Wanderlust Bingo
I loved the Around the World in Eighty Books challenge. It made me look for books I wouldn’t normally have gone for, many of which were great reads, and forced me out of my insular British comfort zone. I’ve been trying to think of a replacement challenge ever since I finished it. So here it is…
My plan is that for the first half of the year I’ll just wait and see what boxes I can fill from my general reading, and then towards the end I’ll frantically try to find books to fill in any missing squares! Any type of book will count – crime, fiction, science fiction, non-fiction. A country can only appear once, and one of the boxes will be filled by a book from my home country of Scotland.
If you fancy joining in, feel free! Otherwise, I’m hoping you’ll give me the pleasure of your company as I travel. 😀
Bon Voyage indeed! I enjoyed your reviews for the around the world challenge, so I look forward to seeing what you review for this one. I’m hoping to make some more progress with my Transmongolian Railway reading challenge this year, so I’ll be travelling with in my reads too 😊
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Thank you! I have my bags packed and my passport ready… 😀 Maybe we’ll meet somewhere out east and share a local delicacy or two! (So long as it’s not insects or eyeballs… 😉 )
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I like the look of this. I’d love to join you but still have to finish my much-postponed #EU27 challenge. 😝😏
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Haha, it’s so much easier to start challenges than finish them, isn’t it? Maybe we’ll meet on our travels somewhere on the edges of Europe and share a glass or two… 😀
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The Old Curiousity Shop will fill the ‘walk’ square.
I’ve got wanderlust just reading the names of the squares 🙂
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Ooh, yes, brilliant idea! One down, 24 to go! 😀 I’ll have to spend a lot of time googling to find out what countries are in which region though… 😉
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The only way to travel, at least until later in the year. I’ll certainly come along for the ride.
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My thoughts exactly!
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I’ve looked out my virtual passport and packed my virtual bags… 😀
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Must admit I’ve always been more enthusiastic about virtual travel than the real thing! I’ll send postcards… 😀
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I’m still doing my Reading Bingo Card for 2020, but I’m tempted to try this. I think it’s a good idea to leave it until the halfway point and then look for books to slot into the squares you have left for the rest of the year. Are you going to do updates for us to see where you’re up to – and to spur us on?
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Yes, I’ll include it on my usual quarterly challenges round-up and see what books fit in, though I may have to move them around at the end of the year to fill all the boxes – that’s not cheating, is it? 😉 I’d love it if I’ve tempted you – it’d be fun to compare our journeys! 😀
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This looks like a great challenge 😊 good luck, and I hope you enjoy the journey 😊
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Thank you! My virtual bags are packed… 😀
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I am in ….wonderful maam
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Oh good, I hope you enjoy it! 😀
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Oh yea!
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Looks fun! I may join in and combine it with my other challenges.
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Oh, that would be good – it’d be fun to compare our journeys! Yes, I’m hoping there’ll be a lot of crossover with my other challenges too…
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Oh, I love it, FictionFan! It sounds like such a fun challenge, and a great way to expand the reading horizons, which is great. I’m packing my bags, and will be ready to travel along with you…
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I’m all packed and ready to go! Mind you, I may have to spend a good deal of time googling which countries are in which region… 😉
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Love this idea! I’m definitely in!
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Oh, good! I hope you enjoy it. 😀
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Look forward to your choices. An interesting challenge.
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I’ve packed suntan lotion, woolly socks and emergency chocolate, so I’m ready for anything! 😀
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😄
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Wow, what a fantastic idea! Bon voyage and I’m looking forward to your choices and opinions! 😊
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Thank you! My bags are packed and I’m ready to go! 😀
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Happy fictional travels! This sounds like a great challenge!
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Thank you! I’ll need to see if I can fit in a mini-break to Ireland some time in March… 😀
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Sounds like a plan. Stay in my spare room 🤣
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😂
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I’m looking forward to following your travels! 😀
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Thank you! My bags are packed and I’m ready to hit the road! 😀
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This sounds interesting. I’ll be following your travels with interest.
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Thank you! With my sense of direction, I could end up anywhere! 😉
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Travelling by book seems like it might be the only option for the foreseeable future so I’ll happily join you on your travels.
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Thank you! Must admit I enjoy virtual travel more than the real thing even at the best of times – less laundry… 😉
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Yes, I’d forgotten about post-trip laundry piles 😁
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😂
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Good idea to begin a new year with a fresh challenge, you will probably be surprised by how many boxes you can fill from your existing TBR. Good luck.
