Tips for How to Use Your Travelers Notebook

by Tona Bell September 05, 2018 4 min read

Tips for How to Use Your Travelers Notebook

"For the travelers with a free spirit"

From agendas to journals; and even wallets, Travelers Notebooks allow you to do this in the most flexible and stylish way. These leather notebooks from Japan are highly coveted and often imitated. They have been around for a dozen years. Simplicity and balance are key to their philosophy. The notebooks and various inserts have been designed for ones daily travels in life. Whether you use them for planning and organization, sketching, or journaling, you are free to customize them for your own needs. Created around the famous MD (Midori Diary) Paper. One is assured of the smoothest highest quality paper for most any medium. See more of the entire line from Travelers Company.

Here is how some of us use our notebooks, we hope you will be inspired and show us how you use yours.

Cowboy Alex uses his Travelers Notebook as an agenda:
"Sometime four or five years back, I decided that I liked having a paper trail of my weekly appointments. I am a visual learner and will always remember my schedule if I recall what the pages look like - either blank or with names and times scribbled on them. Putting things into my phone just didn't help me retain them to memory, and I prefer to have a general idea ahead of time of what my days or weeks are shaping up to look like.

Anyway, my first paper agenda was a year-specific one, and thus one I had to trash after the year was over. Then, I learned about Traveler's Notebooks, which combine beautiful leather covers with interchangeable inserts, one of which is a weekly calendar. I was hooked!

First I had a regular-size black one with a red binding cord, then I switched to a limited-edition olive, which has aged beautifully and still smells divine.

Often, I get compliments on it, even though paper agendas are still (sorta) a thing of the past. Along with a Blackwing pencil, the writing from which I can erase if necessary, I keep all my most important dates and notes in my TN. I even decorated my weekly calendar pages with some custom tape I found in the studio that says: 'You are loved. You are awesome. You are enough. You are lovely. You are worthy.' "

Regular attendee to the Midori-Travelers Notebook, Heather, uses her passport as a wallet:

I went to a Travelers meet-up at the Paper Seahorse. A couple of the participants were using their Passport size Travelers as a wallet. I decided to give it a try and purchased a dark brown color. It has worn extremely well. I really enjoy using it for my wallet. It appears streamline and helps me feel organized.

Cowgirl Dani loves the smaller passport size for traveling:

"One of the new ways I've started using my Passport TNis to keep a mini travel journal with the 003 inserts. When I travel with friends, I've started taking extra inserts so I can "collect" things for them. On a recent trip to Yellowstone and other National Parks, I gathered the park stamps in these. Then, I create travel journals for each of them. They are just the right size and give each of my friends (who don't journal!!), a memory of their trip and our travel times together."

I personally have four notebooks and an insert helping my through life at all times. I am an analog gal and the digital calendar and agenda never ever worked for me. Pen to paper is faster, more tactile and fulfilling for me. I love that I can be colorful and creative and express myself through pen and paper:

Once a week, on Sundays, I use my Camel notebook with green cord for my reflective journaling practice. I "theme" my week and capture the highlights, often sketching or pasting in treasures along the way. I have been doing this for three years now. Each of the inserts I use hold six months at a time. I love it because they are small and yet hold so much. I cover the inserts with handmade paper or wrapping paper according to my mood of the season. I started out with the 019inserts but now use the 003 inserts.

My daily planner is the limited edition Olive color (my favorite color of all time and I can't believe they made a notebook just for me!) I use the monthly insert (017), a kraft folder insert (020), the weekly insert (019) and sometimes a blank insert (003) for notes. It has all of my appointments, to dos, birthdays to remember, ideas and things I want to remember like gifts for people, movies or books I want to watch. Besides my iPhone, this is the item I have with me most of the time. I have a cute seahorse charm for my paper marker and I also cover my inserts with handmade paper.

My Brown regular size notebookwas my first planner. I now use it for my self development in a kraft insert (014) I take notes of books I have read and quarterly I do a vision / mood board to check in with myself.

I also use the kraft insert (014) for my travel vision board. I collect all the images and article of places I intend to visit. All the international places is in the front and all of the places in Florida is in the second half. I am inspired every time I open this book to add something. I am a big believer in creative visualization and positive affirmations. I used to collect inspirational images and saying and keep them in a folder, how silly is that? Now they are in my notebook and it is a living thing I use and look at all the time.

And last but not least, I have Camel passport sized notebook that I use when I travel. It is small and yet holds alot. A zippered insert (004) makes sure loose items are safe. The kraft folder (010)keeps items organized. A lightweight bland insert (005)for taking notes and of course my actual passport! Right now I am tricking mine out for my trip to Japan. I am sure I will find some cool items to add to it. Stay tuned!

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Tips for How to Use Your Travelers Notebook

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