Have you ever taken a long airplane flight? You may have brought along a paperback book, or quickly picked one up at the airport paper shop. The trouble is that a short time into the flight, you soon get tired of reading it, or worse still, if it is dark, the other passengers are all trying to sleep, and you may feel uncomfortable leaving your reading light blaring down on them. In this situation, you can either try to be inconsiderate of those around you, or feel like you are being forced to turn your light off.

Maybe you have tried to read a book while on board, only to find that it makes you feel ill. Not to mention any background noise from other passengers or children onboard that will destroy your fragile concentration while trying to read your paperback.

By the time you reach your destination, you are feeling jetlagged, as well as having a severe case of eyestrain from trying to read small print in not ideal lighting conditions. If any of these things have happened to you while on a flight, you may have wished that there was an easier way to entertain yourself without bothering anyone else, or being bothered by anyone else. Maybe you have been wishing for something that won't give you eyestrain, or make you feel ill while traveling? The good news is that there is an answer to these problems, and believe it or not, the solution has been around for about 20 years. The answer is audio books.

Downloadable audio books can be used in your MP3 player, iPod, or any digital media device that you have. Even better still, audio books are more affordable than the paperback book that you were going to purchase for your flight, as you aren’t paying for printing costs of the book.

It is undeniable that audio books, although they have been around for decades, are increasing in popularity. The $2 billion dollar industry started out with the sales of cassette players, and moved with the times to include CD's, and now are easily downloadable online in MP3 formats, and other digital formats. Downloads take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes to download to your computer, depending on the size of your audio book, and can be downloaded to your media devices in a matter of a few seconds.

It is not hard to figure out why audio books are so popular. They are like reading a book on auto-pilot, and because you are listening instead of actually reading the individual lines or pages of a book, it means that you are able to engage in other activities while reading a book.

For example, many people enjoy a good book while they are engaged in a monotonous task such as waiting, or when they are traveling on an airplane. Many people find that reading for long periods of time will either make them feel sick, or give them eyestrain, especially on a long flight where the lighting may not be ideal for reading a book.

An audio book, on the other hand, will not bother those around you, and save your eyes because you won't be reading lines from a book. You can relax through your flight, and enjoy a good book that will keep you entertained for the whole flight.

What Types Of Audio Books Can You Download?

Just like a normal bookstore, you are able to choose from a large range of books on hundreds of different topics. If you are interested in fiction, you can eject reality, and absorb yourself in a novel containing an epic adventure, exciting love affairs, or even spine chilling tales from some of the masters of horror. If fiction isn’t of much interest, you could always listen to health and well being books that will enlighten and teach you, or non-fiction topics such as history. The choices are endless, and coupled with today's technology, it is possible to download a number of books onto your digital media appliance, such as MP3 player, or iPod, and have a number of audio books to choose from while on your flight.

Whether you are on a flight, or doing any monotonous task such as gardening, walking, or driving, why not get a downloadable audio book, you will save money, be able to multi-task, as well as entertain, teach, and enlighten yourself.

Gunnar Berglund
http://www.exodustravel.net