Audio-books and road trips go together like tea and honey, chocolate syrup and vanilla ice cream, or fuzzy socks and---you get the picture. There's much to be said about the way audio-books make the journey somewhere worthwhile, and sometimes, make the journey itself.
When I was little, my family and I would go on road trips across the country every summer, and during those long hours of driving, my mom would pop in an audio-book and together, we would listen to the adventures of Harry Potter and his friends for hours on end. This was before the days of cell phones, and ipads, and tv's attached to the seats. My brother, sister, and I sat listening and imagining this world together, slurping on capri sun juice boxes, fingers sticky from fruit snacks, as mountains grew before us and then disappeared behind us while driving down the highway out west.
We started and finished entire books during those road trips of my childhood, and those were easily some of the most magical days of my life.
Our Oliver, enjoying his perch between mom and dad during one of our road trips.
Then, during college, my dad surprised me with a trip down to Orlando, Florida, with two tickets to Universal Studios. So, with my bags packed the next day, he and I drove for 18 hours down to my grandma's house in Kissimmee, Florida (located just outside of Orlando). I had brought with me a year's supply of books, just in case I should find the time. But, my dad had rented an audio-book titled, A Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss, and I eventually gave up trying to read one of my books to listen to it. A Wise Man's Fear is the second book of the fantasy series called The Kingkiller Chronicles, and at first, I thought I wasn't going to like it. My dad reads a lot of high fantasy series, such as The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, and The Forgotten Realms series by R. A. Salvatore. I enjoy fantasy, but I couldn't get into either The Wheel of Time series, or (gasp!) The Lord of the Rings, so I was pretty hesitant about A Wise Man's Fear.
But, was I wrong. A Wise Man's Fear was fantastic. It was high fantasy with magic, wizards, faeries, etc., but the story-telling was excellent and straightforward enough that you didn't feel overwhelmed by all the fantasy elements. This balancing act is pretty important, for the writer must make all the magic seem plausible, and believable in this world they created. The story follows a young student named Kvothe, who is both an orphan and a trouble maker. During his journey to uncover the truth behind the death of his parents, Kvothe is expelled from the University, travels to the Fae Realm, and along the way, becomes the stuff of legends. There are many interesting side-characters you meet along the way, and the world building by the author is amazing.
So my dad and I listened to the book the whole time during our vacation down in Florida. At times, we would sit out in the car for lunch (park food is way too expensive!), eating Subway subs, and listening to a few more chapters before heading back into Universal Studios.
And while the park was a ton of fun, listening to our audio-book with a couple of subs on hand was probably my favorite of memories from that trip.
So, because of those nostalgic memories of listening to audio-books with my family, a couple of years ago, I convinced Andrew to give one a try on a mini-road trip down to Amish Country in Berlin, Ohio. He never listened to an audio-book before, and if I remember correctly, he wasn't sure if he would be able to pay attention to one. It was a day-date I had planned for us: a relaxing trip to Andrew's favorite restaurant, and during the four hour drive, we'd listen to a book on one of Andrew's favorite subjects: Politics. It was all a surprise for Andrew, and I had picked the audio-book at our library, hoping/praying that this book would prove him wrong about audio-books.
Titled, Breach of Trust by Tom Coburn, I was delightfully surprised to find myself enjoying a book on politics. I'll read biographies, books on historical events (I'm a sucker for Russian history), and I'll read reference books, but before Breach of Trust, I had never willingly read a book on politics. Yet, within the first 10 minutes of listening to it together, both Andrew and I were hooked. In Andrew's words: "In Breach of Trust, former senator Tom Coburn shares his experiences in congress and sheds light on its inner workings, telling readers how well-intentioned political outsiders are turned into insiders once elected into office. He details the arcane rules and processes that have led to the growing disaster of our enormous national debt." It also features the story of how Coburn himself made his way from small town doctor to successful politician.
The book was so good that Andrew insisted on finishing the book that day, and so we did. We sat in my car overlooking a valley of amish farms covered in snow, while listening to the final chapters of the book. It was the perfect day.
So I have a lot of nostalgia attached to listening to audio-books. They can be enjoyed alone, or as I have made plain here, they can be enjoyed with others as well, and what better time is there to enjoy an audio-book than when you're traveling the countryside?
Read on, friends. :)
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