Midori Traveler's Notebook Review - On the Road

Ah Japan, the land of shrines, kindness, and obsessive high quality. Japan feels like a second home to me. I spent six months working there as an intern and take a group of students back every year to get a taste of what it’s like to live there. A visit to a Japan stationery store a few years ago sparked my interest in everything analog, which resulted in this blog, and the Midori Traveler’s Notebook is one of my favorite Japanese stationery discoveries. While I published a high level review of the Midori Traveler's notebook months ago, it’s hard to completely review a product that’s so customizable. The Traveler’s notebook can be whatever you want it to be, so it took some time to figure out where it fit in my analog workflow. Now that I’ve been able to break my Midori in, I wanted to revisit it and review it for the purpose for which I’ve found it most useful, travel. If you're looking for a basic overview of the Midori Traveler's notebook, check out my original review.

Although I love the Leuchtterm1917, which is my everyday carry notebook, it’s not quite up to snuff as an all-inclusive traveling companion. It doesn’t fit in my travel bag, nor does it hold the things that I typically take with me during a business trip, like business cards and railway maps. This is where the Midori Traveler’s Notebook shines. Check out the screen shots below to see how the Midori insert size compares to the Leuchtterm 1917 A5.

I bet you’ll never guess my favorite thing about the Midori as a traveling companion. Go ahead, I’ll wait… Its battery doesn’t die. There’s something magical about cell phones in that their batteries seem to magically drain twice as fast on-the-go. I typically save a digital version of the Japanese train and subway maps on my phone, but they’re completely useless if my phone dies. I still keep a digital map handy, but I also tuck a subway and JR map into the back pocket of my Midori’s artisanal storage folder (artisanal in the sense that I made it out of a Manila folder and some tape). I always forget to bring business cards on business trips, so I slide a few business cards into the business card slot of the custom folder, and there’s no longer a need to freak out when I leave my card case in my other pants. I added the Midori zipper bag to my notebook during my trip to Japan, and it’s the perfect place to tuck away business receipts that I’ll need for reimbursement later. Instead of cramming receipts in pants pockets and bags, they’re in one place which makes it so much easier to sort through them later.

Patrick Ng’s Chronodex is one of my favorite planning tools, and it turns out that it’s a perfect tool for travel too. Remember that terrible cellphone battery? I copy my trip itinerary into the corresponding days of the Chronodex, so that I have a backup. All of the occupied time is filled in with black lines, and I fill in the free time with red lines. This gives me an idea of how much free time I have during the day. In the office, I might use this time to do some writing or answer emails, depending on how big the time chunk is (more on time chunking some other day). In Japan, I use this process to see when I might be able to sneak away to go see an old friend or visit a favorite restaurant.

If you read my writing regularly then you know of my fountain pen affinity. Although I love my Lamy 2000 and Pilot Vanishing Point, they don’t travel with me. I’ve read all sorts of stuff about how easy it is to fly with fountain pens with careful planning, but I just don’t need that level of uncertainty when I fly. Traveling is stressful enough without having to worry about a pen leaking all over there place. Instead, I carry the Fisher Bullet Space which rests comfortably in the Midori Traveler’s Notebook pen loop. The Space Pen is rugged and pressurized, so it could write in an underwater war zone, but it works well for brainstorming on the plane and business meetings too. It’s worth noting that the Space Pen is a bit small for the large pen loop, so make sure to buy the optional Space Pen clip or go the small pen loop, if you’re an avid Fisher fan.

You're right, this isn't a picture of a Space Pen. I discovered this little J. Herbin beauty while traveling, and am putting it through its paces.

The Midori is an all-in-one powerhouse. Although I no longer carry it in my work bag on a daily basis, I think that I’ve found the perfect use for it. Instead of tossing random bits of paper and business cards into my man-bag (yes it’s normal for men to wear bags in Japan), the Midori Traveler’s notebook keeps everything safely tucked away and organized. I use the full-size Midori Traveler’s Notebook, but there’s a passport-size Traveler’s Notebook too, which is more of a pocket companion. The Midori Traveler’s Notebook is a best-in-class product. Aside from its excellent performance, its leather cover serves as a record of the many journeys and adventures of its owner. With dozens of accessories and inserts, it can be highly customized to fit the needs of its user.

An example of some of the available inserts.

Want to learn more about the Midori? Check out the Midori section of the Penventory.

