Yeah.

00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:08.160
So um hoopla for me has a lot more of the books that I'm looking for.

00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:15.440
And I read all the Freedom McFadden and Mary Kubica and all the big raised books that everybody's reading.

00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:23.119
But when I can't find a book on Libby, even with my three library cards, Hoopla usually always has it.

00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:25.440
So Hoopla has a bigger selection.

00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:28.640
Oh, there's two cons I'll have to tell you about, and that's why.

00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:29.920
That's why I prefer Hoopla.

00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:30.880
It's my go-to.

00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:32.960
They have a lot more of the newer books.

00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:36.720
Libby doesn't always have enough copies of the newer book.

00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:41.200
Which I will never, ever, ever understand because it's a digital copy.

00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:43.440
Yeah, but that's a different conversation.

00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:44.400
Yes.

00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:52.720
Um so there's times where I go on Libby and the wait is like 45 or 60 days, and then I go to Hoopla and it's available.

00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:55.039
So is Hoopla a paid membership?

00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:56.799
No, it's free, just like Libby.

00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:57.119
Yeah.

00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:57.440
Wow.

00:21:57.680 --> 00:21:59.759
And all you need is so you need an email.

00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.920
Address and you can only put one library card with that email address.

00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:05.440
Here's the first card.

00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:13.599
So it just like Libby, when you put a library card on Hoopla, it tells you this library allows you to rent three books at a time.

00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:16.960
I have one right now through Hoopla, three books for the month.

00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:18.559
So Hoopla is a little bit different.

00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:20.319
It gives you a certain for the month.

00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:24.799
But I have one library right now that allows me to take six books per month.

00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:27.920
And so between Libby and Hoopla, that's usually enough.

00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:31.039
And they give them to you always for 21 days.

00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:36.240
Whereas Libby, depending on the library, is 14 or 21.

00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:43.440
And so the way around that is to get one library card for one email address.

00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:47.279
And then get another library card for another email address.

00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:52.720
So you have to log out of Hoopla and then log back in with the email you want to use.

00:22:52.960 --> 00:23:00.240
But I find that I really my one card that I have allows me to get six books, and between the two I never have to log out.

00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:05.920
So you just need to put them in experiment and find a card that allows you to have enough rentals.

00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:07.200
But I love Hoopla.

00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:17.680
The other con about Hoopla is you know, when you're reading a book in Libby and you get out of Libby to go do whatever else you're doing, and you come back to Libby, you're on the same page.

00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:21.759
With Hoopla, sometimes it doesn't save your page really good.

00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:26.400
So you have to remember to hit the bookmark before you get out of it.

00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:28.319
And then you'll always be at your page.

00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:32.240
So it's not terrible, but it takes a little bit to remember to do that.

00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:35.119
And then when you get back on, you're like, oh my god, I wasn't there.

00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:39.359
But even with those two cons, I still like hoopla better than Libby.

00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:44.960
So let's go into e-readers because audiobooks and stuff like that are, you know, one of the things we've hit on.

00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:47.680
But one of the things I have is I have a Kindle membership.

00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:49.759
I didn't always have a Kindle membership.

00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:55.680
I started on a bunch of reader lists where you could get free books on certain days where you could download those for your Kindle.

00:23:55.839 --> 00:24:09.599
And I found tons of great stuff that way, cookbooks and how-to books, and some of them were great, and some of them were meh, but some of them were new writers, and I found some new people that I really enjoy listing or reading because of that.

00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:19.839
So I actually probably last year I finally broke down and and added that Kindle membership to my Amazon, well, our Amazon account, Frank's Amazon account.

00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:30.559
It was a great ad though, because then I can get all of the extra stuff there that I maybe can't get on Kindle with, you know, Libby, but it sounds like I might need Hoopla.

00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:33.440
Yeah, you need Hoopla for free.

00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:36.799
And I also have the Amazon Kindle app.

00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:40.000
Um, and I I like turn that one on and off.

00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:42.720
I pay for it for a month, I read a few books.

00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:43.839
There was one book.

00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:48.799
Um, so one of the things that I'm kind of getting off track, but there's a point.

00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:52.559
So I have two friends that I've been friends with for like 35 years.

00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:55.039
We were high school friends and we're still friends.

00:24:55.200 --> 00:24:56.240
We talk every day.

