TN Setup for Japan Holiday

Going on a holiday to Hokkaido soon, and although not visiting the city, decided to update my Olive Traveler’s Notebook with some TN Tokyo Edition items – after all, it’s the same country!

The taiyaki brass charm looks so cute around the TN, though it does spin around and I have adjust it every time I move the elastic band back around the leather cover. Hopefully the scratches it make would not be too deep though….

The sakura charm goes to the top, hanging from a crochet pin. I love the use of crochet pins – so easy to add & remove charms, and they take up little space. The entire leather TN goes into the Tokyo Station drawstring pouch my friend bought for me last year. This should provide a bit of protection from the other stuff in my shoulder bag during the journeys.

I prepared 2 inserts for the trip, the 1st being a blank one, which would be used for collecting stamps throughout the holiday. A thin yellow pencil board would provide a flat surface for stamping, and prevent inks from bleeding through to the pages below. A newly bought (online) butterfly shaped metal clip should help weigh the insert open while stamping. This insert would be slipped into the plastic pocket sticker on the inside back leather cover, for quick access when I come across a stamping station!

The 2nd insert (below) is a lined version, for writing down addresses and planned itineraries. I included the thicker TN pencil board for this, to provide more stability when writing during car journeys. I added Tokyo stickers on the 2 covers for simple identification.

My travel TN is usually filled with folders of different types, to hold all the name cards and brochures collected during the holiday. I’ve found that I can’t really journal on the go, but I would still need some stationery to amend itineraries and take notes, so that I can create my travel journal back home. Well, that’s the plan anyway. I still have journals from the past 4 holidays waiting for me to finish up!!

So I prepared paper clips and washi tapes (round a sample board), to attach maps to the relevant pages of the itinerary insert. A dark ballpoint or gel pen is a must, in case there are forms to complete or signatures to sign – this time I’m bringing the chubby Uni-ball One P.

I like to use a pencil for note-taking though – the Metacil Light Knock is retractable and the metallic pencil lead wouldn’t break nor require refills, should be perfect for travelling! I just wished I had purchased a more muted colour instead of this pastel green – totally doesn’t blend in with the rest of the set!

Using a pencil means requiring an eraser, but my plan to hang the cute Mono One from the pencil clip didn’t work out at all, so I’ve replaced it with the rectangular Clear Radar eraser (not pictured) instead.

I usually bring a highlighter to accentuate important points on maps or itineraries with some colour, but I find the highlighter inks can be easily seen on the reverse of the papers, making the pages rather unsightly. This time I’m bringing just another coloured pen – the Pentel Energel. Hopefully I’ll have a neater insert at the end of the holiday!