I was never a bookish girl. As a child, I had a hard time concentrating on a book, or even focusing on a task in general. My mind wandered back and forth between ideas. I vividly remember the first book that captivated me: Atalanta, a book about Greek mythology. I read it aloud to my grandmother every day for two weeks, and the two of us would delve into the story of this traveling goddess who ventures across the world in search of the Golden Fleece. It was the first book I was able to read in its entirety.
Today, at 29, I know books are my escape from reality, or maybe they're my welcome back. I've been living as a digital nomad for three years. It can often be overwhelming. Although I love traveling around the world and wouldn't change it for anything, I'm constantly changing environments, different languages, foods, cultures, and religions. One of the countries I had the hardest time understanding and the one I loved the most was Georgia, a country in Eastern Europe that became a beautiful cultural awakening. I struggled to communicate since very few people could speak English. Walking through the historic streets of Tbilisi, I came across a small bookstore, like a little home. When I entered, I felt the embrace it gave me. I remember looking around the shelves; it had books in Georgian, Russian, Ukrainian, and English. I loved it! And I saw it, one of my favorite books, Educated by Tara Westover, one of the books that changed my outlook on life. It took me to another level. A book where I cried, felt frustrated, and laughed.
After I read Educated I pursued my strong desire to find more books like that, books that would change my perspective, that would take me out of my comfort zone, that would make me cry, laugh, feel fear, that would teach me! Then I came across authors like Hang Kang, who brings drama, rawness, and pain to stories like The Vegetarian. I read classics like The Institute by Stephen King, which made me rethink the society we live in; and I found love with beautiful fantasies that made me cry, like The Third Love by Hiromi Kawakami. But I must say that it never hurts to reread a classic that embraces you as tightly as Chicken Soup for the Soul. There's a book for everyone, I know that now; letting ourselves be carried away by them is a choice we make.
The me I am today can't travel without having at least three books in my suitcase. Yes! They're heavy, and it's not convenient for flights, but there's something in the smell of the pages, in the texture of the cover, in the magic of the print of each letter. Reading is one of the detoxes I embrace most wholeheartedly. It gives me peace and silence when there's so much noise in my head.
