Read While It Rains

All the reading I did on the four-day journey to my new home in Spain!

As you might know, last week I made the big journey from Scotland to Spain where I will be living. It’s a huge moment for me, as I have never lived outside of Edinburgh but I felt like it was the right time for a change. Here is how I got here…

The Last Night

On my last day in Edinburgh, we spent the morning doing some final packing before going to stay with my parents. Sitting out in their garden, I had one book that I knew I wanted to finish before I left so that I didn’t have to take it with me but I still had 250 pages to read! I sat up late (knowing that I had to leave at 4am!) to finish this book and I was so happy that I managed it, long after everyone else had gone to bed. The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy is a funny read written in the 50s about the experiences of a quirky young American woman living in Paris. I was expecting it to be a little bit punchier and the ending took a bit of a weird turn, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Stage One

The first leg of the journey involved us driving down from Scotland to the South of England, where I have family. Reading very late the night before meant that I slept for the vast majority of the car journey the next day- I was probably only conscious for about 2 hours of the 8+ hour drive. I had some great plans for all the reading I was going to get done but in the end, I only managed to finish a book I was 80% into already which was The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff. This was a great read, and put me in a great mood to keep up the reading, even as fatigue kicked in.

Stage Two

After staying with family for one night, it was time for the dreaded two nights on a ferry from Portsmouth to Santander. At this point you might be wondering why on earth I am travelling to Spain in this convoluted way when I could take a 3-hour flight and be done with it. The answer is, this turned out to be the safest and most practical way of travelling with our dog (who is originally from Spain). She is very nervous so I also wanted to make it as calm as possible for her. She also loves being in the car!

The ferry offered dog-friendly cabins which we booked a few months ago, and has a deck for dogs to get some fresh air and toilet. Having been quite severely seasick last year on my honeymoon, I was absolutely petrified of two days at sea vomiting. I took a seasickness pill two hours before boarding and thankfully it knocked me out for pretty much 18 hours. But even after it wore off, the sea was very calm, and I was totally fine. The ferry was much larger than I expected and housed multiple restaurants and lovely seating areas. Our cabin was windowless and a bit small, but did the job for the two nights on board and our dog was perfectly happy as we let her sleep on the bed, which normally isn’t allowed.

This bit of the journey made for some great reading time, particularly as there was very limited WiFi. The first book I read was Idol, Burning by Rin Usami. I really enjoyed this short book, and couldn’t put it down once I had properly got into it.

Once I had finished Idol, Burning I began the book I was most excited for, and to be honest, had been bribing myself with the whole trip. Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang had me hooked from the very first page! I was carrying this book all over the ferry with me, reading it in different spots, absolutely addicted. I read about 200 pages in one sitting!

Stage Three

After we had disembarked from the ferry, gotten through customs and pet checks at the border, it was onwards to the south of Spain. This was going to be another 8-hour drive and now I was feeling pretty grumpy and tired. Having problems around food due to my endometriosis, I had to pack everything I was going to eat prior to boarding the ferry and by this point, supplies were running low. I was getting more irritable by the second, and the 30+ degree heat wasn’t helping.

I opted to sleep as much as possible but did start the audiobook for The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz, as I am incapable of reading a physical book whilst in the car. This book has a bit of a slow start but I did get into it a bit more as it progressed. That said, I have still not finished it yet!

Arrival

I have now been in my new home for four nights and am starting to get settled. Our new flat is lovely but I can’t wait for my books to arrive, as they’re getting shipped part-load which will take a month. It doesn’t quite feel like home without them!

I have now finished Yellowface and utterly adored it. I spent a lovely afternoon reading beside the pool, and it’s definitely one of my favourite reads of the year so far.

This journey has been totally exhausting and to be honest, I’m very overwhelmed with everything right now. Spending some time reading has been a great way to relax and take my mind off the huge to-do list, as well as more general anxieties about not being fluent in Spanish, and not dying in the heat.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip! I’m happy with all the reading I got done, and do not want to go near a car for the next month!

I’ll be posting more content about book shopping in Spain as I get settled and start to explore the city more!