Since then, travelers have been keeping travel diaries or journals of one sort or another, whether it be to publish some greater work or just to have a personal memoir of an adventure.  And while travel blogs have become quite popular as a way to share one’s journey, there’s still nothing like a paper journal where you can tuck in bits and pieces of memorabilia along with your thoughts.

While a travel journal can be anything from a simple spiral notebook to a hand-sewn book of handmade paper, I’ve become a big Moleskine fan.

Moleskines are beautiful black oilcloth-bound books filled with heavy cream paper pages.  The inside back cover has an expandable pocket that’s perfect for holding tickets stubs, and you can add a fair amount of stuff, while keeping it all secure with an elastic band that holds it closed.  It’s a sheer delight to write in!  (NOTE:  Try writing in it with a fountain pen!)

There are several different notebooks offered, including journals of various sizes, with a variety of paper options (lined, unlined, squares).

A few years ago, Moleskine launched its City Notebooks line.  These notebooks center on one major city, and include a map of the city, individual neighborhood maps, street index, tabbed section for a variety of topics, and lots of places for you to make notes about your exploration.  It provides the structure for you to create your personal self-written city guidebook.

You’ll find a Moleskine for many of your favorite pastimes, including drawing, painting, organizing, and writing.  But the travel ones are my favorite!  And a very cool new website feature allows you to print out a list of contacts, maps, and any specialized information and personalize your Moleskine even more.

Pick one up before your next adventure – or better yet, buy a few extra as gifts for the traveler in your life.

Photo credit:  Amazon

Post from: Blisstree

Moleskine Journals for the Travel Writer in You

However, here’s the deal. When you blog people like to send you free stuff. That may sound great, but I don’t like getting free stuff. I think we’ve pretty well established that I don’t love a lot of extra stuff, and while I sometimes get handy items that I use, mostly I get stuff that I just turn around and give away in a contest or to a friend.

That said, I received a different sort of white board item last October. I did a review and liked it, but really, I didn’t think I’d be using it all that often. In fact, I almost gave it away. That would have sucked, because as it turns out, it may be the one and only item a company ever sent me that I use every single day. Every day, no joke.

What’s this wonder item:

It’s the Jot-It desktop writing board from cocoa. It’s not a typical white board. It’s desk friendly. It’s not desk friendly for me because I have a small desk. What I use it for is a to-do lists system. I keep it in the kitchen and write down groceries I need, phone numbers, tasks I don’t want to forget, and more.

Last October I wrote a super long review of the Jot-It at my Office blog. Since I’m not going to rewrite the review here, you can read it there. Just to get you tempted, here are some pictures:

I will say here, that this is a great green product that can save on paper use, and help to get you organized at the same time. Additionally, one of my cons, in my old review, was that pens were not offered at the cocoa online shop – I felt it would be useful to be able to pick up more from cocoa directly. Well, since then they have added pens to their online store. Cool beans that a company listens to consumers in my opinion.

I will also point out that I LOVE the pen that came with the Jot-It. I’m still using the original pen, and remember, I use this daily, and I got this in October. That’s one good pen.

In any case this is not some plain old white board item. You’ll really like it. You can use it in your kitchen, on your desk, at the office, or really anywhere. Read my old review – or simply visit cocoa’s website to learn more.

Post from: Blisstree

Another Dry Erase Board – Seriously?