Have you heard of these things? I bet you have! If not, let me tell you a little about these amazing journals.
As far as I can tell, these were invented in Japan by the Midori company and were made to ease the weary travelers of the world with a place to put your passport, along your thoughts on traveling. Though today, most people use them for a huge variety of things, with only one of them for actually traveling. There are a few different sizes you can buy, and rather than only being available in Japan as they once were, they are everywhere (as well as lots of people who make their own, which you can find all over etsy, Amazon, and elsewhere). There's even a great website to teach you to make your own (which I will link below).
I think the look and messy feel of a traveler's notebook is just lovely and fun to mess around with and look at. I don't really use mine yet, but eventually, I will find a good use for it. If you still can't visualize how one looks, I made a short video showcasing mine (this video was from my previous blog that I have moved the posts onto this one, so ignore the blog links and name on it):
These cool journals consist of an outer cover made out of anything (you could do foam, leather, vinyl, etc.). There are holes in the spine (two at the top and two at the bottom) to string your string elastic through and then it's knotted in the middle on the inside. There is a hole in the middle to knot a piece of elastic to keep the entire thing shut. Then you grab a few inserts (which, if you are into bookmaking, are pretty much the same thing as signatures--though with thin covers) and open them to the middle and slide them into each elastic. If you want more than two, then you get extra pieces of string elastic (or any small sized elastic either knotted together or sewn) and take two covers of the inserts and put the elastic around the insides of each cover to bind them together (or in their middles) and then insert them into another elastic in the cover.
From there, the possibilities are endless, as you can keep adding all sorts of inserts: booklets, vellum, folders, .
You can use these to make a commonplace book, a bullet journal, organizer, an art journal, or anything you want.
Here are some of my favorite links to websites and videos that talk about Traveler's Notebooks:
Kendra Lea: I just found this video and absolutely love it 😋 This gives you a great idea on how to set one up.
My Life All In One Place: this is where you can learn to make your own notebook and inserts!
Angie Angel: a great video on how to set up a TN for total beginners. And this video of hers shows you how to make your own dashboard.
A Pocket Full of Vintage: this video shows you how to make a 6-pocket folder for your TN out of a file folder (this is the video I used to make mine).
Christina Betts: a cool video that has loads of fun stuff in her TN!
Do you have a traveler's notebook? Do you have a website or a video of yours? Share it below (or when you make one!) because I'd love to see it!
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