I had a request a couple of weeks ago that I write an updated piece about my “travel kit” - namely the bags, pens, and notebooks that I bring with me when I hit the road. Obviously, it depends on the trip - when I travel to pen shows, I tend to bring a a lot of stationery for the sake of stationery. Work trips - or as with the trip I’m taking today, combination work/family trips - are much more difficult because I have to balance practicality with my own preferences. I’ll be on the road for just under a week, traveling in two different contexts, to two different cities, so I’ll need to be much more selective in choosing what to bring with me. As I pack, I thought it might be fun to document what I’m bringing and why:
The Filson Zippered Tote holds an insane amount of gear, and the straps are a perfect length for use as a classic grip bag or for over-shoulder carry. Use it as an overnight bag or a big briefcase.
Bag: Filson Zippered Tote
What it is: A long-handled tote bag from Filson with a zippered closure and multiple side pockets. Featuring Filson’s heavy duty twill fabric and durable construction, this bag epitomizes the term “workhorse.”
Why: While I sometimes wish I’d purchased a darker color, this versatile bag pulls double duty as a carry-on and a briefcase, once I arrive at my destination and have to attend meetings. In addition to serving as an exceptional travel companion, it’s a great everyday overflow briefcase for when I need to tote around binders and larger files.
Notebooks: Roterfaden, William Hannah, and a Plotter
Roterfaden A5 with Three Clips (SO_20 Slim Leather with Suede)
What it is: The cover for my Hobonichi Cousin, which is my time-blocking notebook and primary “Work Notebook” for managing my day. This notebook goes with me everywhere. Currently, the Roterfaden cover contains a Hobonichi Cousin; Roterfaden A5 sheet protectors to hold notes, papers, and business cards, and a Midori A5 Softcolor Slim Notebook in blue.
Why: I’ve long used Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter covers because of the flexibility. Especially when I’m doing extended travel, I can clip individual notebooks in and out of the protective cover. With this setup, for example, I can add the thicker Hobonichi for a working session, and take it out to create a slimmer notebook profile if I just want to take the A5 Midori notebook to a coffee shop to do some brainstorming.
What it is: a disc-bound A5 notebook that’s a powerful organizational tool, provided you have a hole-punch that can be used with the Levenger Circa, Staples Arc, William Hannah or other disc-bound systems. For professional use, I need the flexibility of being able to move around individual pages, and even to remove them for storage/records management purposes.
Why: This notebook contains all of my law practice and professional development notes. It’s a work trip, so a bit of a no-brainer that this notebook goes with me on the road. (My Plotter binders contain all of my TGS and personal notes, and may or may not come with me depending on space since it likely wouldn’t get too much use this week.)
Pens and Pencils: Cartridge Fountain Pens, Ballpoints, and Mechanical Pencils
Fountain Pens on a Work Trip = Keep it simple.
Kaweco Art Sport and Gravitas “Dinky”. Cartridge fountain pens tend to travel well, since there’s not much ink in the cartridge and I’ve found that they tend to resist changes in temperature and air pressure quite well. The Kaweco Sport is a versatile pocket/travel option, and I’m testing out this Gravitas “Dinky” pocket fountain pen in “Cupronickel” that Ben was kind enough to give me for review at the LA Pen Show.
Pilot Custom 823. Ok, so I want at least one fun nib for journaling and playing around, and here I opted for my Pilot Custom 823 with a Mark Bacas medium blade nib. As I discussed at my California Pen Show seminar, vacuum-filling pens like the Custom 823, TWSBI Vac700R (or Vac Mini!), or Nahvalur Original Plus make great travel pens because they incorporate a shut-off valve that helps prevent major leakage on an airplane or when the pen is jostling around in a bag.
Two Ballpoints. I always carry two ballpoints, especially for conferences and work trips where I’ll be in meetings and don’t want to have to fiddle with a fountain pen and bad paper. For this week’s trip it’s the Uniball Jetstream Prime in .5mm, and the recently received Lamy Noto, an insanely comfortable triangular pen. Neither of these pens is particularly expensive, making them good candidates for a conference where things can unfortunately “wander off” from time to time.
Two Mechanical Pencils. When I’m on an airplane, I tend to work with a tablet/stylus or with a mechanical pencil, just to keep things simple and any mess to a minimum. Lately, I’ve really been enjoying the Uni Kuru Toga Alpha Gel Switch, which I first picked up at Kinokuniya in NYC last year and loved it so much that I brought them into the shop and promptly “bought” a yellow and black model for myself. I have two with me this weekend. Again, these are inexpensive writing instruments so they’re perfect for airplane and conference use.
So what’s the deal when I’m traveling? This trip is only a few days so it won’t throw off the blog schedule. Shop Orders placed late this week might take 1-2 extra business days to fulfill, but whenever that happens I always throw something extra in the box like a sticker, ink sample, or extra refill. I’m really looking forward to a couple of days off, and I’m in New Orleans so I plan to visit our friends at Papier Plume!