Notebook Discontents and Regrets

I probably don’t need to tell you this, but I LOVE notebooks. I am always attracted to all sorts of notebooks. I can’t pass an office supply store without taking a look, even if I’m pretty sure the selection won’t be that interesting. Even the back to school pallets of cheap-o spiral notebooks at Staples kind of give me a thrill.

But I’m also really picky about notebooks, so there are many notebooks that I don’t love, and don’t want to use. I have used lots of different kinds of notebooks over the years, and my personal preferences have shifted and evolved in terms of size, paper type, and other features. Nowadays, I pretty much know exactly what I want in a notebook for daily use, and I’m selective when it comes to buying notebooks for this purpose. But I still sometimes get it wrong. Today I’ll tell you about a few notebooks that I thought I would love, but actually didn’t.

The Travelers Notebook

I kind of knew the passport size Midori Travelers Notebook was going to be wrong for me, but I bought one anyway, plus some fancy inserts. I was seduced by all the images I’ve seen online of beautifully worn in, over-stuffed travelers notebooks, many with Nolty planners tucked inside. I liked the idea of customizing the inserts, and ended up not even including a notebook inside. I used my Travelers Notebook for a few months as a wallet, but somehow it never felt right. Taking out credit cards or coins or cash just seemed awkward. The whole bundle was too bulky. And it just wasn’t the right shape. I’m still tempted to try a “fauxdori” sized to hold Field Notes and similar sized pocket notebooks, but even that might not work: the notebooks inside would be my favorite size, but the cover would be larger. And I’m not sure my Nolty planner would be as satisfying inside a cover like that. I still love the concept of a bundle of booklets inside a cover, but I’m not sure it will ever work for me. My Travelers Notebook now seems like a waste of money.

Looseleaf Notebooks

I can’t say I completely regret buying most of my various Filofaxes and looseleaf notebooks, but I just can’t seem to fit them into my usage routines nowadays. I used to use them all the time and loved the idea of being able to swap out and reorder pages, but now I’ve become very wedded to recording things in bound notebooks that I use for a certain period of time. It’s often helpful to me to know exactly which notebook to go to if I want to refer back to something I wrote at that time. Trying to organize used looseleaf pages is never as tidy. I still like my collection of looseleaf notebooks but I’m not sure they’ll work for me for daily use.

Field Notes and Similar Pocket Notebooks

I have a whole shoebox full of Field Notes, Moleskine Cahiers, and other slim, single signature pocket notebooks. (There are even a few more in another shoebox.) I don’t dislike them, but I do somewhat regret the money I’ve spent on a lot of them because I just have too many relative to my usage, and I find most of them them merely convenient, rather than exciting or particularly satisfying to use. Some were found on travels, and some were Kickstarter projects I thought would be fun to review. A few were sent to me as free samples or given as gifts. Some are from my one year of being a Field Notes subscriber. I use these for a single purpose: notes for my French class. Maybe if I didn’t feel so compelled to use up all these pocket notebooks, I could try a looseleaf for my French notes! Now that I do my class over Zoom, it’s compelling, but in the past it was convenient to be able to carry just a lightweight booklet in my bag. We’ll see…

Nolty Notebook

Remember my recent “What I’m Using” post where I said I wasn’t happy with one of my daily carry notebooks? Well this is the one. Those who have followed this site for the last few years will know that I have spewed enthusiasm about Nolty at every possible opportunity. I purchase several Nolty planners each year, and I have really loved them all, except for the Nolty Notebook. The Notebook seems to have been wildly popular since it was first introduced as part of their 70th anniversary celebration. It started as a limited collectors item, then they expanded the selection of colors due to the demand, and have continued to offer it in new colors for 2021. I would imagine they’ll continue with it in 2022 and beyond.

