My Traveler's Notebook Setup

I became enamoured by the concept of Traveler's Notebook the first time I learnt about it. It's been almost a year since I got mine and I'm still enamoured by it.

The Traveler's Notebook is a customisable, modular journalling system consisting of a leather bound cover with thin notebooks inside held together by elastic bands. The point is to use the leather journal for several years while replacing the notebook inserts within as needed.

It's a really cool concept and I see a lot of merit in it. I've been playing around with it and have tried a few things to see what I like. Although my current system/usage isn't perfect, it's getting there, and I thought this is a good time for a small show-and-tell!

my traveler's notebook

I came across the concept and the brand on Michelle's blog. When I went to Japan a few months later, I made sure to visit one of the TN stores to get a notebook for myself. I didn't do any research about what to buy or how much it costs so I visited the Kyoto store and bought only the starter kit after seeing how expensive it is 😂. In hindsight, I wish I had done my research bought more stuff, but it's alright.

I got the Traveler's Factory Kyoto Edition in the regular/slim size. I almost bought the brown set but when I saw one of the Kyoto edition's beautiful inserts, I decided to get the Kyoto edition kit to match. I'm really happy with it.

My leather cover looks blue-black in most lighting, however, it's actually a really dark green. I've seen photos of others' Kyoto covers and they look much more green than mine. I'm guessing the dye took to my piece a bit too much. You can see the green under direct sunlight and in specific angles, especially at the spine. I tried to show it in the photo but I'm unsure if I captured it well haha.

I love the idea that this cover will last for years and that the patina will be unique based on my usage. It will patina/show wear faster the more I use it. It's made for rough usage as well, so throwing it however in bags and rough handling it will be the best way to bring out patina. After initial hesitation, I've begun to carry it around and I don't handle it delicately. It's starting to show some scratches and the green colour actually shows more where the scratches are. I'm really excited to see it patina and bring out the green over time.

Because I haven't used it too much yet, it hasn't aged a lot. Still looks fairly new. I've seen photos online of people's 5-month old TNs looking wayyy more aged than mine haha. But I'll get there, I'm still figuring out the right use for it in my life.

On the cover, the pattern is copper foil stamped. It's not engraved or embossed. I've read a couple of posts online that the foiling comes off over time and the pattern isn't retained because it's not embossed. I'm not too worried about it, though. Since I'm fully leaning into the "wear and tear = beauty" idea with this, I might like it too. I'm really glad that I got this cover with the pattern instead of a regular cover (although I love the aged olive and camel covers online...) because it's so pretty and stands out. I've already shown it off to several people and it's currently my most prized possession haha.

I'm using the black elastic band that it came with (saved the red coloured spare for the future) with a couple of charms on it. The "Traveler's Company Kyoto" brass charm is from the store. Brass also patinas so I'm looking forward to see how it ages. I got another metal charm—an aeroplane—recently from the Indian-based brand The Black Canvas.

my regular setup

The Traveler's Notebook (TN) is meant to be an carried every day. It allows us to carry multiple notebooks for different purposes with us easily without having to carry multiple proper notebooks which adds weight. I've seen people have inserts ((term used for the thin notebooks inserted in the Traveler's Notebook)) for daily/weekly planning, a common place book, maybe a hobby/drawing book, and more.

I'm currently not using it as an Every Day Carry (EDC). Simply because I'm not used to it and I don't use a notebook for everything. I keep my organisation system on my phone for the last few years, switched after years of bullet journalling when I realised that a notebook simply wasn't working out for my current requirements. I used a digital planner for most of 2025 and returned to using the basic apps in 2026.

I like the idea of using my TN as an EDC. I like the idea of having everything in a notebook and whipping out my TN whenever I want to note something down or just to pass the time. (I love the EDC setups I've seen online with the XTEINK e-readers online which fit within the TN, making it an all-in-one carry.) However, I don't see the vision for me just yet.

I'm used to noting stuff on my phone (I have a shortcut to take quick notes with today's date) and using the calendar and reminders apps. I don't think the TN can replace calendar and reminders for me, which is what I mostly use on the go. The regular sized TN is also a touch too big to carry around without a thought. Maybe if it was passport-sized, I would be more open to it, but this one takes up too much space when I'm carrying small bags.

