Buy a Midori Traveler's Notebook

Midori Traveler's Notebook - photo by Eclectic Psyche

“Always carry a notebook. And I mean always. The short-term memory only retains information for three minutes; unless it is committed to paper you can lose an idea for ever.” 

Will Self

I agree with Will Self's quote above, always carry a notebook (and after reading this post, you should need no more than a Midori Traveler's Notebook).  I have carried a notebook for as long as I can remember and I can't ever imagine not doing so.  I feel lost without it if an occasion arises where I can't take it somewhere.  Once you get accustomed to travelling with your notebook it becomes a part of you and a part of your activity - in a positive and inspiring way.  I have an old leather notebook that, over the years, I modified to carry three Japanese Life journals.  It works well and it even has a pen holder for my favourite fountain pen of the day.  Its a little beaten up these days from so much use but its still very functional and I think it has a character of its own now.  I'm sure you also have something similar you can't bear to be without.

Recently, however, I found that I needed a second leather journal that could accommodate another three notebooks as my projects had expanded.  I began searching through all of the leather journals I could find but nothing really took my interest and none of them matched my modified journal's functionality and ease of use.  In my modified journal I can simply swap notebooks as I please and carry other things of interest or usefulness in it as well.    

I was about to give up when I decided to take a closer look at the Midori Traveler's Notebook.  I had been aware of it but had been put off by the apparent cliché title of "Traveler's Notebook".  To me, anything advertising its purpose as a traveler's notebook must surely be a shoddy gimmick for newbies to the world of travel.....something they just have to have because it states it is for travellers (yes, I spell traveller with two l's, but Midori uses the US spelling).  However, after a closer look at the Midori I found it more interesting than I gave it credit.  It seemed to be closer to what I was looking for than I initially thought.  It was aimed at being something you carried with you everywhere, not just a travel accessory for the must haves.

So I set out to obtain one and that turned out to be a little more difficult than I expected.  I only found one seller where I live and they had a considerable markup on the price (twice my final purchase price).  I wasn't prepared to pay double the price and I thought I would just buy one straight from Japan.  After contacting a number of Midori's approved retail outlets looking for a good priced Midori Traveler's Notebook, I settled on one I felt comfortable with, who replied promptly to my queries and who was a reputable and established stationery supplier.  I dealt with their online sales manager and found the experience completely enjoyable and simple.  The company was professional, efficient and informative.

I ordered on a weekend and my Midori was posted express on the Monday.  I received it by the end of the week!  Absolutely amazing service and delivery.   The parcel was well packaged and all items (I ordered a few other things as well as the Midori) arrived safely and quickly.  And, to top off the exceptional service, my little package came with a free pencil as a nice little gesture of thank you from the store.  How cool is that?  Also a great little marketing tactic.  I was very happy indeed with the service and my order, it couldn't have gone any smoother.  On top of all this great service, the cost of the Midori and postage was half the price of what I would have paid back home.  Quality service at great value.

I ordered the dark brown Midori Traveler's Notebook and its a great colour.  The brown is a rich, warm and antique looking colour that makes the leather feel more inviting and....a little precious. :)  The inserts I ordered are quality products by Midori, the paper is smooth as silk, the pocket insert is very useful and the brass tabs are simply elegant.   I can't emphasise enough, how high a quality these Midori products are.  I like using Life (Japanese paper company) notebooks because their paper is pure perfection, the smoothest hand made paper there is; but the Midori paper comes in a close second.

Overall, the Midori Traveler is a wonderful notebook system and it suits any purpose or occasion where a notebook is needed - whether that be travel, staying home, grabbing a coffee at the local cafe or just riding on the bus to work.

The pictures below show the parcel and contents I received from the Japanese supplier.  I've been using the Midori Traveler's for about a week now and its already proving to be one of my better investments.  I can only see this becoming more and more a part of my daily life and creativity.

The only word of caution I would give is that a brand new Midori Traveler's Notebook has a very strong chemical smell (I assume from the tanning and dying process).  Its quite odd really when you consider the Japanese traditionally have a strong sensitivity to smell and enjoy delicate smells.   The smell of a new Traveler's Notebook can be quite potent and off putting, however, it does dissipate quickly.  I put my notebook on a chair in a sunny window and within a couple of days the repugnant chemical smell was gone, and is now replaced by an inviting leather aroma.  I wouldn't let this put you off buying a Traveler's Notebook at all, but it is good to be forewarned so that you are not disappointed for a few days while your notebook sits idle in the sun.

In sum, all I can say is - get one!  If you have the money and are looking for a wonderful leather notebook (although its much more than a notebook) then I would whole heartedly recommend the Midori Traveler's Notebook.

I will post some more pictures of the Traveler's in use soon.

The Midori Traverl's Notebook and accessories were extremely well packaged and padded for protection.  There was only one way the goods were going to arrive - and that was safely.

The Midori Traveler's Notebook was a lot cheaper from Japan and so were the accessories and inserts.  I managed to obtain a few extras because of the good online price from the supplier's store.  I wouldn't have been able to get the little extras locally.  The brass tags are classy and functional; they are well worth including in your Midori order.

