When my son was 12 we went on a east coast trip (Philly, NYC, Boston) that was part college tours for my daughter. My son's solution to the fact that traveling and touring colleges was boring was to read the entire Harry Potter books over the course of the 3 weeks. I bought him a light backpack and purchased paperback editions of the books as we went. He would pull his current book out and plop on the ground and read in the craziest places. I have an adorable set of pictures of himreading just about everywhere on this trip. But several times I found myself telling him to stop reading because it just wasn't the appropriate time or place.