TRAVELER'S Notebook Brown Leather (1, 1 LB)

I think I am the first one to write a review from India. First a word about the seller. The seller is quite responsible. Whenever I had a question and tried to contact him, they replied. They promised to deliver it by 08th and did it. However, I ordered for brown colour but they delivered a blue colour traveller's note book. Now about the TN book. It's a beautiful peice and complete value for money. Got it during Amazon Diwali sale.

I held off buying one of these for a long time mostly because at that time a) it was £40.00 for what seemed like a sheet of leather and a thin notebook and b) the notebook/elastic system seemed fiddly and difficult. I put it on the backburner where the flame continued to grow. I eventually caved this week and purchased one from here. I ordered Thursday and it arrived on Friday. It comes wrapped in plastic cellophane inside which is kraft paper slim box with the Midori Traveler's Notebook story printed in Japanese and English on a strip of paper. Inside this kraft box, you'll find a small plastic bag containing an alternative closure elastic strap in orange and a white cotton bag. Inside the bag is the Midori Traveler's Notebook. Celestial light beams at this point. The leather is about 2.5mm thick and feels absolutely heavenly. You really do just want to stroke it and touch it. I had been warned that initially these notebooks have a strong chemical smell which dissipates after 2 or 3 days; however, mine just smelt very very strongly of beautiful leather. Inside the leather cover you will find a plain notebook refill (64 sides of paper, 32 pages). The paper in this refill is amazing and will handle fountain pen, wet inks and even watercolour paint. This is the only refill you will receive. At first, the notebook feels rather insubstantial with just one thin notebook in it but it will soon fill out once you start customising and adding your refills. Then it becomes glorious to hold. The leather just improves with time and age so you don't need to be precious with it. Things to note: 1) The only thing the notebook comes with is one PLAIN PAPER refill. You will need to purchase additional refills separately. 2) If your notebook is covered in white dust, this is a by product of the dying process. Just dry wipe/dust it off. 3) Different refills handle inks differently: the refill the notebook comes with handles pretty much anything - wetter inks will produce very light ghosting on the reverse page BUT will not bleed through. The lightweight paper will show darker ghosting on the reverse page but heavier inks like a Sharpie may bleed through. 4) Fountain pen users you can use both papers if you don't mind slight ghosting on the lightweight paper. 5) Grid paper, dot paper, kraft paper and sketch paper notebooks are also available. All handle inks and paints very well making this a very nice art journal 6) Other refills such as card holders, secretarial pockets, zip pockets and kraft folders are readily available or you could make your own using one of the many excellent YouTube tutorial videos available. 7) The inside of the Midori Notebook is just plain leather. There are no pockets or folds. You can buy pockets to stick on the inside. 8) There is no pen holder. This must be purchased separately and can be quite expensive. You can substitute using a Leuchtteurm pen holder. The latter can be afixed to the leather directly and holds very well. It can also be removed relatively easily and will not damage the leather. 9) The height of the Midori TN is the same as an A5 Moleskine but it is a couple of inches narrower. You can cut these addtional off the Moleskine A5 cahier notebooks and use them in your Midori. This is a cost effective method of refilling your notebook if you write/journal/art journal extensively. All in all the Midori Traveler's Notebook is a joy to have and use. I actually WANT to use it all the time. It's a convenient size for the handbag and for use in tight spaces where other wider notebooks might be a problem. For example, this is the perfect size to use on airplane service trays, on trains and you can also comfortably make notes holding it in your hand whilst observing something or if you are at a museum etc. There are so many uses for this and it is so customizable that I regret holding off. I will definitely order another 'just to have' in case anything happens to this one. It also reminds me of Indiana Jones' little brown notebook which is sad and cool at the same time. This notebook is (at the time of writing) available directly from Amazon so if you have Prime you can get this on next day delivery instead of waiting for it to come from Japan. I absolutely love it. For me, it is the notebook to end all notebooks. There is a now a cult following of this notebook and you can find many ideas and a lot of inspiration if you google it, Pinterest or search on YouTube.

This was my very first travelers notebook and it’s my favorite to this day. I now have every single standard and passport size color and this is my favorite. The leather feels like leather should. Other colors have a sort of velvety feel to them which is nice but the brown is smooth and feels like you’d expect leather to feel like. It will get scratched up as you use it and eventually it’ll take on a character of its own. After a year with this notebook being carried back and forth with me to work and around the house I have to say that it looks very distinct. It looks like MY notebook and bears the scars of being thrown in bags, carried in larger coat pockets and generally being used heavily by me. It’s a very wabi-sabi thing. After a year you’ll notice that the leather gets a little darker and shinier from being handled and the scratches are still visible but are smoothed over. I want to be clear about the scratches: they look good and give this notebook character. They definitely don’t look like defects and they will likely help you bond with the notebook as you’ll be the only person with a Travelers Notebook that looks exactly the way yours does. The notebook is also infinitely customizable. Of course you can add all sorts of inserts as you please but the real self expression comes when you realize that you can do things like change the color of the elastic bands, add additional bookmarks, and even cut more holes to run more elastics through the cover if you don’t like the idea of multiple notebooks sharing the same elastic. At first I was in love with this notebook because of how beautiful it was and wanted to keep it looking pristine. After a year I find the beauty of this notebook comes more from the functionality and it’s ability to allow to me to customize it so I can use it the way That works best for me than from any beauty that you see when it’s brand new. Both new and used, the Travelers notebooks have a certain charm to them that isn’t for everyone but if you’re looking at this flap of leather with an elastic enclosure and see a beautiful object then don’t hesitate and buy one. You won’t regret it.

Fabulous Midori leather travellers notebook. Seller shipped within 2 days of the order and it took five and a half weeks to get to me. Very carefully packaged. I couldn't be happier with it!!! Now I know what all the raves about it are for. So lovely to hold in the hand.... the whole design is simple and very elegant. I have three thicker inserts plus a business card folder and a zippered pocket folder and it closes nicely. If you want this much in the notebook purchasing the midori elastic pack is required (4 elastics but you will only need 1 at a time).

La legendaria Midori ha cumplido de sobras con las expectativas que tenía. La estoy usando como diario durante mi investigación para la tesis. De momento sólo tengo 2 libretas insertadas, la que venía con las tapas de cuero (o sea, de la casa Midori también) y una moleskin de las sencillitas con cubierta de cartulina que tuve que recortar un poco de ancha para que no sobresalga de la Midori. Uso una para escribir lo que hago o me pasa a diario relacionado con la invesstigación, y otra para ser un poco más creativa y apuntar otras cosas que pasan, dibujar, pintar, etc. El papel de las libretas aguanta bien la acuarela, y además pego folletos, mapas, fotos....Como es de sobra conocido, el tacto de las tapas de cuero es totalmente lujurioso, además con el rodaje y los tumbos propios de los viajes, el cuero se rasca y envejece, y todavía se pone más bonito. Cuando sale del paquete en que llega de la fábrica japonesa (la compañía es japonesa aunque la cubierta de cuero esté hecha en Tailandia) el cuero está un poco áspero al tacto, pero pronto se 'pule' con el uso y se nota suave, flexible.....un placer sacar la libreta para escribir en cualquier rincón del mundo....sólo tenerla en las manos da sensación de aventura tipo Indiana Jones.