00:24:56.480 --> 00:25:01.440
And there's one one of those friends reads like I do, like all the she probably reads more than I do.

00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:10.559
But we said we should read the same book because that would be fun, you know, like a little just our own little book club, which I have a book club for you in a minute, too.

00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:15.920
There was one book she said we should read Love Mop, and I couldn't find it anywhere.

00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:20.000
And I finally found it in the Amazon Kindle app.

00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:24.079
So I went ahead and bought the Amazon Kindle membership for that month.

00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:27.599
I read a few books during that month and then I turned it back off.

00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:31.920
And then there's been a couple other times that I'm like, it's on there, I'm gonna have to buy it again.

00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:33.759
So I buy it again, then I turn it off.

00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:37.519
Because usually easily that can pay for one book in itself.

00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:38.559
Absolutely.

00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:45.599
You know, so I mean, like I don't think it's a bad I don't think it's a bad investment if you're a reader, especially if you read two or three books a month.

00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:51.680
You know, but what I do with it is when we we still go to Barnes and Noble, I have Lego fanatics in my house.

00:25:51.920 --> 00:26:00.559
If there's not a Lego store, we're going to Barnes and Noble to go look for Legos and books always, but there's always an ulterior motive of Legos.

00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:07.599
But what I'll do is I'll walk through and I'll snap pictures of the books I want to read, and then I'll go to the Kindle app and I'll read them there.

00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:15.279
And most times they're there within a certain time frame, and then I have the picture to reference them, which is just one way that I don't have to carry a ton of extra books.

00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:20.000
We actually hit the road with two full like containers of books when we hit the road.

00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:20.880
I did too.

00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:21.519
I did two.

00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:25.119
And I think that you know, we've pared down a lot over the years.

00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:27.279
We've been through this is our third camper.

00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:31.200
This one specifically had a lot less storage space for things like that.

00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:37.759
My last camper had they were super deep shelves because it was made for an older TV because it was a 2008.

00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:42.559
And so it had like room for two or three layers of books, and so I filled that bad boy up.

00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:45.039
This one does not have that ability.

00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:48.240
You know, we had to really decide what was coming, what was going.

00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:52.880
We did put some of the like kids' books that we were no longer reading in storage that we kept.

00:26:53.039 --> 00:26:58.000
That's another thing though, is knowing what to keep and what to get rid of and what to bless somebody with.

00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:00.079
I think there's like some freedom in that too.

00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:03.759
And as your kids grow up, you know, you get different books.

00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:04.880
I mean, you just do.

00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:06.000
Yep.

00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:13.359
So let's talk curriculum and kids' books, because I mean I know you're not buying curriculum now, but did you ever have to buy curriculum while you were traveling?

00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:13.839
Yep.

00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:15.440
And I only bought from one store.

00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:16.160
Really?

00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:35.440
So yeah, when I first started homeschooling, I researched a lot, and there was where I lived, there was some like discount homeschool shops that you could go in, and there was teacher shops, and I did buy like I would buy the kids flashcards from there, and I'd when they were real little, I could go find activity books.

00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:45.759
Ollie's, if you have an Ollie's name, Ollie's is amazing for flashcards and like activity workbooks and stuff like that.

00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:51.519
Coloring books, they have so many coloring books, so many and books for us to read too.

00:27:51.680 --> 00:27:53.839
They have a huge selection of books usually.

00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:56.160
And they're usually such an affordable price.

00:27:56.240 --> 00:28:01.039
In fact, it was just recently that we Tasha and I actually recently went into an Ollie's.

00:28:01.119 --> 00:28:03.119
We'd never bet neither one of us had ever been in one.

00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:07.599
But it was very fascinating to see that it was from all genres, and there were some weird ones.

00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:11.279
Like, yes, but another good one is um, gosh, what are they?

00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:13.920
Not books a million, although that's a good store too.

00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:18.640
There's one in Conroe, Texas, where you can take your used books in or buy new.

00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:24.079
And, you know, there's a lot of bookstores like that that are out there that have a little bit of both.

00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:29.440
And I think that's kind of the best of both worlds in some ways, you know, but use curriculum co-ops.

00:28:29.519 --> 00:28:40.160
I know campgrounds, a lot of times in the wintertime, we'll have like a swap table, much like the campground like bookshelf, only it's more dedicated to like road schooling families.

00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:41.599
Facebook group swaps.

