Travel Technology: Kindle Paperwhite.

I am a bit of a book worm. Aways have been. I used to get made fun of when I was younger for having my nose in a book at recess, rather than running and playing.

I was totally okay with that.

But when I decided to go off and do this "Seven in Seven" tour, I dreaded the idea of lugging both my laptop and my iPad around with me. The reasons being:

1. The iPad is a bit heavy, believe it or not.
2. If I'm on the beach, or outside, and trying to read on it... I have to deal with the glare.

Not cool.

"Here's what you need to do," a longtime friend told me, "Get yourself a Kindle Paperwhite. It's light. It's very small. The batter lasts a long time. And it's automatically connected to any 3G network in the world, making it easy to download books no matter where you are."

I was sold! He had me convinced. I quickly ordered one, and have been traveling with it since Day One in Iceland.

Clearly, as you can see how dirty it is from my finger prints, it gets a ton of use.  So much use, in fact, on this very trip that I am on through Asia/Indonesia/Australia.

Since leaving Boston February 6th, I have gone through three books...

First there was this popular one, which I wasn't completely sold on at first... But quickly grew to love.

Then there was this one, which I'm not sure what prompted me to download it...

I mean... It's Bill O'Reilly. I can't stand that guy. And he gives himself top-billing on the cover, when I am pretty sure the other guy probably did most of the research.

But it was such an excellent read that I downloaded another one yesterday...

And also loved it! And have now finished it. Seconds ago, I finished downloading their first book, "Killing Lincoln." I'm sure that will take me till my first day in Australia. And then I'll be in need of something new to download.

On the trip back from Peru, I read through this hilarious novel...

It's about a woman, named Bernadette (duh), who takes off while her family goes looking for her. Antarctica is involved in this one. Which is why someone recommended that I read it.

The Paperwhite makes downloading and reading so convenient. I love it! And to think... Just a few years ago, I was still packing my suitcase with paperbacks to read while by the pool or beach.

How pedestrian! Never again!