FONHAB (fear of not having a book)

I recently returned from a trip overseas to Europe - just a brief one of 10 days, of which much was spent flying through the air. But this trip brought home to me something I have known but not fully acknowledged - I have a deep fear of being without something to read.

Not a phone, none of this doomscrolling and all, no ebooks. It must be something printed, something on paper. A book, an article, a printout. Usually it involves a book.

I took three books with me on that trip. I didn't even make it all the way through one (it was rather thick), but I didn't want to be left without the next (and the next) thing to read. Just in case. This can add some (unnecessary) weight to your luggage. But I don't mind as long as I know I am carrying enough words to see me through. And then some.

So I started to look up whether there was a word to describe this. I found alogotransiphobia, which means fear of being on public transport without something to read. I can relate very well to that. Planes, trains and so forth, though not vehicles (car sickness and all). But for me, it is more than that. Fear of being in a doctor's waiting room without something to read. Fear of waiting for a meeting with someone without something to read. Fear of eating alone in a restaurant without something to read. And so on and so on.

Another I found was abibliophobia, but that is more about fear of running out of reading material altogether. Part of the issue here, but it doesn't capture the whole.

So I decided we need something new to describe this. I'm sure you have heard of FOMO - fear of missing out. Or FOBO - fear of better options. We need something like that.

I tried FOBWSTR, fear of being without something to read, but that doesn't have any flow. Same with FONHSTR - fear of not having something to read. The best I could come up with is FONHAB - Fear of not having a book.

I'm open to sexier suggestions. In the meantime, me and my phobia have an interim label. FONHAB.