00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:48.240
I know that sometimes we'll mail each other stuff if there's something that, you know, is something that we know would love to be passed around in the road school community.

00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:50.319
And then kids go through books so fast.

00:28:50.559 --> 00:29:03.680
And so we're constantly on the lookout for, but you know, going back to Goodwill, I mean, that's a great place to go get a handful of, you know, older scholastic style book books and then pass them on at the next next campground.

00:29:03.839 --> 00:29:08.720
And I think that that's one of the things that's overlooked a lot of times is kids' books being in campgrounds.

00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:17.759
And I think it's very much appreciated by families as they come through an area, if there's one dedicated space, even if it's just a shelf full of them of books that are there.

00:29:17.920 --> 00:29:30.880
I know um Stephanie Simpson does Osborne books, and a lot of times as she phased out of her kids' books, she would drop them off at dedicated campgrounds across the country on purpose instead of swapping them just so that there were people that could do that.

00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:33.200
Yeah, I think it's a great way to connect.

00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:44.640
But the the homeschool supercenter, so it's called homeschoolsupercenter.com, and that was where I found the best selection and the best price for homeschooling.

00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:55.200
You know, curriculum can get rather expensive, and when you have I had four kids and I was homeschooling at the same time, so that that was a that was a yearly expense that I had to plan on.

00:29:55.359 --> 00:30:00.319
Um, but homeschool supercenter, you could buy whole curriculum packs for the grade.

00:30:00.559 --> 00:30:10.720
So I would buy four packs, so one for each of my kids' grades, and they have secular selections, and we are a secular family, so that is hard to find.

00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:18.160
And you know, when you go to all these other shops that are around, most of the time they have religion-based curriculum.

00:30:18.319 --> 00:30:18.720
That's true.

00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:21.039
It's hard to find secular in those places.

00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:42.960
The homeschool super center was one of the first places that I could find secular curriculum, which is what I was after, but they also do have all of the other most popular, and I've been out of it for a while, so I can't remember all the names, but they do have all the religion-based um curriculum as well, but you can buy it as a whole set, and they have different levels of sets.

00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:46.880
So you can go on there and you can, you know, do it to your budget.

00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:58.160
And I liked to buy the curriculum because I had kids in fourth and fifth grade and seventh grade, and I was like, I want to make sure that I know that they're getting what they need to get.

00:30:58.319 --> 00:31:06.319
So I would buy the full set, and it came with textbooks, just like they would have in school, and we would go through the textbook.

00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:07.200
That's what we did.

00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:12.720
Um, and it had workbooks to go with the textbooks, so we could read the textbook and then do the work with it.

00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:24.079
And then there were smaller packs where maybe you only need the workbooks, or maybe you only need the textbooks, and then you're gonna go find your own other stuff to mesh with it.

00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:33.119
So you could spend less money, get a few books for the grade, like the core things that you know you want them to have, and then you can go to the other stores and add on.

00:31:33.359 --> 00:31:41.920
See, and we we used a program called Konos, which was a religious-based program, but you could make it work however you wanted it to, but it was a unit-based study.

00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:51.119
But what was neat about it, it used it kind of collaborated a little bit of what John Holt taught in unschooling and what Charlotte Mason taught about living books.

00:31:51.279 --> 00:31:54.160
So it took those living books and you were reading all the time.

00:31:54.319 --> 00:31:56.160
So when we were near a library, it was great.

00:31:56.240 --> 00:32:00.720
But when I took it on the road, because I took all my Konos books with me, like, oh, this is the best thing ever.

00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:03.279
I love Konos, and I'm gonna take it.

00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:05.279
But it's so library heavy.

00:32:05.359 --> 00:32:09.119
And back in 2013, all of these things were not available.

00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:12.400
So we were stuck with like things like library book sales and stuff like that.

00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:20.480
So I think that's why an episode like this is so very important for people to realize, yeah, it's digital and it's so much easier today than it used to be.

00:32:20.799 --> 00:32:22.799
But there are ways to do it.

00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:26.640
And whether you're part-time on the road, full-time on the road, it doesn't really matter.

00:32:26.799 --> 00:32:28.799
Spotify also now has audiobooks.

00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:30.480
Yeah, there's a growing catalog there.

00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:31.839
Have you done any of those?

00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:32.559
I have not.

00:32:33.039 --> 00:32:34.240
No, I haven't either.