Midori Traveler's Notebook Review: First Impressions

Fountain pens are built to last. They may run out of ink, but they can be refilled over and over again. The same thing can't be said for notebooks. Pages are filled with everything from beautiful prose to grocery lists, and the tears and scratches that mar the covers are reminders of the journey. Once these books are their most worn and beautiful, we chuck them out or put them on a shelf to collect dust. I've been longing for a notebook that could acquire these beautiful signs of age while lasting as long as a good pen.

I found the answer in the form of the leather Midori Traveler's Notebook. Leather lasts for decades, if taken care of, but it gains character over time. The Midori Traveler's Notebook isn't a notebook as much as an expandable system that I stumbled upon while browsing pictures of fountain pens. I turned to YouTube for more info and discovered a cult-like following of crafty women that post videos of their personalized notebooks. The stickers, decorative tapes, and cat-shaped paperclips were an instant turnoff. I loved that the full-sized Midori Traveler's Notebook was small enough to throw in a bag but large enough for detailed notes, but I wasn't interested in a notebook that had to be bejeweled. There simply aren't many male-friendly resources and reviews of this notebook. After a bit of searching, I found the Stuff & Things Review of the Midori Traveler's Notebook, and it was just the push that I needed.

The Midori Traveler's Notebook kit and optional expansion bands

The heart of the Midori Traveler's Notebook is a simple leather notebook cover. An elastic band makes up the spine of the cover and makes it possible to add notebook inserts. This band is held together by a small metal clasp. The cover comes with another elastic band that threads through the leather and around the notebook to keep it closed. There's even a small bookmark ribbon in the cover that makes it easier to quickly flip the notebook open to the next blank pages. The standard notebook kit also includes an extra elastic band, protective sleeve, and a blank 64 page notebook insert (refill 001). The notebook is only capable of holding one insert out of the box; however, Midori does sell additional connection bands that make it possible to add multiple inserts at once. I find that the Midori works well with two inserts, but the inserts tend to buldge out of the cover when three or more are inserted. This is largely due to Midori's process for adding additional inserts, but I'm sure that a quick internet search will reveal ways to avoid the buldge. The standard size of the Traveler's Notebook is close to A5 in height, but skinnier in width.

The Midori Traveler's Notebook is essentially a $40 flap of leather that requires expensive inserts. If you're looking for a budget notebook, you can stop reading right now, because the Midori isn't for you. Despite the expense, the quality of the notebook materials make up for the expensive price tag. The leather is cut precisely and sealed at the edges. The unique metal class appears to be hand clamped and gives the notebook an antique look. I've used the Midori Traveler's Notebook for months now, and the elastic bands are just as springy as they were when the notebook arrived in the mail. The Midori paper is superb for fountain pens, with minimal feathering. So yes, it's an expensive leather flap, but it's a damned good one. The Midori Traveler's Notebook is available in a standard and passport size. It comes in brown or black leather, although the company does release occasional limited editions.

I've tested several of the notebook inserts available for the Midori Traveler's notebook, and I enjoy writing on the lightweight paper the most. This refill uses 128 pages of the legendary Tomoe River paper, which is slightly thicker than tissue paper but is the perfect pairing for fountain pens. Tomoe River paper does have a significantly longer dry time than the stock insert paper, and Midori only makes a blank version of this refill. I would do shameful things for a dot grid version of the lightweight refill, but for now the great writing feel can't make up for the lack of guiding lines and grids. My handwriting isn't great to begin with, and the lack of writing guides make it worse.

There are endless ways to customize a Midori Traveler's Notebook, and I'm just getting started with mine. If you're curious, here is my current setup. Notice the lack of animal paper clips and inspirational phrases. This notebook is just as good without the stickers, so don't let the the crazy crafters be a turnoff:

• Lightweight Tomoe River Refill 013 - For meeting notes and ideas that I'll probably never review.
• Blank Refill 003 - For book and article notes.
• Ruled Refill 001 - My backup and eventual replacement for the lightweight refill. I need lines!
• Homemade Craft Folder - Made from a plain manilla folder and packaging tape. You can find the design here.
• Patrick Ng's Chronodex planner January - July 2016 - Printed on plain office paper. I'm still trying to find an easy way to bind this into its own book. The Chronodex system is a fantastic compliment to a digital task manager.
• Midori Medium Pen Loop - Works well with my Lamy 2000, after a bit of breaking in.

The Midori can accommodate several inserts at once, but inserts tend to protrude when three or more are inserted.