For now, I mostly take it with me on weekends. I'm yet to actually pull it out when I need to take a note—I still habitually reach for my phone because it's quicker and already in my hand—but I'm hopeful that I'll start reaching for the TN if I keep it with me. The members of the book club I joined often use notebooks to jot things down so that's the first place I can start using it without looking like an outlier. I just need to start reaching out for it or I should keep it open, ready to note down book recommendations. I'll work on it.

For my regular setup/weekend carry, I keep 2 notebooks and a kraft folder. I've found that the TN feels nice and chunky with 3 notebooks but considering my current usage, 2 notebooks is all I'm likely to use. I'll add more later if I see the need for it.

The kraft folder and the paper clips in different shapes are from The Black Canvas. The front has an angled flap in the front with 3 horizontal cutouts. I used it to hold random things during the one trip I took it on so far like postcards, loose scraps of paper, and bills. I also keep 3 paper clips on it to keep them handy, in case I want to quickly clip anything here or within an insert. I've used them to hold postcards and bills and photos during the trip. I kept the folder as another cover for the notebooks so I'll show the back of it (which comes at the end) later.

The first insert is a dot-grid catch-all/common place notebook. It's not technically common place but I don't have a better name for it. There's no specific purpose, it's a place to dump whatever I want to. Since my usage is fairly low, I don't want to bother having different notebooks for different kinds of casual usage. I got a bunch of stickers recently and had a blast decorating the cover of the insert. I love how it looks.

I added this catch-all insert for the Darjeeling trip in May. It was my first time carrying the TN with me on the trip so I didn't know how I would want to use it. My solution was to carry a blank insert and see what happens. I ended up writing a daily log of what we did on the trip, so that's what the insert begins with.

Back in my daily life, I began using it as a place to write quotes from books, blog post outlines/drafts, and other random notes. I felt like maintaining calendar pages on paper again to be able to see the month with memories and not just appointments like in my phone so I started making calendar pages like I used to in my bullet journals. I mostly fill in the calendar after the days as part of memory-keeping. I don't use the insert every day but I use it almost every week.

I learnt the first time I made this that the dot grid isn't fully aligned or straight in this notebook (the tuesday column is smaller towards the bottom lol). I didn't notice it when I normally write stuff but it shows clearly when I draw the calendar. From the next month, I started factoring it into my count. It's fine.

Reminiscent of my bullet journal days, I pick a colour theme for each month. After I got the stickers recently, I started using them in my calendar pages. Since there's always some space left on the side, I've been writing quotes from books there. I like it. I like how it's coming together slowly. I like that I'm not being perfectionist and treating the whole notebook as a best-effort thing where imperfections are part of the beauty of it. I'm just doing whatever feels fun. It's nice.

Soon after I began using the TN, I realized that I missed out on purchasing 2 helpful things because of my lack of prior research. I ended up buying them via an Indian site that imports those items and had them in stock. I couldn't wait till one of my friends went on his Japan trip haha. (I did ask him to buy a couple of other things, though.)

One of the items is a Traveler's Notebook brass clip. I initially thought it's purely an aesthetic item and was making do with clips from The Black Canvas. When I browsed the TN subreddit, I noticed that a lot of people thought the same but ended up finding it really useful. I got convinced and guess what, it is really useful. The clip has a blunt edge so it doesn't make imprints on the paper even if I keep it clipped on for a long time. It adds a good weight too, keeping that side of the notebook down. It's close to flat too. I don't have to resort to keeping on phone on the notebook to hold it down anymore. Since the clip is brass, it patinas too. You can see the beginnings of uneven discolouration on the clip in the photo, from ageing. The tip where my fingers hold it to open and hold is actually lighter and shinier in person, due to oils from my hand.

The other item I bought is a pencil board. This is a cardboard board to keep behind the page you're writing to give a stable surface to write on while on the go. I'm actually used to writing on uneven surfaces in most cases but sometimes, like when I'm resting the TN on my thigh or when there are 3 or more inserts, the pencil board helps. I usually keep it clipped behind the calendar page. I love the art on the front too, the orange pops well. The lines in the back are useful when I write in inserts with blank pages—they are lightly seen through the page and help me write straight.

The second insert is my Tamizh notebook. I'm currently working on learning the Tamizh script. I had fun decorating this too! (The back cover of the first insert was a test for a couple of stickers, I may fully decorate it in the future). I didn't have any theme in mind and none of my stickers specifically matched the purpose so I picked very random ones haha. I used a grid sticky note to write தமிழ் குறிப்பேடு i.e. Tamizh notebook and put it in the centre (didn't trust myself to write exactly in the middle on the cover lol).