00:32:34.400 --> 00:32:39.599
I've looked, and I will say the first time I looked, I had a free Spotify membership.

00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:47.119
And I think depending on your Spotify membership, gives you different amounts of time, minutes per month or whatever that you can have.

00:32:47.279 --> 00:32:54.400
Um, and I looked and I couldn't find, I think I checked that when I couldn't find that other book and it wasn't there either.

00:32:54.559 --> 00:32:59.119
But now I have a family Spotify because everybody sites over Spotify.

00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:03.519
So now I could probably get more books, so I should probably check that.

00:33:03.680 --> 00:33:05.759
But they do, and have you heard of Chirp?

00:33:05.920 --> 00:33:06.240
No.

00:33:06.400 --> 00:33:07.359
Tell me about Chirp.

00:33:07.519 --> 00:33:07.839
Chirp.

00:33:08.079 --> 00:33:10.640
Um Chirp is an app where you can get books.

00:33:10.799 --> 00:33:13.440
It is digital, and you do have to pay for them.

00:33:13.519 --> 00:33:15.839
And it is Chirp, C-H-I-R-P.

00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:19.759
Um and you go on there and you just create an account.

00:33:19.920 --> 00:33:27.119
The account is free, and then every day they send you deals and you can buy books for like a dollar some days.

00:33:27.279 --> 00:33:34.960
Now they're not new ones I have found, and they're they're typically old ones or older, they're just not new, but they're only a dollar.

00:33:35.359 --> 00:33:40.079
You know, you like an older genre or something like that, maybe there's a book there for you.

00:33:40.240 --> 00:33:42.079
And then they have newer ones too.

00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:45.759
So if you can't find a book, like I have chirp as a backup.

00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:56.480
So if I can't find a book on all my other things, then I will go on and buy a book from Chirp and it'll be digital, but they're typically cheaper than Barnes Noble.

00:33:56.720 --> 00:34:00.960
So most of the books I see are around twelve, thirteen dollars.

00:34:01.359 --> 00:34:14.239
Well, and I think that, you know, if you're budgeting an affordable option, you know, if you're setting yourself a limit every month, I mean, I think it can be a very affordable option as opposed to going and buying books at Barnes Noble on a regular basis if you're doing it that way.

00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:15.760
So here's a good question for you.

00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:17.280
Do podcasts count?

00:34:17.519 --> 00:34:17.920
Yes.

00:34:18.159 --> 00:34:18.639
I don't know.

00:34:18.800 --> 00:34:23.920
I was originally gonna say yes, but is it a podcast that's reading a book?

00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:25.599
Or I don't know.

00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:28.079
Well, so I think that podcasts can count.

00:34:28.239 --> 00:34:39.519
I think that listening to stories online, some of my favorite podcasts are story-based podcasts, and they're like, you know, things where you're you're tuning into an episode to hear the rest of the story for the whole season.

00:34:39.679 --> 00:34:47.840
And so it's not necessarily like this where we're talking about something specific, but it's more like they wrote a story and there's voice actors or there's something involved in it.

00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:56.159
There's some history ones, like there's some national park history ones that we listen to regularly, that I would absolutely agree that they are educationally based.

00:34:56.320 --> 00:34:56.480
Yeah.

00:34:56.719 --> 00:34:57.760
And they're podcasts.

00:34:57.920 --> 00:35:01.119
So I mean, you know, mystery history, I think those are fun.

00:35:01.280 --> 00:35:07.360
You know, mysteries can be actually educational because you know, you're you're actively learning when you're listening.

00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:09.440
And I think that that's something people don't think about.

00:35:09.599 --> 00:35:12.320
My oldest daughter is dyslexic for years.

00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:14.079
She loved listening to audiobooks.

00:35:14.159 --> 00:35:22.239
And I actually had a library person say to me, you know, you should just let her listen to library books, because you know, and that was back when you had to borrow the books on tape, right?

00:35:22.320 --> 00:35:23.280
Or the CDs.

00:35:23.440 --> 00:35:27.840
But, you know, that was actually the way she read for many years.

00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:33.679
And so I think podcasts are actually a viable solution for that, and they're so easy to access now.

00:35:33.840 --> 00:35:38.880
Like, you know, whether you're on Apple, Spotify, you know, I mean, iHeartRadio.

