I’ve had my Traveler’s Notebook for a little over a year now. I have mostly used it as literally a traveler’s notebook, taking it with me on a couple trips.
Other than that, I used a calendar insert as a habit tracker for a while but eventually abandoned it. I also have been using a lined insert to make notes about movies I’ve watched.
This time last year, I used my Traveler’s Notebook during our annual Staycation. Since this year’ Staycation has arrived, I set up my Traveler’s Notebook to chart and reflect on the movies we see at the Philadelphia Film Festival and on the new restaurants we try, as well as anything else that comes up. In addition to the usual eating, drinking, and movie watching, we will also be taking a short trip for a friend’s wedding.
Last year, our Staycation followed shortly on the heels of our trip to Solvang, CA so my notebook last October served dual purposes.
At that time, I used a lined insert to journal about our trip and our Staycation and used a calendar insert to track where we went, where we ate, and what movies we saw.
I cut out the descriptions of the films we saw from the program and glued them into a blank insert. I had used that blank insert to also collect some ephemera from our Solvang trip. In order to rate the movies, I used Kitta Washi Tape to adhere next to the descriptions and write down how I rated each movie. The film festival hands out ballots so the audience can rate movies. I wanted to note what my rating was.
I’m working on a similar set-up this year. I have a new lined insert for journaling and a new calendar insert for tracking what we see and do. I used the dry transfer stickers that came with the 2023 Traveler’s Notebook sticker set to add the month at the top of each page. I had never used dry transfer stickers before and really like the process and the result.
I had replaced the blank insert with a kraft paper insert a while ago and have not used it much. I should still have room in it for collecting the movie descriptions. I also have a sketchbook insert, but I’m not sure I’ll be using that for Staycation.
I now have a ratings stamp which will be more appropriate and visually pleasing than using the washi tape. I’ve been using my Copper Sarasa Clip pen to fill in the stars on the stamp.
In order to jazz up the calendar insert, I had been using date stickers. I placed them over the existing dates in the calendar, but since the stickers are white, I could still see the text through them. I figured out I could use a white pen, a Uni-Ball Signo, to cover the dates so they don’t show through the sticker. I bought colored stickers hoping that the date wouldn’t show through, but I still have to white out the dates in the calendar.
Our Staycation is one of our highlights for the year, and it was fun having a specific set-up in my Traveler’s Notebook last year so I’m looking forward to using a similar set-up this year.
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