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I’ve missed the Around the World one so this will encourage me to look beyond the British coastline! Yes, I tried to keep the categories fairly wide so I wouldn’t get bogged down in searching for a specific place.
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Bon Voyage indeed, what a fun challenge! I keep being tempted by the Round the World challenge, I think this year I should just aim to organise myself, I agree with you I need to get out more! The classics challenge and blogging has shown me how insular my reading is. Good Luck!!
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Thank you! Yes, it was when I started blogging that I realised how insular my reading was, and the Around the World challenge was brilliant for reminding me to look at books from other countries. I’ve kept the categories wide in this one, so in theory it should be easy… 😉
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Great idea! Look forward to reading about your travels x
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Thank you! My bags are packed, I’m ready to go… 🎵
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Yes, bon voyage! Sounds like an outstanding challenge!
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Thank you! The only problem is, with my sense of direction I could end up anywhere! 😉
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How interesting! And since we’re still in the midst of this pandemic, it feels like an ideal (and safe!) way to travel. Bon Voyage, FF — not sure I’m going to play along, but I’ll be happy to tuck myself into a wee corner of your luggage and enjoy vicariously.
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Thank you! Ha, I must admit I prefer virtual travel to the real thing even when life is normal! I’ve packed suntan lotion, a woolly hat, and plenty of medicinal chocolate, so I’m ready for anything… 😀
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I’ll have to live vicariously through your reading. Have fun!
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Thank you! Vicarious life is so much more enjoyable than the real thing! 😉
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This one looks like great fun and I’ll enjoy following your progress. Maybe we can make suggestions, if it comes down to filling in the final blanks.
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Thank you! My bags are packed and I’ve got the suntan lotion on, so I’m ready to go! Yes, indeed, all suggestions welcome! I’ve kept the categories wide in the hopes they’ll be reasonably easy to fill, but I bet I’ll get stuck on a few… 😀
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I’ll certainly enjoy joining you on your journey, and I might just keep an eye on those squares for myself too 🤔 Book travel is the right travel for these times.
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Thank you, and if you find any interesting books for any of the boxes, let me know! I enjoy virtual travel better than the real thing these days even when life is normal – less laundry… 😉
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👍 Will do! 🙂
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Buona fortuna! Quite a worthy challenge to extend one’s geographical comfort zone and one I struggle with, though I hope to find another route beyond my self-selected frontiers.
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Thank you! I’m very insular in my reading and the Around the World challenge was great for making me look beyond the British coastline, so I’m hoping this will keep me motivated… 😀
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Great idea, have fun on the journey! Did you set up this Bingo card yourself? Where is Australia? 😊
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Thank you – my bags are packed and I’m ready to go! 😀 Yes, I wanted to keep the categories pretty wide so they’d be reasonably easy to fill. I think Australia’s in Oceania? Hahaha, you’ve found my weak spot – my geography’s terrible. Thank goodness for Google! 😂
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This looks fun, I can’t wait to see what you come up with! It will be good to get out in the world again, but it looks like it may be a while. In the meantime I will follow you on your virtual journey.
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Thank you! My bags are all packed and I’m ready to go! Must admit I enjoy virtual travel more than the real thing anyway these days, even when life is normal – less laundry! 😉
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This looks like a lot of fun! I will eagerly anticipate reading about your adventures. “Walk” sounds like an interesting category… a book that immediately comes to mind is The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry but I think maybe you’re not too keen on that one? Do I remember that correctly, or have I confused you with another blogger?
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You’re quite right – I hated Harold Fry! But it would be a great one for the “walk” box. 😀 I’ve left the categories wide in the hopes it’ll be easy to fill the boxes, but I bet I still get stuck on one or two! My bags are packed… 😀
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Looks fun – enjoy your journey!
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Thank you! I’m all packed and ready for the off! 😀
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Bon Voyage, what a fun challenge! Might I say, I am impressed with that little bingo card-did you make it yourself?
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Thank you! Haha, yes – experience has taught me I’m better at challenges where I make up the rules myself… 😉
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[…] This is a brand new challenge for 2012 devised by FictionFan. […]
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This is a great challenge. I also admire that you finished an Around the World in 80 Books challenge. I will be seeing what I can fill in with my reading and following you while you complete yours.