00:35:38.960 --> 00:35:42.559
I mean, this podcast is on all of those platforms and then some.

00:35:42.719 --> 00:35:46.320
And so there's so many platforms out there that you can listen to.

00:35:46.480 --> 00:35:52.559
Um, and if you're looking for something specific, you can even search for most of them now, like how to and all of that stuff.

00:35:52.880 --> 00:35:55.199
All right, so I think I know your answer on the first one.

00:35:55.360 --> 00:35:56.960
Physical book or ebook?

00:35:57.039 --> 00:35:58.000
If you had to pick one.

00:35:58.239 --> 00:36:02.400
I'm gonna say physical just because of where I'm at right now in my life.

00:36:02.559 --> 00:36:08.480
And audiobook might even trump the ebook right now because I I work really long hours.

00:36:08.639 --> 00:36:12.639
I typically work eight to ten hours a day, six days a week.

00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:21.760
Um, and audiobooks is really the only way that I can get that number of books in in a month and I can listen while I'm working.

00:36:21.920 --> 00:36:24.960
So audio is like my real go-to right now.

00:36:25.119 --> 00:36:31.840
Um, but I still make it a point to read two or three like actual physically reading.

00:36:32.239 --> 00:36:36.559
Most of the time, 98% of the time, that's an ebook.

00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:42.159
Um, but then every once in a while, like if we're gonna be going to the beach, ebooks are terrible on the beach.

00:36:42.239 --> 00:36:44.320
You can't see them because of the glare.

00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:57.760
So if we're gonna be going to the beach a whole bunch, I will go specifically search out a physical book so I can take it to the beach and read a book on the beach and not have to listen to it.

00:36:57.920 --> 00:37:00.960
So, you know, there's there's like the right time and place for each.

00:37:01.199 --> 00:37:04.239
What about a genre that surprises people when you say you read it?

00:37:04.400 --> 00:37:06.639
Um, maybe Fifty Shades of Grey.

00:37:06.800 --> 00:37:12.079
I wasn't gonna mention it before, but that was actually the first book that me and my husband read together.

00:37:12.239 --> 00:37:13.440
Oh, that's cool though.

00:37:13.679 --> 00:37:18.400
Yeah, and it kind of like, you know, spiced everything up a little bit.

00:37:19.199 --> 00:37:20.400
Yeah, no joke.

00:37:21.039 --> 00:37:21.360
Yeah.

00:37:21.599 --> 00:37:24.559
And that's not something I would normally read either.

00:37:24.880 --> 00:37:30.400
So and I'm I'm totally a fantasy reader, and people are always surprised by that, which I don't understand why they're surprised by it.

00:37:30.559 --> 00:37:40.239
But so that's what I dragged to my kids when they're little is you know, dragons and so and it is so it's never a surprise now when Judah wants to play Dungeons and Dragons because it's probably all my fault.

00:37:40.480 --> 00:37:43.519
Did you ever read a book that you're like, I just want to throw this thing out the window?

00:37:43.840 --> 00:37:44.239
Absolutely.

00:37:44.400 --> 00:37:47.440
I'm DNF lots of books, yeah, for sure.

00:37:47.599 --> 00:37:50.320
Uh can't think of any offhand, but yes.

00:37:50.480 --> 00:37:53.360
If you're if you're on Goodreads, do you use Goodreads?

00:37:53.599 --> 00:37:54.639
I do use Goodreads.

00:37:54.960 --> 00:37:59.199
Yeah, so I have a DNF shelf on Goodreads, um, for sure.

00:37:59.360 --> 00:38:00.320
Let me see if I can.

00:38:00.559 --> 00:38:04.559
So for somebody that's listening in that doesn't know what DNF is, do you want to tell them?

00:38:04.800 --> 00:38:07.119
Yeah, DNF is just did not finish.

00:38:07.440 --> 00:38:10.079
Throw it to the curb, like you can't get through it.

00:38:10.159 --> 00:38:11.039
It's terrible.

00:38:11.199 --> 00:38:13.199
I don't even know what they were doing.

00:38:13.679 --> 00:38:13.920
No.

00:38:14.400 --> 00:38:14.880
Boring.

00:38:15.440 --> 00:38:18.159
What about a book that you have that you'd save in a fire?

00:38:18.400 --> 00:38:21.920
I would say probably any of the Mary Kubeka books.

