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Books that travel well
Some books survive a trip better than others. We stock paperbacks with sturdy spines that don't mind sun, sand or a squashed bag.
Ask us for a light read before your next journey. A short story collection or slim travel memoir fits easily into hand luggage and keeps you busy on a long flight.
ACCESSORIES
A Year by Bicycle Travel Book
R3,580.00
Below Zero Photo Essay
Original price was: R7,180.00.R6,280.00Current price is: R6,280.00.
Contemporary Portrait Photography
R10,780.00
Indoor and Outdoor Stone Design
R7,720.00
Wanderlust Hiking Photography
R1,780.00
Weight matters more than most people think when you are packing for a trip. A hardcover novel adds real bulk to a bag that already has too much in it, which is why we point travelling customers toward paperbacks first. They fold into a side pocket, survive a squeeze under an airline seat, and do not mind getting a bit battered along the way. A good paperback has done its job long before you reach the last page.
We often get asked which books work best for holidays abroad. Paperbacks beat hardcovers every time, and a worn secondhand copy won't upset you if it ends up at the bottom of a cooler bag.
Need A Recommendation - Pop Into The Shop
A hiking trip is a different kind of travel, and the books that suit it are different too. You want something slim enough to fit next to your water bottle and sturdy enough to survive a damp tent. Many customers heading into the mountains ask for shorter travel writing or a photo essay they can dip into at the end of a long day, rather than one long novel that demands hours of quiet reading they will not have.
Pack Light - Browse our Travel section
A road trip or a long train journey through the country gives you hours of reading time in short, broken stretches. We find customers do well with collections of short stories or essays, something you can finish a piece of before the next stop without feeling like you left a story hanging. If you are travelling with someone else, pack two different books and swap halfway. You will both come home having read something you would not have picked up on your own.
Travel Together - Ask about swapping copies
If you are flying with hand luggage only, pick a book under three hundred pages. Our travel section has plenty of these, from hiking journals to short novels that fit in a jacket pocket.
Travelling Soon - Browse Travel Titles
LIGHTING
A Year by Bicycle Travel Book
R3,580.00Below Zero Photo Essay
Original price was: R7,180.00.R6,280.00Current price is: R6,280.00.Contemporary Portrait Photography
R10,780.00Indoor and Outdoor Stone Design
R7,720.00
Wanderlust Hiking Photography
R1,780.00Travelling is also how a lot of secondhand books find their way to us. Customers come home from a trip with a paperback picked up along the way and bring it in once they have finished it, sometimes still with a boarding pass tucked inside as a bookmark. We always take a look. A book that has already travelled once tends to find a second traveller quickly, and the cycle starts again.
Beach Days
A beach holiday calls for a book that will not mind sand in its pages. We steer customers toward easy fiction, nothing too heavy in plot or in hand, since most beach reading happens in short bursts between swims and naps. A secondhand paperback is perfect, since a bit of sun bleaching or a crease down the spine will not bother anyone. Bring two, because one book rarely lasts a whole week in the sun.
Long Flights
A long haul flight is hours of uninterrupted time, which makes it one of the few chances to start a thick novel you have been putting off. We often recommend a Fiction title with real length to it, something that can carry you from takeoff to landing without needing a second book. Choose a story you already want to get lost in, since there is nowhere else to go until the plane lands.
Mountain Trails
Hikers and campers need a book that earns its place in an already full pack. We point them toward slimmer titles, short story collections, or a photo essay from our Photography shelf, something that rewards ten minutes of reading at the end of a long day on the trail. A thick novel sounds appealing before the trip and feels like dead weight by the third day of walking.
Slow Trains
A slow train through the country has its own rhythm, and the right book matches it. Many customers heading off on a long rail trip ask for something reflective, a travel memoir or a novel set in the landscape they are passing through. There is something satisfying about reading about a journey while you are on one, and a window seat gives you better light than most planes ever will.
Whatever the trip, the same rule holds. Buy secondhand where you can, pack lighter than you think you need to, and do not be afraid to leave a finished book behind for the next person. We restock our Travel and Fiction shelves often, so there is always something new to grab before your next departure. Come in and tell us where you are headed, and we will help you choose.
FURNITURE
A Year by Bicycle Travel Book
R3,580.00Below Zero Photo Essay
Original price was: R7,180.00.R6,280.00Current price is: R6,280.00.Contemporary Portrait Photography
R10,780.00Indoor and Outdoor Stone Design
R7,720.00Wanderlust Hiking Photography
R1,780.00One of our staff always travels with two books, never one: a long novel in case the trip runs longer than planned, and a short story collection for days when there is no time to settle into anything heavy. It is a habit worth copying. Running out of reading material halfway through a trip is one of the few travel problems a good bookshop can actually solve before you leave.
We love hearing where a book has been by the time it comes back to us. A dog eared paperback with sand still caught in the spine, a guidebook with notes scribbled in the margins from years ago, a novel with a train ticket used as a bookmark. Every secondhand copy on our Travel shelf has already been somewhere, and most of them are ready to go somewhere again.
We are often asked whether a paper book still makes sense for travel in the age of the e-reader. For us the answer is simple. A paperback does not need charging, does not mind a dunk in the pool, and can be left behind without a second thought once you are done. For a short trip, that is worth more than having a hundred titles stored on a device.
A small packing tip from the shop floor. Keep your travel book near the top of your bag, not buried under clothes, so it is ready the moment you sit down to wait for a flight or a bus. We have watched enough customers dig through a full suitcase at a departure gate to know this matters more than it sounds. The best travel book is the one you can actually reach.
Travelling with children needs its own plan. A picture book from our Children’s shelf survives a spilled drink far better than a tablet does, and a short story read aloud fills an hour on a long drive without anyone asking to stop again in ten minutes. Pack one more than you think you need. A tired child at the halfway mark goes through a book faster than you expect.
If you are planning a trip and are not sure what to take, ask whoever is behind the counter. We spend a lot of time matching books to journeys, long or short, and we would rather talk you out of a book that will not suit a ten hour flight than watch you regret it somewhere over the ocean. Come in before you pack, not after.