The Midori Traveler's Notebook is a great choice for crafters and businesspeople alike. The size of the notebook is a nice balance between functional and portable, and the beautiful leather cover lives on well after the refills fill up. The scratches and scuffs on the notebook's cover are a testament to its journey, and I couldn't be happier with the story that they tell. I'm sure that this notebook will stand the test of time, so I hope to revisit it in the future, once my workflows mature. If you're interested in this notebook but are still on the fence, check out my link list of resources that helped to push me over the edge.

The Chronodex and My Search for Sanity

I stumbled upon Patrick Ng's Chronodex system while researching the Midori Traveler's Notebook. This little paper template has changed the way that I work. The system is simple, with 24 hours divided into a clock-like spiral. The layered spiral makes it possible to capture both AM and PM in a very compact space. An entire five day work week fits on two pages of a Midori notebook, which is the same length but skinnier than a standard A5 sheet. Each cell of the spiral represents an hour, and Patrick recommends shading the cells different colors based on daily calendar events. The common use is to copy an entire calendar day into a single Chronodex, with callout lines explaining each event. This method may work for some, but I struggle with the redundancy of having two version of the same calendar.

Diamine Onyx Black for the busy times and Diamine Red Dragon for the free times.

My digital calendar is just fine at what it does, and I don't need/want a paper replacement. My work requires that others have access to my calendar for scheduling student appointments and checking my availability, so a paper calendar is out of the question. While my calendar is good at telling me where I have to be, it's pretty crappy at helping me to see how much free time I have in a given day. It's even worse at helping me to decide which tasks should be tackled within that free time. This is where my adapted version of the Chronodex system comes in. Instead of copying my entire calendar, I look at my calendar every morning and shade all of the times that I'm busy as black. I shade all of my free time as a bright color, such as orange or red. In my brain black means busy, and color means freedom. Why is this useful? This gives me a very simple snapshot of how much time I really have available to work on my todo list. It helps me to set realistic expectations for what is possible and addresses my terrible tendency of overestimating how much I can do in any given day. Once I have free time mapped out, I move to my beloved Omnifocus to tell me what to do next.

Planning by the firelight.

Omnifocus is a powerful task management tool that allows me to easily track hundreds of tasks across multiple platforms, without letting important due dates slip through the cracks. The problem with Omnifocus is that I'm very easily distracted by all of the tasks that are waiting for me there, and it's easy to go down the rabbit hole of fiddling with and organizing my todo list. To be clear, Omnifocus does a great job of showing me what I need to see, but I find that I'm more productive if I keep it closed for most of the work day.

My daily Chronodex page lives in a homemade folder in my Midori, which travels with me everywhere.

I take the most important tasks from Omnifocus and copy them into the Next Actions section of my Chronodex sheet. I only copy as many tasks as I think that I can realistically accomplish in the given free time that I have for the day. If I only have an hour of free time in an eight hour day, which happens quite often, I'm not going to worry about that big report that's due next month. Instead, I'm going to tackle those one or two items that absolutely have to be done by tomorrow morning. Some days I have one or two actions, and others I have five-ten.

Once my next actions are copied onto my Chronodex page, I shut my task manager down for the day and focus only on those tasks that are written down. It's a much better feeling check off all of these tasks by the end of the day, compared to that of constantly facing all of the tasks waiting for me in my task management software. I tried the Chronodex on a whim and found it confusing and hard to read at first. I wondered if a paper planning workflow could ever be anything but redundant. I'm glad that I stuck with it. After a few weeks, I can easily glance at my Chronodex and tell how much free time I have. I'm getting better at being realistic about what I can accomplish in a given day, making me more productive and less guilt-ridden about the tasks that remain.

The template that I use has a day for each side of the paper. I'm investigating more paper-efficient options.

Patrick Ng's Chronodex system is a paper tool that adds sanity to my highly-digital life. As a pen geek, I realize that sometimes I use pens and paper in ways that are less productive than using computers. This isn't one of those times. Patrick's tool has changed the way that I work and reduced the noise caused by a constant digital buzz. I'm just getting started with the Chronodex, but I plan to cover it more in the future, as my digital/analog workflow matures.

Have you ever tried to use the Chronodex or other analog system. What works for you?

