My Traveler Notebook

Have I told you before how much I love my planner? I’m seriously in love with my traveler notebook!

I have been using digital planners on and off since I was introduced to the Internet.. Then discovered the magic of paper planners and used it on regular basis since 2014. I tried many types of planners, the monthly monitors, the bullet journals, the bound planners, spiral, rings, wall calendars, I even tried to use a printed Google calendar and stick it in a notebook or on the wall… Never have I been as satisfied as I have been since I started to use a Traveler Notebook.

I love planner videos, it gives me ideas and inspire me so much, I would see all the pretty planners but I could sense that the TN style is the right one for me but unfortunately I had not means to try it out because this planning style is not very common where I live.. The magical combination of flexibility and structure, mobility and bound-books, made TNs my sweet spot in the planning world..
Then one day I found a TN style notebook (rather low quality) in a stationary store mid 2018 and since then I decided to try it as a planner. But how? No one makes planner inserts for them here..

Armed with all the knowledge I gained through years of trying planners and figuring out what works best for me, I sketched out on paper the layout I want for a monthly insert, then I went to my old friend, Youtube, God bless him, and started to search for tutorials on how to make my own TN inserts using the good old Word processor, and within a week I had designed and printed my own yearly, monthly, and blank inserts just the way I like it! I gave it a try in the month of August 2018 and I loved it so much that I decided  to go for it in 2019 and use only my own inserts in the cover I had.

Not only that, but I also started to design different inserts for different purposes like Wellness, Project Planning, Ramdan, Work Days, and so on.. You know that I have a geeky side, whenever I feel stressed I create planners! It’s a hobby, my mind keeps coming up with planner layouts for any and all occasions, sometimes to address a specific issue, some other time out of pure boredom!

So I made this planner using the cover I purchased from the stationary store worked with it until now, and it was heaven! I really found planner peace!
I decided that maybe someone else would want to try it out as well so I put it out there for downloads (for free of course) and got quite good feedback on it.

Then I decided to invest more in this system and purchase a more expensive cover a bit wider and better at holding my inserts, and I ordered one form the only person who makes TNs in the country: My Way Craft Studio on Facebook, I got it the next day with plenty of goodies too! And no words can express just how happy I am with the overall result.. Her leather and my paper and I can hear angels singing in the sky!

Currently the cover holds 3 inserts, 1 yearly, 1 monthly, 1 blank notebook for notes, and the 4th one changes from time to time, it will always be dedicated to the month’s focus (only if it needs an insert) so for now it holds my Wellness insert, and by next month I’ll remove it and put my Ramadan insert to prepare for the holy month..

I can change anything I like, I have exactly what I need with me in a compact system that is very mobile, in case I take an even smaller purse I can just pick the 1 insert I need the most and throw it in there.. No bulky rings, no bound book that holds all 52 weeks I don’t need at once, and not loose papers falling off the planner and flying every were in my bag.. Everything is well contained, structured and organized, and yet flexible and interchangeable.

This is how you plan baby!