When I first saw the Nolty Notebook, I thought it was a great idea. I almost bought all four colors for 2021, but limited myself to just two. The “sakura” pink turned out to be not quite the shade of pink I’d hoped it might be, and I probably should have skipped it since I’m not really a fan of pink as a rule. But I love the charcoal grey shade, and was excited to start using it. There is a lot to like about this notebook: 2 ribbon markers, squared pages, fountain pen friendly paper. It is slim and flexible and pocketable. But I’ve realized that the tiny squares aren’t my cup of tea for a daily journal. I have very small handwriting, but if I write using every line, it feels cramped. If I write on every other line, it feels too widely spaced. I also tend to use squared notebooks to re-copy KenKen and Star Battle (aka Two Not Touch) puzzles when I’ve made a mistake in the printed newspaper version. Again the tiny squares make this a little awkward, so I end up using 2×2 squares, but then the grid lines can be distracting.

The Nolty Notebook has more cover overhang than I prefer, and the plastic cover makes it more noticeable than with the leather cover of the Nolty Gold. The plastic also doesn’t break in as much so it’s a little harder to get the notebook to open flat.

This all seems very nitpicky and almost not worth mentioning. In some ways, I think the Nolty Notebook is great, but the other factors are just bugging me enough that I’m feeling impatient to finish this notebook and move on to something else. I won’t be buying more. It wasn’t extremely expensive, so I can’t say I have regrets, really, but I do feel a bit disappointed. It’s a very nice notebook, but it doesn’t quite work for me.

I have many more notebooks in my collection that have never quite made it to the “love it, must use” level. For the most part, I’m still happy to have them in my collection because they are interesting in other ways, so they’re not really “regrets.” How about you, readers? Do you have notebooks that you tried but found disappointing? Did you abondon them or keep using them? Do you regret having bought them?

17 thoughts on “Notebook Discontents and Regrets”

  1. I do have a few no-regrets-but-don’t-use notebooks. Like you, the travelers’ notebooks. I also bought a beautiful cork portfolio cover for my Stalogy B6, but then realized that I love the Stalogy’s cover just as it is.

    Enjoy your blog so much!

  2. Hah! Regrets, we all have them. There was that ginormous antique account ledger I bought for $50; totally cool, utterly useless and given away to some poor sucker ten years later.

  3. A few weeks ago I sent 8 pounds of composition books, Field Notes, Muji Notebooks to a writer friend of mine along with some pens and pencils.
    TBH, that was barely even a dent in my STABLE situation. It did feel good when they told me it inspired them to try some new things.
    It’s good to declutter.

  4. I’m really picky with my notebooks too, and am really missing the old Leuchtturm1917 notebooks. Sadly, the new ones have all sorts of issues similar to the decline of the Moleskine brand. I regret buying one of my new pocket Leuchtturm1917 notebooks because the lines are much too dark, and the cover overhang is too much for my liking. I also experimented with a new Moleskine that is a size between the medium and pocket size notebook, it has blank paper but it annoys me how thin the paper is and the fact that the sheets in between the signature appear to be glued down the center so that the notebook no longer lies flat in those sections.

  5. I generally prefer A5 size and robust paper good for sketching, but oddly found field notes a bit addictive… So now have probably more than I will ever use…

  6. I so agree…in addition to notebooks, i have a lifelong obsession with, of all things, first aid kits-especially pocket size or other small kits. So imagine my surprise and delight when i learned that Johnson & Johnson (who’ve probably produced most such kits) employs an historian! She was able to confirm that J&J had once produced a tiny first aid kit in 1962 that fascinated me as a child and with her information i found and purchased that very mit as a collectible on eBay…of only National and other of the big notebook manufacturers had such a resource to help me licate a prized spiral notebook i used in school in the late 60s and early 70s!!!

  7. Great blogpost! I also could never get on board with the Travelers notebook. It bugs me that it doesn’t stay open. Also I’m not really a fan of dot grid paper. The 5mm spacing just doesn’t work for me. Just like you I’m given quite a few samples to review, so my purchasing regrets are minimal. There’s satisfaction in trying something and knowing that it doesn’t work for you. Also it keeps the hunt for the perfect notebook exciting. Lol.

  8. Hi,
    I’ve been going back and forth about deciding to try the Travelers Notebook either the regular or passport size. I think the larger one would work better for me. But I’m wondering if you’ve tried the larger one, and if you think it would work better for you than the passport size or if the Travelers Notebook just isn’t for you at all?

