The Traveler's Notebook arrives as a beautifully simple object: a leather cover, an elastic band, one blank refill. The system's openness — no instructions, no printed structure, no right or wrong way to use it — is both what attracts people to it and what makes getting started feel unexpectedly uncertain. This guide offers practical setups and ideas so your notebook becomes useful from the first day, not after weeks of research.
If you haven't yet chosen your Traveler's Notebook, our complete guide to the Traveler's Notebook covers sizes, leather colours, and the full refill system. This guide is for people who have one and want to use it well.
Installing your refills
Every refill goes in the same way. Open the refill to its centre — the stapled or stitched middle signature — and slide it under the main elastic band inside the cover. The elastic band runs through the spine and holds the refill at its midpoint. Close the cover.
For a second refill: the starter kit includes a shorter inner band. Thread the second refill's midpoint under this shorter band. You can carry two refills comfortably inside the cover this way.
For three or more: Connecting Bands link multiple refills together before they go under the main elastic. Slide the connecting band over the middle pages of two refills held together, then install the combined set under the main band. The cover becomes noticeably thicker with three or more refills but remains usable. Four is the practical limit for most covers.
The best starter setups
The question everyone asks is: which refills should I start with? Here are setups that work immediately and suit different uses.
For daily journaling
One lined MD paper refill and one blank MD paper refill. Write in the lined one; use the blank one for sketches, ephemera, tape, and anything that doesn't fit neatly in a ruled space. The lined refill keeps your writing organised; the blank gives you room to be unruly. Replace whichever runs out first.
For planning and journaling together
One weekly planner refill (Free Weekly Planner with Memo — seven days on the left, blank grid on the right) and one blank or lined refill for daily writing. This is the most popular two-refill setup among Traveler's Notebook users. Plan the week in the left refill; write freely in the right. The two functions complement each other without competing.
For travel specifically
One blank refill for writing, sketching, and sticking things in. One pocket sticker or zipper case for tickets, receipts, cards, and flat objects. One monthly planner refill to track the journey's shape across weeks. The Passport-sized Traveler's Notebook is the classic travel companion — small enough for a jacket pocket, the right size for passports, maps, and transit cards.
For fountain pen users
One Lightweight Paper Refill (Tomoe River, 52gsm) alongside a standard MD paper refill. Use the Tomoe River refill with your fountain pen — it shows shading and sheen beautifully. Use the MD paper refill with pencils, gel pens, and everyday notes. The contrast in paper between the two refills becomes itself a useful distinction between different kinds of writing.
For artists and sketchers
One blank MD refill and one Kraft Paper Refill. The blank MD paper handles pen and pencil; the Kraft paper is beautiful with stamps, washi tape, dried flowers, white gel pens, and any collage material. Kraft paper creates a naturally warm, earthy aesthetic distinct from the cream MD pages.
Using the cover well
The Traveler's Notebook cover has more storage than first appears. Most covers have an elastic band on the outside back for holding pens or pencils. The inner spine has two bands for refills. Some covers have a small pocket inside the front cover for cards.
The Pen Holder accessory — a metal clip that slides onto the leather cover — adds a dedicated pen slot on the outside. This is the most useful single accessory for anyone who carries the Traveler's Notebook as an everyday writing object: pen and notebook travel together, neither requiring a bag.
Pocket stickers (adhesive pockets that stick inside covers or onto refill pages) are the second most useful accessory — they solve the problem of where to put flat objects that don't fit into writing pages. Stick them inside the front cover, on the back of a planner page, or at the end of a refill as a catch-all.
The leather: working with it, not against it
New Traveler's Notebook leather is firm and slightly stiff. It will feel different in the hand from month three onwards. The leather softens and moulds slightly to your regular carrying pattern; the colour deepens; small scuffs accumulate and become part of the object's character.
One thing worth doing early: flex the cover gently a few times when new to help the spine open more easily. The leather will naturally loosen, but encouraging it early means it lies flat more readily from the start.
Don't try to keep the leather pristine. It isn't designed for that. The entire design philosophy of the Traveler's Notebook is that it improves with use. Let it get a little worn. The only person who can distinguish between a well-used and a neglected Traveler's Notebook is someone who knows what to look for — to everyone else it's just a beautiful leather notebook.
Ideas for what to write
The most common anxiety is the blank page of a new refill. Here are approaches that work:
A running log: Write one thing that happened today. Not an essay — a sentence. "Had a long walk in the evening. The park looked different with the new leaves." Maintained consistently, this becomes one of the most valuable journals possible to keep: a faithful record of the texture of daily life that memory alone won't preserve.
A dedicated function per refill: One refill for to-do lists and tasks; one for writing. Keeping them separate removes the decision about what kind of entry to make. When you open the task refill, you're doing tasks. When you open the writing refill, you're writing.
A travel-triggered journal: Some people find they can only write when they're somewhere different. If that's you, keep the Traveler's Notebook for travel specifically and let it be sparse between trips. A notebook that captures six journeys over two years is more valuable than a notebook that's three-quarters empty from failed daily habits.
Ephemera as content: Tickets, receipts, stamps, washi tape, labels, small maps, pressed leaves, photographs. The Traveler's Notebook's paper and construction handle collage and mixed media better than most notebooks. Some of the most compelling Traveler's Notebook pages contain almost no writing at all.
When a refill is finished
Remove the finished refill from the cover. TRAVELER'S COMPANY makes a Binder accessory — a metal rod system — specifically for storing completed refills alongside the cover. Or store them in a box. The refills are small enough that several years' worth take up minimal space.
Many long-term Traveler's Notebook users find the completed refills the most valuable part of the practice. Looking back through a year's worth of entries in a small, finished booklet is a different experience from reading a large journal — more concentrated, more portable, easier to navigate.
Browse Traveler's Notebook refills and accessories at The Journal Shop, and see our complete guide for help choosing the right cover and refills to start.
Where to start: browse our notebooks and fountain-pen-friendly notebooks at The Journal Shop.