If you like leather notebooks, and you like to customise them to your needs, and you love to carry it everywhere with you, and you like an antique-aged look on your notebook over time, then the Midori Traveler's Notebook was made just for people like you and me. :)  TB

Traveler's Notebook - photo by Eclectic Psyche

PS - I am constantly contacted by readers asking me to provide the name of the company I purchase my Midori supplies from.  I don't receive any endorsements from any company and prefer not to name a company normally but in light of all the requests I will say that I purchase my Midori supplies  from Pencils.jp - who can be found at this link:  Pencils.jp  I have found their service to be of the utmost professional standard and friendliness.  So there you go....you can stop pestering me now.  :)

The Gift of the Written Word

"You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world's happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime."  Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) American writer.

Take the time this Christmas to give a little of yourself….. 

Remember this Christmas that the present is not the only gift you can give.  There are two other, more meaningful gifts you can and should give - your time and a personalized, hand written card.

The Christmas card often only receives a brief, quickly scrawled cliché line about enjoying the day.  The whole card buying and giving routine often becomes as impersonal as the wrapping paper.  Relegated to the indignant status of gift accessory.  We buy it quickly, scrawl on it even more quickly, tape it to a gift where it receives a cursory glance before being unceremoniously dumped onto a table alongside dozens of other similarly mass scrawled cards.  A mere token of measurement of our popularity (how many cards we received) rather than a medium by which our family and friends sought to express how they felt about us; to convey how special we are to them.  Well don’t fall into the trap of the masses this Christmas!  Say no to the thirty second scrawled message and take time to write how you feel about the person receiving the card.

Come on... try it...this year take some time to write a meaningful, heart felt and original message in the card.  Take the time to write more than the two or three lines churned out with the mass production precision of the card manufacturing plant.  Better still hand deliver it to the people you care for and spend a little quality time with them.  Hand the card to them and reinforce exactly how important it is having them in your life.  After all, now is the time of year where we remind those closest to us (and ourselves) how much they genuinely mean to us? 

For something a little more nostalgic to match the traditional Christmas spirit, use a fountain pen.  In keeping with the Christmas seasonal colour, try some Iroshizuku yama-budo or Mont Blanc winter glow ink and write a sincere and caring message to those closest to you. 

Yama-budo Ink - Photo by Eclectic Psyche

In this day of sms, email, mobiles and the like, we forget to stop and actually write something meaningful and lasting to those we care for.  So resist the fast lane trend and stop to smell the roses, or rather write about the roses in your life!  You will probably find you have more roses than you realize and soon discover those roses are ever-lasting as a result of the time you take to ink your feelings.

This season - Ink it!  Write it!  In doing so you will reconnect important relationships and perhaps also rediscover yourself at a time of year when reflection is key to our growth in the New Year.  Take time for a little introspection and to contemplate who is important to you, then communicate your thoughts to those you value.   And if you handwrite those thoughts with a fountain pen the message becomes even more personal, meaningful and special. Well it does for me.

And for the more creative, try rewriting an old Christmas carol to fit the message you want to convey.  Music written before 1923 is not bound by copyright restrictions.  Just two to try are: I heard the bells on Christmas Day and Joy to the World! See what you can rework those into as a personalised christmas message.

If you are a little stuck with getting started with which songs to use, click on this link  http://www.christmas-carol-music.org to get some ideas on music/songs that can be used.

Remember to make it personal, meaningful and from the heart.

Ink it!  Write it!

Have a safe, happy and special Christmas!  Hope Santa brings you that new fountain pen and ink you have wanted all year!  See you in 2013!  May it be a peaceful year for this global village we share!  

Ku-Jaku (Peacock) Ink - Photo by Eclectic Psyche

Ink it! Write it!

I was writing a document recently and thought of this blog.  I had forgotten about it, well...I have to admit I most likely forgot it intentionally so I didn't have to face drafting a post.  So, I felt bad that I opened an account I never made use of.  Since I was debating with someone the use of fountain pens today I thought I would post that topic here.

Essentially my friend and I were debating a range of points surrounding fountain pens.  My friend thought that fountain pens had become ornaments.  In their view, old pens were for antique collectors and new pens were for ornamental display; with perhaps just the occasional ceremonial use such as a special signing or formal letter.  Anything that was less valuable wasn't worth collecting much less using.  They conceded an artist or writer might want an expensive or valuable "special" pen to create something "special".  

Argh!  My friend had cited the two main arguments that always make me cringe. 

The two arguments being:

1. Fountain pens are only purchased as collectible ornaments, or

2. To create something "special" you must possess a fountain that is expensive or "special".

The above statements always result in me debating fountain pens.  Its essentially, the age old debate of tool versus artistic instrument or rather - functional item versus item of display (in other words price and prestige over use and function).  I am always amused though, with the view that something artistic, beautiful and worthy can only come from a so-called instrument of equal beauty.  That you must possess something "special" before you can create something "special".  So much for the creative genius within.

The same applies to inks! 

So many quality inks are overlooked because the buyer reaches (and pays considerably more) for the ink with the excessive packaging and price tag. Noodler's Inks - Link - are one of my favourites and yet they are also one of the most affordable inks you can find. Obtaining a good and appealing pen is an enjoyable experience but so too is inking it with a quality ink and then actually using it! 

(Ink iage sourced from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Blue_ink.jpg)

The pen and the ink are designed to interact, to combine so you may communicate and share with others (and perhaps other generations); yet many a pen has never touched the ink it was designed for.  Many a fountain pen has never quenched its thirst at the ink well.  Sadly, somewhere along the way, it became an ornament.

Ink it!  Write it! (And perhaps you too will write like this - Ink it! Write it!)

TB