This was originally published on my old blog BackpackBook (Livro de Mochila), a project that blended literature and travel, sometimes just traveling in my lucid dreams. It ran as âConhecendo o livro de mochilaâ on June 5, 2007.
A project made up of, and encouraged by, the greatest and the smallest writers in the world. Many of them don’t know it yet, but what matters is that they’re part of a group of people who encourage reading and the art of traveling, and when those two things come together, they can turn a trip into an incredible story, and stories into a trip like no other.
Have a good trip.
Livro de Mochila is a project quietly encouraged by many of these writers, since few of them ever say it out loud. What they wish is that their books would “live” with their readers, that the readers would “live” their stories, and above all that the books would be great company for good travelers, making their trips even more real and every new feeling and experience a little bigger.
But to sum it up, what’s the deal with the backpack book?
A backpack book isn’t a small, light pocket book, and it isn’t a big, heavy bedside book either. It’s just a backpack book, the kind you can put on the packing list without worrying. They’re stories that go along with a trip and push it forward, or even wake up the urge to travel. Stories where you find out that sometimes coming back is better than leaving, and that bad moments turn good after a few laughs. The world is uglier and more beautiful than it looks, and it needs you to keep spinning, so you make it spin.
Back down to earth, and since there may still be questions, we’ll borrow the textual and informative habits of our dear traveler Cassio Lacerda and put together an FAQ, with questions from aspiring travelers to the great masters, answered by the Guru:
Nina says: Sir, I don’t use backpacks and I don’t like them.
A: Well, in many cases, where the backpacker spirit isn’t much appreciated, wherever you read “backpack book” just read “suitcase book”. Don’t take it the wrong way :p
Adriano asks: So I can’t travel with pocket books? Couldn’t they even be better than backpack books?
A: Absolutely not, that’s practically heresy against travel. Just kidding :D Deep down, what really matters is that the book adds something to the trip. If taking it along doesn’t give you a hernia or end a marriage, it counts.
Maria asks: I always travel with city guides. Can one of them be a backpack book?
A: Well, that really is heresy, and this time I’m not kidding. But as whatshisname says, “âŚkeep your enemies even closer”. So let’s do this, let’s pretend that question never happened and change the subject. Look! Look! Christ the RedeemerâŚ
Ah! Missed it.
Mandrake says: Dear sir, I hardly ever finish the books I buy or get as gifts, and sometimes I don’t even start them. Will reading on trips be any different?
A: Give it a try, there’s always time! Especially after retiring, right Mandrake? And even more for someone who wants to write a book, huh? (Little jabs at the mysterious retiree.)
Raquel asks, outraged: Sir, you’re being irresponsible. Backpack trips are tight, there isn’t even room for my shoes and my hair dryer. How do you plan to convince me to save space for a book?
A: Look, my friend, some backpacks are like handbags, you can find anything in there. So why not a book?
So the books recommended in this project tend to be good company on a trip, but freedom is among us, and the door is open to all suggestions*.
*All suggestions of books that follow the principles of a backpack book:
- Not too big and not too small.
- Not too light and not too heavy. These first two go together, of course, but a mercury book might turn up somewhere, you never know.
- Related in some way to travel and everything that comes with it.
- And they always make your baggage come back bigger.
Travelers, the dreaming kind and the real kind, have been saving space in their luggage for a good backpack book for a long time. This project is an attempt to pass those two habits, traveling and reading, on to more people.
That’s it. We hope this explanation has moved you travelers to send us your literary tips and, above all, your own work.
The next posts will be about these precious backpack books. We’re counting on you.
Have a good trip, and see you when you get back.