Midori Traveler's Notebook Lightweight Paper Refill Review

I love to see pens in action, and Instagram has a great community of fountain pen addicts, posting awesome pictures of their prized pens. With good pens comes good paper, and it appears that the stationary community on Instagram is just as strong. Although I can appreciate a nice notebook, my tastes are relatively simple. I replenished my supply of Muji blank notebooks during my last trip to Japan and have had little reason to consider anything else. These notebooks are high quality, great for fountain pens, and ridiculously inexpensive. Muji notebooks have been my gotos for some time, but my journey down the Instagram rabbit hole yielded some interesting finds. I noticed countless Hobonichis and Field Notes notebooks, but these just aren't for me. The Hobonichi planner is beautiful, but my appointments have to live in Outlook, and I take notes in spurts. Sometimes it's a waste for me have one page for each day, and other times it simply isn't enough. I started to notice that a weird-looking leather-bound notebook was popping up over and over again. There are thousands of images with the tag #Midori. Intriguing... What is this mysterious thing?

I love fountain pens because they have character and stick around like a firm friend. Notebooks yield zero emotional attachment for me. They will inevitably be filled and filed, probably never to be read again. The idea of a notebook that ages and matures, yet can be changed and customized is alluring. The Midori Traveler's Notebook is essentially a flap of leather that comes with a rubber band and a few bits of string. The full-sized versions go for $60 on reputable stationary sites; however, Amazon currently offers them for $36. Refills and customization options are seemingly endless, which is the notebook's major selling point. Notebook refills are typically 64 pages, which is great from someone who feels anxiety when given a several-hundred-page notebook. I was prepared to pull the trigger, but decided that it would be wiser to spend $8 on a refill first, to decide if I liked the paper size and quality. $36 is a lot to spend on a notebook that might not work for me.

After a bit of reading, I settled on the Midori Traveler's Notebook Refill #13 Lightweight Blank Paper (now that's a mouthful). The kraft paper covered notebook comes with 128 pages of the legendary Tomoe River paper, which I'd heard about on the Pen Addict Podcast. This refill seemed like the best bang for the buck, considering that it had double the pages of the standard refill.

The notebook arrived, awkwardly smashed in my mailbox, with zero concern for the delicate Tomoe River paper that I had agonized over. Despite initial concern, the notebook was in pristine shape.

The Midori Traveler's Notebook paper is about an inch wider than a Field Notes notebook, and three or four inches taller. Although the refills aren't as wide as the Muji notebooks that I typically use, they sit comfortably within the the range of both portability and usability. But what about the paper quality?

The Tomoe River paper is tissue-paper thin but amazingly sturdy. My black Noodler's Bulletproof ink lays down crisply on the page, with no feathering. Dry time is longer than normal paper, but not long enough to be a deal breaker. While there is enough ghosting to prevent use of the back of the page, there isn't any bleed through. It's worth noting that I tested the paper with a fine Kaweco nib, so I'm unsure of how the paper performs with a broader nib. This paper is clearly designed for fountain pens. I do wish that the notebook cover would lay flat, but I'm hoping that this will improve after a breaking-in period.

I'm very pleased with the quality of the Midori #013 refill. I do prefer grid or dot grid paper, but the Tomoe River paper is so thin that it would be easy to pick up a grid guide to place underneath it. I played with the paper a bit and felt that it was the right size for me, so I pulled the trigger on the full-sized Midori Traveler's Notebook. I just wasn't expecting to like the paper this much! Considering the price and performance, I think that this refill will be the star of my notebook-to-be.

Casual Sunday: Midori Edition - September 20, 2015

It's rabbit hole week here at A Better Desk, and this week's theme is the Midori Traveler's Notebook. I stumbled upon this notebook while browsing Instagram and loved the customization options. I've tried Field Notes as my main notebook, but they are just too small. I also want something that travels with me and isn't just filed or discarded once it's full. It seems that the Midori is just the solution for both. Mine arrives on Tuesday!

• Midori Traveler’s Notebook Follow-Up | The Well-Appointed Desk - The post that whetted my appetite!
• Review: Midori Traveler's Notebook (A Man's Perspective) - YouTube - It's hard to find reviews that aren't all about scrapbooking and bedazzling. This is a good one.
• An Introduction to the Midori Traveler’s Notebook (part one) | Pens! Paper! Pencils! - An awesome three-part overview.
• Flickriver: Patrick Ng's photos tagged with travelersnotebook - It's nice to see the Midori without tons of charms and paper craft.
• Midori Traveler's Notebook - DYSong Photography
• BanditApple Carnet Midori Refills - The Goulet Pen Company - These seem to be the most popular off-brand refills.
• Review: Banditapple Carnet Notebooks | The Well-Appointed Desk - And the Banditapple refills seem to stack up nicely.