Having a good book to read when you are travelling can be a great way to fill in the time. There can be a lot of downtime or times you just want to relax when you are travelling. But more so now we find ourselves relying on electronic books instead of physical books. But that can come with its own challenges if you do not prepare before setting off from home.
Internet Access
When we are travelling internet access is not always available like it is at home. As such it can be wise to do just a little check and ensure you are prepared to travel with your books at the ready. You want to be sure that when you power your device on to read on the plane, that your book is there ready for you.
Buying Books
If you are buying books specifically to read while travelling hopefully this will see you checking your purchase. Not because the purchase might not work, but to ensure your books are on your device. When you purchase an electronic book they do not always appear immediately in the application. I highly recommend that even if you have never had a problem before that you check the book has downloaded before leaving home. The check only takes a minute but can save you the hassle of finding it did not download as expected.
Library Books
There are many libraries that have connected their service to an electronic book library. These services will allow you to borrow an electronic version of a book like you would borrow a physical book. But the same issues can arise as with buying electronic books, you want to be sure the book you have borrowed makes it to your device.
Checking Your Download
The quickest and easiest way to see if something is on your device is to turn on aeroplane Mode. In this mode all external communication is shut off, meaning you are disconnected from the internet. Essentially the same as if you were on an aircraft or outside of mobile phone service. Then you open your application for the book and see if you can access it. If you can open the book, it is on your device, if you cannot open it or cannot see it in the application, it has not downloaded.
With some applications, there are ways to see what is and is not on your device. With the Amazon Kindle Application, you can choose between a list showing you all titles or just downloaded titles. In iBooks, there is a small cloud icon shown next to items that are not downloaded to your device. In the Audible Application, there is the option to list titles by Cloud or Device with the ones listed under device being the ones downloaded. These are just the applications I use, but it can be worth checking other applications you use as they may have similar options.
Enjoy The Read
I hope that this post has helped you to take a little step to help ensure that you have the books on your device when travelling. The last thing I would like is for you not to have the book ready when you are travelling to read. I personally like to have a variety of options when travelling be it books, games, movies or music.