  9. For me, the large one wouldn’t be the right size either. My usage of larger size notebooks is very limited, I am so fixated on my 3.5 x 5.5 inch/ 9 x 14 cm size!

  10. Hah!! Tell you what, Nifty-send me an address or PO Box # and I’ll send a nice vintage kit I managed to find (don’t worry-I have two)…best wishes!

  11. This is all very familiar and relatable! What strikes me, though, is while I have very specific tastes and preferences, they can go out the window when I start a new project and “never use, just not for me” becomes “can’t stop using, need to buy more.” Like when I start on a big project, A5 binders are my go-to—including now for art/journaling—whereas before I started this project, I’d ignored that section of my stash for years.

    With TNs, I bought some setups while on vacation—because, yes, of course, stationery is my favorite category of souvenir—but they were too fancy for regular use. No matter what I told myself, I was babying the leather/watching out for it instead of using. Then I bought a cheap passport version online and immediately found a daily use I’ve kept up for three years now.

    In sum, I guess, never say never! (Except when that’s the right thing to say!)

  12. There are definitely hits and misses in my frequent notebook purchases, though I’m usually able to find a niche use for something even if it isn’t primarily useful or appealing.

    Loose leaf is great for projects where I need to store notes in a master file (usually involves stapling the loose leaves into a project folder. Nice kraft refills are available for most sizes, age well, and handle even wet fp ink.

    I ended up liking my large Midori traveler more than I’d anticipated for…well…travel. It has my monthly calendar, zipper pouch, credit/business card holder, and general graph inserts. I added an extra binder string, too and will occasionally add other inserts. Filofax is a bit too modular for me, and the Midori has aged beautifully, while continuing to serve as a primary organizer.

    There’s the flipside, too, as someone mentioned above, which is notebook brands and styles that have gone by the board and are sorely missed. As far as I know, Moleskine graph reporters remain discontinued. These worked really well as field notebooks, in particular for sketching to scale unencumbered by a binding. The paper wasn’t the best, but pencil is frequently used in the field anyway. I’ve looked pretty hard and am unable to find anything comparable, not to mention that I have nice leather covers for both pocket and large sizes.

  13. I have found many notebooks I regret, and what makes them even more regrettable is because I know the notebooks that I like and never fail me and yet I purchase other notebooks to try and use. My traveler’s notebooks I wanted to work so much for me but yet they do not. I have hundreds of Field Note size notebooks that collect dust. I love Leuchtturm1917 A6 and A5 sketchbooks, Moleskine sketchbooks, and Midori Cotton notebooks.

  14. Love your blog, this is a somewhat late comment. Regret buying those chain bookstore blank journals when there were bookstores. Most didn’t open flat. Regret a lot of the Clairefontaines, even though I used them for a number of things. Have many Filofaxes & clones, no regrets, but no longer suited for my lifestyle. Wish I could find something like an unruled composition book with better paper quality and smaller size than 9.75 x 7.5.

  15. Hi there. I had issues with figuring out how to use my Travelers Notebooks. It took awhile, and when I found notebooks made in various sizes using Tomoe River paper, I got some. I had one with the old version of Tomoe paper, and one with new. I put those in the TN, and write on both with new or newly inked pens. I post the photos on Fountain Pen Network on the Stub of the Day thread, and some on Flickr. The same seller had a book log, and I got it, but haven’t used it. It’s in the TN, waiting.

  16. I’ve tried A5 too big, A6 just right, Personal size ring binder then a cheaper brand Regular Travelers Notebook, after a while I felt like it was too big & bulky so I bought some passport size inserts & cut the cover down to size. After only a couple of weeks I’ve come to realise that the passport TN is just too small & too few pages per insert to be practical for my use. I’m glad I didn’t spend $85 (AUD) on an original TC cover.
    Now for the start of 2024 I’ve gone full circle & back to an A6 208 page lined Modena notebook for my Bullet Journal. At only $11.50 each they aren’t expensive & 208 pages will last me a long time. The 80gsm paper is good enough for my purposes as I only use a black ballpoint pen & coloured pencils here & there, no fountain pen or markers. I have another one I’ve been using since March 2023 as my personal journal & I’m not even halfway through it yet. These Notebooks seem to be the best choice for my purposes.

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