Preparing for Travel
Tomorrow is the day of long journeys. First a 50 minute train ride into London, then across the city to a bus station, where I begin an 8 hour coach ride to Newcastle, and then finally, if that wasn’t enough, another 50 minute bus ride out to my hotel. A hotel that is six miles outside the city centre – despite being advertised as only three miles. Named and shamed: the Travelodge at Silverlink. So almost ten hours sitting down: I’ll need a good book. Or five. Consequently I’ve uploaded Charles Dickens’s Little Dorrit to read, along with a collection of Keats’ poetry and a modern novel, Abraham Verghese’s Cutting for Stone. As I have an equal length journey back from Newcastle, I’ve Balzac’s epic cycle of novels and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick to keep me going. I think the ten hours will go quicker than they otherwise would. And if I get bored of reading, I’ve a couple of audio plays from Big Finish on my MP3 player to keep me going. I was supposed to read last...