Well, that didn't last long, sort of

Just over two weeks ago I wrote From pocket notebook to Traveler’s Notebook, my Bullet Journal journey, which as the title suggests was about using a Traveler’s Company Passport Notebook as my everyday carry notebook.

In the post I wrote:

Two days in and I’m loving the setup. We’ll see how I feel in a month or two.

I’m sorry to say I lasted five days.

I haven’t abandoned the principle or the process, just the products in use. I quickly discovered that the pages in a passport sized insert were too small for my messy handwriting, far too many things were taking up two lines, when in a slightly larger notebook, they would have only been one. Or I found myself cutting short my notes to fit, which really defeated the point.

At the same time I had been flipping backwards and forwards on what I was going to use as a journal / thinking / commonplace book. I kept circling back to some kind of A5 notebook, again because of page size requirements, contemplating re-tasking an existing Leuchtturm1917 dot grid I already had or possibly using a Tamoe River paper notebook from Miso Paper. But my problem was that I didn’t really want to carry around an A5 notebook, the very reason why I had switched to pocket notebooks and then the Traveler’s Notebook.

It was whilst out for a walk, and coffee, that I realised I had a solution to both issues already - the Bullet Journal Pocket Notebook that I had been using before. The beauty of this notebook is that when open and turned to a landscape orientation, the double page spread is the same size as an A5 page. It’s really designed to be used that way as the page numbers are the bottom of each two page spread.

Now I didn’t want to combine my bullet journal with my journal / thinking book, but thankfully the notebooks come in a small range of colours (yellow, black and turquoise at the time of writing), so all I would need to do was get a second colour, then I would have two small notebooks that I could easily store in my bag. I was going to miss the organisation of the Traveler’s Notebook, but there was an answer to that, to be found on Etsy.

I knew that there were a number of makers in the UK who made custom leather notebook covers, quite a few in a style very similar to the Traveler’s Company products. In particular I was aware of FinStudioShop whose covers I had seen mentioned elsewhere as being really good and a very close match to what I had already, which ideally was what I was looking for. A quick search on Etsy, and a read through of some of the recent reviews, and I ordered an A6 BIFOLD Leather Journal Cover along with an A6 craft folder which they also make. The only problem was that. due to the popularity of their products, delivery was going to be at least two weeks. (In actual fact, shortly after I placed my order they paused taking new orders for a while so that they could get through the existing orders they had!)

The question then became, do I wait for the new cover and folder to arrive, and continue to use the Passport until they do, or do I bite the bullet and revert to using a pocket notebook immediately? I suspect you can guess the answer! Some turquoise notebooks were ordered (they come in packs of three) and I set to work copying over the small amount in my Passport on to a new yellow Bullet Journal Pocket Notebook that I had on hand.

One other change I made at the same time was to change how I labelled my notebooks. I decided to go from a numerical scheme to an alphabetic one, with the new notebooks being labeled A and B. I did this to make the Index a little clearer. Now it has entries like January: A.1 and The Shallows: B.3 for example. Each time a notebook gets filled, its replacement will just be the next in the sequence. Hopefully straightforward and uncomplicated.

Now I have both a bullet journal for monthly logs, daily logs, meeting notes, etc., and a journal / thinking book for hashing out ideas, more contemplative writing, notes on books I’m reading and quotes that grab my eye, all neatly contained in a leather cover, along with some supporting items, that neatly fit in one of the pockets of my everyday carry bag, an Alpaka Flight Satchel.

This wasn’t the cheapest exercise to undergo, but in the long run it was worth it to get where I am now, with a setup that I’m confident will last for some time. It might get tweaked, but the core will remain the same, unless of course the notebooks get discontinued, though I do have a stash, and I’m sure I could find suitable replacements should I ever need to. For now the Traveler’s Notebook sits unused, but I’m determined it won’t remain so, it’s just too nice to languish in a box or drawer.

There will, without doubt be an update on progress in due course…