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Oh, good, you must let me know where you get to! Haha, it took me more than four years to do the 80 Books challenge – but it was worth it! I’ve been missing it ever since I finished it… 😀
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Wanderlust bingo… I love it! I also like your strategy of filling it in as you go through the year before frantically choosing specific books at the end of the year to finish it. I think I would probably choose that strategy too haha!
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Haha, my strategy will work at the beginning of the year but I may come to regret it at the end as I desperately try to work out what countries are in Southeast Asia… 😉
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I just found this via Books Please. So fun!
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It’s turning out to be more challenging than I expected! Clearly I need to travel more… fictionally, at least! 😉
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I started on it last night with the books I’ve read so far this year. I’m doing ok. But not using a country more than once is a challenge. Not sure about “Space” either since I don’t read sci fi–guess I”ll need an astronaut book.
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Yes, I’m finding the only one book per country tricky too, but it was deliberate to stop me just reading about the same countries again an again as I usually do. If Space doesn’t work for you, feel free to change it to something else! I don’t read a lot of sci-fi but I knew I had one on my TBR that would work for that slot.
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Thanks!
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[…] BBC’s 100 Novels That Shaped Our World. The nudge to read it now came from FictionFan’s Wanderlust Bingo as it fits nicely into the Southeast Asia Square as it is set in Vietnam * (see below). I […]
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[…] challenge was devised by FictionFan in 2021 and I have been filling in the squares at a snail’s pace since […]
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Only just discovered this and have been merrily filling in the squares only to realise how hard it is with your rule about including a country only once. if I understand that correctly I can’t have France in the “village” square if I’ve already used France in my “Europe” square??
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Haha, yes, only one France allowed! It turned out much harder than I meant it to. It wasn’t really the different countries that stumped me, since that was deliberate to make me “travel”. It was all the odd ones like Desert and Forest – I kept finding books I thought would work and then hating them. It was supposed to be a one-year challenge but I still haven’t finished it… 😂
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I found one I thought would fit for “desert” – The Long Dry by Cynan Jones which is about a drought in Wales. But then realised that would rule out the book I’d chosen for “train” which is also Wales. So far I’ve got to 12.. Clearly this is going to be a multi year project too…..
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Haha, every time I find one it tends to lead to a lot of juggling too, but that’s half the fun… 😉 I’m reading one at the moment which I hadn’t planned to use since I’d already filled the relevant box, but I actually prefer this book, so it’s all change again! Hope you enjoy the search – and the reading!
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I’ll probably post an update next week…
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I shall look forward to it!
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I just found this via Margaret at Booksplease. Looks like my cup of tea but a bit late to start now, plus I have a lot of other challenges to finish before the year’s end. I’d quite like to try it next year though, might you be hosting it again?
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There’s only two or three of us doing it and we’re all doing it at different speeds with no set end date (there was an end date in the beginning but it didn’t quite work out!) So if you fancy doing it sometime then go right ahead and set a timetable that works for you! I’ll probably do something similar next year but will change a couple of the boxes since some of them turned out surprisingly hard to fill. I do like to have some kind of “travelling” challenge on the go – it stops me from staying in my usual British rut. Always glad to have other bloggers along for the trip! 😀
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Thanks for your reply and for explaining what you’re doing. I’ve bookmarked this post and will also follow your blog so that if you decide to do a new bingo card next year I can decide whether or not to do that one instead. I’m a massive armchair traveller, both fiction and non-fiction, and travel challenges are actually quite rare I notice, which is why I pounced on yours. 🙂 Thanks again.
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I’ve actually just been playing with the bingo card, making a few changes to it for next time, so it will definitely appear as a new challenge sometime in January. I thought I might do it over two years next time – both Margaret and I found it impossible to complete in one year given all our other reading commitments and challenges (though Christine sailed through it)! I do hope you’ll join in – it’s always fun seeing what books other people pick to fill those elusive boxes! 😀
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[…] Five more squares remain to be completed though it’s going to get tough from now on because Fiction Fan who created this card has a devious rule where a country can only appear only once. That means I […]
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[…] put me in mind of a challenge I’ve been meaning to try but keep forgetting to get around to, FictionFan’s Wanderlust Bingo. In addition to her rules that a country can only be used once, I also decided that the book can […]
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