00:38:22.159 --> 00:38:25.440
She probably is my favorite author right now.

00:38:25.679 --> 00:38:29.440
Rita is close to that, but I think I like Mary a little better.

00:38:29.679 --> 00:38:31.199
Okay, so tell me about book clubs.

00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:33.199
You said you were gonna go there, so let's go there.

00:38:33.360 --> 00:38:33.679
Yeah.

00:38:33.840 --> 00:38:38.880
So I have a friend that I used to work with before I went on the road, and she is an equal reader to me.

00:38:39.119 --> 00:38:42.159
Reads, we always have, we used to share books at work and stuff.

00:38:42.320 --> 00:38:46.800
Um, and she started a Facebook book club where it's all virtual.

00:38:47.039 --> 00:38:52.320
And it is that's fairly new, so just expectation-wise, it's new.

00:38:52.400 --> 00:38:54.400
Um, but there's like 23 of us in there.

00:38:54.480 --> 00:38:57.760
It is a public book club, so anybody can join it.

00:38:57.840 --> 00:39:03.599
And I think that it would be better if, you know, the more people we had in there, the more active readers.

00:39:03.840 --> 00:39:08.639
Everybody has busy schedules and can't always, you know, comment and be part of things.

00:39:08.719 --> 00:39:16.159
But we're actually gonna do a monthly virtual book club meeting through Google Meet or Zoom or something.

00:39:16.480 --> 00:39:18.320
So we can all read the same book.

00:39:18.559 --> 00:39:19.280
Super fun.

00:39:19.599 --> 00:39:25.280
And last month we read two books actually, because she was like coming out hot.

00:39:25.599 --> 00:39:30.239
And we were supposed to have um a meeting and we haven't had it yet.

00:39:30.559 --> 00:39:33.519
Book Club is my alibi is what it's called.

00:39:33.679 --> 00:39:34.800
I'll send you the link.

00:39:34.960 --> 00:39:41.840
And then she always posts, like she gives us four books to vote on, so we all get to vote on the ones we want to read.

00:39:42.079 --> 00:39:48.400
So this month, The It Girl by Ruth Ware, she's another of my favorite authors, authors.

00:39:48.559 --> 00:39:52.320
Um, Love Mom, I've already read that one, so I didn't vote on that.

00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:56.239
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell, also a really good author.

00:39:56.400 --> 00:39:57.920
Um, I read that one too.

00:39:58.079 --> 00:40:01.039
And then The Drowning Woman by Robin Harding.

00:40:01.199 --> 00:40:04.079
I've never heard of, I've never read any of Robin Harding books.

00:40:04.159 --> 00:40:14.400
But anyway, we vote on the books that we want to read, and she'll pick one or two, and then we'll read them, and then we'll have a meeting once a month to discuss and have fun and talk about books.

00:40:14.639 --> 00:40:15.199
That's fun.

00:40:15.280 --> 00:40:16.480
And so what about spoilers?

00:40:16.639 --> 00:40:19.920
Are spoilers allowed or no one's allowed to talk about it until like the meeting?

00:40:20.159 --> 00:40:22.400
There's not really any set rules on that.

00:40:22.559 --> 00:40:30.880
So I guess if you want to be the one to go in there and put a spoiler in the comments, you might not be as well liked, but there's not really any rules against it.

00:40:31.039 --> 00:40:32.239
It'd be great discussion.

00:40:32.480 --> 00:40:33.440
Yep, that would be fun.

00:40:33.599 --> 00:40:38.159
So hopefully, if you're out there listening and you're looking for a book club, we'll have that in the show notes as well.

00:40:38.239 --> 00:40:39.760
So you can go join that group.

00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:43.599
It is a Facebook group and it's a free group just for now, at least, anyways.

00:40:44.079 --> 00:40:49.440
But yeah, I think it'll probably stay free, but you know, just the place that we can go have fun.

00:40:49.519 --> 00:40:57.519
And I was really excited when she came up with the idea because I've looked for virtual book clubs before and they're really hard to find.

00:40:57.599 --> 00:41:07.599
Um, you know, there's I think for me, a virtual book club, the hardest part about the virtual book club is that meeting, especially as an RVer, because we're often in different time zones.

00:41:07.760 --> 00:41:19.360
And so sometimes when somebody meets that's in a house, it's not it doesn't work for our schedule, especially if we're like on the West Coast and they're on the East Coast, because then my book club is now at like you know three o'clock in the afternoon.

