book·ish : A Traveler's Companion

This week I'll be talking about traveling as it relates to creativity and writing, so let's start by addressing a traveling necessity: the journal. If you're bookish and writerly like me, a well-designed journal is positively pavlovian.

My criteria for a good travel journal : preferably leather because it's durable, and it has to be small enough to fit in a purse or side-pocket of a bag or coat [I have a hard enough time traveling light without adding a family-Bible sized journal into the mix.]

So here are a few of my favorites.

The Traveler's Notebook from Baum-Kuchen. Its pages aren't lined, for those that like to sketch, doodle, etc. And its cover - so sexy, so smooth. Want.

I love the vintage feel of this one.

A foodie journal [because eating my way through Europe or South America or Asia sounds like an excellent plan.]

And don't forget the classic Moleskine. Whether you choose a regular lined or blank journal, or one designed specifically for travel, their smooth hard covers are aptly durable and beg to be filled with stories of your adventures. These are designed specifically for cities! The Amsterdam notebook would have been nice to have that time that I got lost [a story for another day this week.]

And this sweet little Moleskine wannabe, found in Ljubljana, Slovenia for just a few tolar, was my favorite travel companion. [I added the stickers as I went city to city. A cheap and fun souvenir.] To this day, I pull it out and read entries when I'm feeling wandersick.

wan·der·sick |ˈwändərˌsik| Adjective

1. experiencing a longing for travel during a period of time when travel is not financially possible, nor convenient to one's schedule.

2. the antithesis of homesickness.

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book·ish/ˈbo͝okiSH/Adjective

1. (of a person or way of life) Devoted to reading and studying rather than worldly interests.

2. (of language or writing) Literary in style or allusion.

3. (of art and all manner of lovely things) devoted to the written word as a form of art and as a way of seeing the world.

4. (of SheWritesandRights.blogspot.com) anything of the aforementioned characteristics as they are found on the interwebs and reposted by Bethany, because bookish and writerly things always give reason for amusement.