I don't need a full regular notebook for this purpose since it'll be only a few basic notes and mostly random vocabulary and writings. Hence, I decided to use the TN system for it and carry it with me everywhere (carried it on the trip too) and it has been helpful! I can revise vocab or write basic sentences (like what I'm doing) when I've got free time.

I keep it with me when I journal in Tamizh in my regular journal to use the new vocab. I also copy over new words or words that are different from how I speak them when I come across them while reading Tamizh books.

At the end of the stack, the other side of the kraft folder shows up. This side has an envelope with the 2 buttons and tying string system. Right now, I have a bunch of stickers which I got as part of another journal and never used. I don't often use stickers on the go but this is a convenient place to store them.

During the Darjeeling trip, I used this folder to hold my passport and a couple of other papers. True to its name, the TN was really convenient during travels. I carried and used it way more often during the trip than I have at home. Again, I just need to figure out how to use it well for my regular days.

special inserts

I got two Traveler's Notebook Kyoto Edition inserts—one came inside the starter kit and I bought the other one separately. Both are way too pretty to be used casually so they've both becomes special-usage inserts.

The first one, which I got in the kit, is my travel memories insert. After returning from Japan, I decided to write a log of what we did throughout the trip with photos and any memorabilia. It turned out so well that I decided to continue it for future trips.

So far, this insert has about 4 trips. I absolutely love flipping through it and I happily show it off to others too. I love how the insert has become a bit chunky because of the memorabilia I added in it. The first page of the Japan trip starts with my Welcome Suica card which I can't use in the future (it's the temporary one) so I saved it here instead of throwing it.

I'm usually not someone who saved random things as souvenirs or memorabilia but after I started this practice, I'm slowly becoming one. During my Goa and Darjeeling trips, I bought more postcards than usual, saved restaurant bills, tickets, and even random papers just in case I wanted to use them in the memory book.

I stick, clip, and staple things into the book, writing quick notes about what we did around them. It's so fun to play around with the layouts of these pages, armed with so many physical pieces of the trip and several printed photos. I use the Midori date stamp I got from my Japan trip to mark the dates. I make mistakes, cover them up, or joke about them. I scribble in bad handwriting, uncaring about making it look perfect. I have spent several evenings on the pages of this insert and I look forward to continuing this practice for future trips.

The memory insert is almost full now. I think there's space for one more week-long trip. Hopefully, I'll be able to travel again before 2026 ends 🤞

The second special insert is a green tea leaf paper one. The paper of this insert is made from matcha tea leaves and they smelled of matcha for a long time. After discovering the smell, it became too precious and I had to come up with a fitting use case for it. One day, it clicked. I decided to make this insert fully matcha-themed.

I started with reviews and photos of matcha drinks I've had in different places. So far, I followed the same format of sticking a collage of the photos on the left side of the page and writing the reviews on the right. The reviews doesn't have too much information so far—the restaurant/cafe's name, the city, a small drawing of the drink, the drink's name, a couple of lines reviewing it, and a rating out of 5 using tea leaf doodles. I filled about 4 sets of such pages so far.

It's been a while since I updated this notebook actually. I've been having matcha and taking photos, haven't sat down to update this notebook. I also plan write reviews on matcha powders that I've used to make matcha at home, with parts of the covers or the can's label as the memorabilia. Maybe I could write my best matcha days or matcha-related memories (like when I made it for a group of friends one day, converting them to matcha fans) too? There's a lot I can do. TBD.

Since this is purely for fun, I'm not worried about doing it regularly or properly. I update this when I have the time and mood for it. I'm sure I'll love flipping through this when I'm done with it, similar to the travel memory insert.

I add these special inserts in my Traveler's Notebook cover when I'm working on them. I carried the memory book on my Darjeeling trip because I was updating it about a previous trip at that time. I carried it during regular weekends for a long time because I wanted to show it off to friends.

I haven't carried the matcha reviews book around in a long but it might be a good idea to. It'll push me to write reviews immediately, capture things like my friend's reviews too 🤔 If one wants to be artsy and capture life, there are soo many ways to do it.

let's chat!

Do you have an EDC notebook? What is your one non-negotiable that you always carry with you (other than your phone and wallet)? What do you capture/document from your life and how do you save them?