Sometimes I buy books, not because the blurb on the back cover catches my interest, but because of an idea I have about myself reading it and the resulting perceptions people might have about me. When I buy these kinds of books, I invariably imagine myself reading them on a train- or while having breakfast alone in a quaint café (activities I almost never embark upon). I think about how they would look on my bookshelf, or stacked on my bedside locker.
The Art of Travel by French Philosopher Alain de Botton was one such book which I carried around for a bit and has been gathering dust for some years now.
So I decided to read it. And I was pleasantly suprised.
It is a philosophical book, but you shouldn't be turned off by that (take it from a girl who tried to read Sophie's World a couple of times and failed). I finished it before my trip to Paris and it turned out to be the perfect antidote to all the guidebooks agressively directing our attention to "must see" attractions. Instead, this book insightfully explained to me why I really wanted to go in the first place.
I will share some of my favourite extracts with you later.
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