Normally when I travel,the first thing I visit is a bookshop. I then use it as a navigation point for the rest of the trip (“Let’s meet up for lunch at [place]” – “Sure, where is it?” – “Just opposite Macy’s” – [blank stare] – “Three blocks from the hotel? Turn left?” – “Can you give it to me in relation to the bookstore?” – [sigh] “To the left of the bookshop” – “Great!”).

This time I’ve taken it a step further and decided to bypass the rest of the trip entirely. I’m going to spend some three weeks traveling from bookshop to bookshop; covering large part of England, Scotland and Wales, and have you ever heard of anything more delightful?

My friends have been enthusiastic of sorts:
“That sounds … err, lovely. But what are you going to do at all those bookshops?”
Me: “Do?”

Honestly, it’s like asking what you’re going to do when you see Buckingham Palace, or what you’re going to do at the Tower.

And none of those places even sell books.