00:41:19.679 --> 00:41:22.000
And so sometimes that's the middle of my workday.

00:41:22.159 --> 00:41:36.639
And so I think that that becomes one of those challenges for us, but it's a great opportunity, and you know, I think that a club that's like that, you know, if you can even jump in and out, even just in comment sections talking about different things you're reading, that keeps you connected in that way.

00:41:36.800 --> 00:41:42.320
So, you know, I I think that Facebook groups have their own purpose in that for that, you know, yeah side of things.

00:41:42.800 --> 00:41:45.920
And you don't have to come to the to the meeting, you know.

00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:50.000
If you can't make it, you know, of course, the more the merrier.

00:41:50.079 --> 00:41:51.119
We want everybody there.

00:41:51.280 --> 00:41:54.000
But if you can't make it, nobody's gonna hunt you down.

00:41:54.079 --> 00:41:59.760
And then, you know, after the meeting, we can put whatever we want in the comments and we can talk about it that way.

00:41:59.840 --> 00:42:06.880
And so it doesn't have to be a face-to-face type of thing to still be a successful, fun book club.

00:42:07.119 --> 00:42:07.760
Absolutely.

00:42:07.920 --> 00:42:10.079
All right, so there's one challenge for everybody out there.

00:42:10.239 --> 00:42:11.199
You ready for this one?

00:42:11.440 --> 00:42:14.239
Go find a little free library in the next couple weeks.

00:42:14.480 --> 00:42:21.760
Drop that back to us at the Learn to RV Facebook page and the podcast Facebook page so we can see the little free library that you found.

00:42:21.920 --> 00:42:24.880
Tell us where you found it and tell us if you found a decent swap.

00:42:24.960 --> 00:42:26.559
And then I have some other homework for you.

00:42:26.639 --> 00:42:33.119
But I also want to say if you're worried about going full-time or part-time in an RV and losing your reading niche, you don't have to.

00:42:33.280 --> 00:42:34.320
You know, it gets better.

00:42:34.480 --> 00:42:42.800
You have community, there were swap shelves and bookstores, and there's so many ways to read on the road that if you're a reader, it's so easy to do.

00:42:42.960 --> 00:42:44.000
And ask questions.

00:42:44.079 --> 00:42:47.280
A lot of times people are just waiting for those people to ask questions of them.

00:42:47.440 --> 00:42:51.119
If you're standing near that reading shelf and somebody else is too, say hello.

00:42:51.280 --> 00:42:52.960
Chances are they're a reader just like you.

00:42:53.119 --> 00:43:00.480
So download Libby if you have a library card today, bookmark littlefreelibrary.org and add it to your to scout some new stops.

00:43:00.559 --> 00:43:05.840
Check if Kindle Unlimited is right for you, because it is an affordable option if you are an avid reader.

00:43:06.079 --> 00:43:08.239
Find the next swap shelf at your next campground.

00:43:08.320 --> 00:43:09.679
That's a great way to find people.

00:43:09.840 --> 00:43:11.119
And then take something random.

00:43:11.199 --> 00:43:13.519
Maybe it's something that you wouldn't think you'd even enjoy.

00:43:13.679 --> 00:43:15.840
Sometimes those are the best finds I've ever had.

00:43:16.000 --> 00:43:18.960
Next travel day, plan for an audiobook or a podcast.

00:43:19.119 --> 00:43:20.800
Make the drive part of your story.

00:43:21.039 --> 00:43:24.000
So thanks so much for joining us on Learn to RV the podcast.

00:43:24.079 --> 00:43:26.480
Thank you, Dolora, for being a great guest host.

00:43:26.639 --> 00:43:28.000
We so appreciate you.

00:43:28.159 --> 00:43:32.960
Thanks for bringing all your reading knowledge to the table today and sharing all of your information.

00:43:33.280 --> 00:43:34.639
Thank you so much for having me.

00:43:34.719 --> 00:43:35.760
I had fun.

00:43:36.159 --> 00:43:39.840
So don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow the podcast wherever you listen.

00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:42.880
And don't forget, check out insurance with Dolora.com.

00:43:43.039 --> 00:43:48.159
She can help you if you don't have good insurance on the road, help you navigate that path so you're on the campfire.