My 4-insert Traveler’s Notebook every day carry (EDC) setup
It took me a few false starts to figure out how to use my Traveler's Notebooks when my partner gifted a set to me back in October 2023. I had in mind that I wanted to use the Passport TN as my EDC (every day carry), because y'know, small… but it turns out that the Regular TN was meant to be my one true love. Here's my 4-insert solution that's worked for me for over a year.
My Traveler’s Notebook, Regular size, in Camel
Insert 1: The weekly undated planner
Baum-kuchen’s JIYU weekly undated planner
Coming from a heavily digital world where I live and breathe by my Google Calendar, it was really hard for me to move into an analog space. Turns out that my brain works better when it can see my schedule and important stuff on paper… next to my computer. The ever-present nature of a paper planner really helps me to focus and gives me a quick overview of all the things. I'm sure you can relate, since you're prob also a paper person. I fought it for so long because I moved my bujo into my iPad (and kinda loved it) but then also saw my productivity tank. It wasn't until an unfortunate hospital stay that I discovered the world of TN and saw a glimmer that it would work really well for my needs.
K enough of the backstory. The weekly undated planner works really well for me because it allows me to skip weeks—unintentionally or intentionally—without the pressure of spending so much money on a pre-printed book that I may abandon halfway through January and then beat myself up because of it. (Working on that self love in therapy lol.)
I spent my whole first year+ in the proprietary TN weekly undated, with the days on the left and notes on the right, and then moved into the Baum-Kuchen weekly undated one because it's cream-colored Tomoe River Paper (yum) and because TRP is thinner, there are also more pages in the book. Bonus.
In this, I keep events, notes, memories, and sometimes the Chris List (things I need to talk to my partner about so I avoid texting him all day). I've also been printing out photos and screenshots lately, which adds a good dose of happiness when thumbing through previous weeks. It used to be a lot more utilitarian and packed with shoulds for work-work and me-work, but y'know. Trying not to do that as much anymore.
Insert 2: The bujo-esque collections
This one ends up being an insert that lasts the whole year or more. In here, I'll have what Ryder Carroll calls "collections" from his book, The Bullet Journal Method. Because all I have in here are reference and tracking materials, this insert usually lasts a long time.
For these inserts, I found and fell in love with the Sarica Studio plain grid inserts. White Tomoe River Paper, superb quality, with an ultra-teeny grid. Plus she's a small shop and she lives a state away from me, so that's a nice coincidence for my carbon footprint. Some example collections include:
my monthly health and habit trackers (post coming soon)
notes for health professionals
wishlists
lists of content ideas
reading tracker
mood boards
notes on my fountain pens lol
2026 reading tracker
Insert 3: My journal
The juicy stuff lives here! I do my daily morning pages in this insert, plain and simple. This tends to be pretty straightforward because if I try to decorate too much, I get distracted. I did, however, buy a super smol page-a-day calendar that I use every day for the dates, but even that is proving to be too much of a hassle for my brain to glue in daily.
How many pages do I write every day, you ask? In true morning page fashion per Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, you're supposed to do 3 full handwritten pages… but because this grid is so small (3.5mm) and my handwriting is also tiny, I did a calculation based on the number of lines and time spent journaling and decided that 2 full pages in the Sarica Studio inserts is more than enough. (Like seriously, a college ruled yellow letter-sized legal pad has 34 lines, times 3 is 102 lines. The Sarica Studio TN regular insert has 56 lines, times 2 is 112 lines, and because the writing is smaller it ends up equal to if I were to write larger on a legal pad. Math.)
I plan to make more of this platform about journaling and how to journal even if you're not a writer, so I'll save more of the details of journaling for future posts.
Journaling at my favorite coffee shop in South Philly
Insert 4: Stickers!
The Little Jenny that lives inside of me is 100% in love with the fact that TN makes sticker paper release inserts… which is essentially a book full of shiny blank pages so you can keep your stickers in one place.
You're thinking, "Whoa Jenny. That's a lot of stickers." Well yes and no. Yes because stickers are amazing. No because I've found other utilitarian ways to use this sticker release paper insert:
Some of my favorite stickers I’ve designed! Shop stickers
I make my own stickers
I print stickers from fellow artists like Erin Ware
mini book covers!
screenshots to use later like from social media or Pinterest
pre-cut washi tape!
postage stamps!
The last two are obviously the ones to blow my mind. Having pre-cut washi tape causes me to use my washi tape more than I would normally, because 1. it's with me all the time and 2. because it's precut because lazy. I started with all of the Kitta washi books because they legit never got used until I made them more accessible by putting them in here.
And postage stamps! Hah! Just brilliant and fun.
Here's a pic of the book covers because at one point I was trying to keep a book journal in my TN passport though that attempt failed miserably. (The book cover stickers are 1" wide and oh-so-cute.)
Book covers on sticker paper!
That's it for now. (Though you may be like, whoa, "that's it? that was a lot.")
Don't hesitate to ask questions or share how you use your TN. I'm here for the conversation and community!
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(Some of these links are *affiliate, which means I get a small kickback from items you purchase through these links at no cost to you. Purchasing through my links is a huge support of my efforts, but is not required. More info.)
TN 019 weekly undated planner*
Baum-kuchen JIYU weekly undated planner
The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll*
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron*
