I’m getting ready to head out of town on vacation for the first time in a few years, and I’m super excited. My husband and I like to travel with Race2Adventure – he loves the running, I love the yarn stores (no one’s surprised right?) This time we’re headed to Norway for sightseeing, running, yarn and more.
So I was thrilled a few weeks ago when Ana handed me a Paperblanks journal with the suggestion I use it to commemorate the trip. She’s so right – I’ll forget all the details if I don’t write them down, so thanks for the nudge.
I did decide to give the notebook a bit of a test run before I left home – today I’ll share what I found.
The journal Ana gave me is a Paperblanks Midi Notebook from The New Romantics series ($18.95). The hardcover is made of 100% recycled binder boards and covered in a pretty cover paper. The blue is called “Peacock Punk” and is lightly embossed in some fun patterns and a bit of yellow/gold color. (The notebook also comes in Velvet Cape (green) in Midi and Mini, and Midnight Rebel (black) and Urban Glam (red) in Ultra size.)
Inside the notebook has front and end papers in a kraft brown paper, along with a memento pouch in the back (perfect for ticket stubs and the like!). There is a black elastic which can hold the notebook closed (if I stuff it too full!) and a gold colored ribbon bookmark.
The paper in this notebook is great! It is thicker (120gsm) in an off-white color, and there are 144 pages. The pages are lined (lines are 6.67mm apart) which makes for easy journaling on the go without using lining sheets. The journal has sewn binding and feels pretty sturdy.
This one is a nice travel size: 5″ x 7″ and 0.75″ thick (130mm x 180mm; 20mm) though it does come in heavier than a Field Notes. With the hard cover, it weighs in at 9.8oz/279gm. That, to me, is the only drawback, especially on a trip where we’re always on the go moving our own luggage!
The paper performs really nicely. I tested it with everything from my magic rainbow pencil through Sharpies and Copic markers and nothing shows through except those last two.
I’m heartily looking forward to my vacation, and now I’ve got a pretty sweet little journal to travel with. I think I’m going to take my Kaweco AL Sport in Violet with me (plus extra cartridges). I chose that because it’s reliable and I can always toss out an ink cartridge if it leaks and start a new one. My journal won’t be colorful, but it will be fun to take notes, remember small moments and places we travel. I’ll share more when I get back!
I love Paperblank notebooks. Some have such intricate yet ornate covers. I keep trying to get myself to try something else, but nothing is as pretty!
My one question about Paperblank notebooks is about whether the pages lay flat when the book is opened. Looking at the photos included with the article…it seems they don’t. After being spoiled by all my Tomoe River notebooks that have the kind of binding that allows pages to lay flat, it’s hard for me to be willing to go back to struggling with the pages again.
Oh, the book does lay flat. The sewn binding allows the book to lay flay and it even stands up to “cracking” the spine if the pages aren’t laying as flat as you’d like. Because the pages are thicker thn Tomoe, it might require a little bit of manhandling but the book is very durable and can handle the abuse.
Have fun!! I’m in the neighbor country Sweden!
Sandnes garn has a factory store in Vågen, if you happen to visit that part of the country! https://www.sandnes-garn.com/factory-shop Open Mon-Sat. Let me also tell you about a wonderful Norwegian knitter on YouTube, in case you’ve missed her: Knitting Traditions.
Ooo thanks! We’re going to be in the area where the Rauma factory is so I think we’ll be stopping there. And I follow Arne & Carlos’s video podcast. Thanks for the tips though!