2019 is the year of wandering around the world for me! Some of you may know that I was travelling around Europe early on this year- visiting London, Paris and Switzerland. And I am just about to hop on a plane to New York for another Art trip!!! I am super excited for this upcoming trip and I have already started packing what I consider the most important thing for the trip - my travel journal gear!!! I think most of you would agree with me on that, hehe!
Keeping a travel journal is an essential part of any trip in my opinion. It is a great way to encapsulate the euphoric moments and it provides a space for thinking and reflecting when you are relaxing at the hotel in the evening.
If you are a busy traveller who likes to go to many places in a day like me, it is crucial to pack light and smart! So here is what I am going to bring with me to New York next week!
1. Traveler’s Factory notebook
In my opinion, this is the best notebook for traveling where you can completely customise the entire set-up for your needs. On my last trip, I used up 2 refills for the 3 cities I visited. Started up with a grid refill and then a blank, surprisingly I preferred the blank, as I like to paint in my journal. You can also use the Ro-biki Notebook as a refill as well. I like to add a zip pocket refills in my set-up for keeping stickers, scrap paper and small notes in, these pocket are so handy for traveling!
Tip: Carry some blank watercolour postcards to create some happy mail to post home on your trip!
2. Instax printer
I don’t actually carry this around with me during the day but it is one of my top traveling items. I love photography and I like taking lots of photos when I travel, so having photos in my travel journal is a MUST! This printer will print off any photos I took on my phone right away. The problem is I often have trouble choosing the right photos to print, as I just want to print off all of them!
Tip:
- Use a dot liner to stick them on your journal; glue won’t work with these photos! I love the Kokuyu dotliner as it is just the perfect size for traveling.
- Using a black marker to block out a text box and writing with a white gel pen can give very good visual effects on your spread.
3. Watercolours
I paint every day so I will never go anywhere without my colours! As you know I am a paint maker, so I own numerous traveling palettes. But do you know that you can actually make your own custom palettes quite easily. All you need is a small tin, a few pans of paint and some stick on magnets or blu tac. I put together a travel palette in an old tin using the pans from the Boku-Undo watercolour set from the previous box! It’s looking so neat!!!
4. Washi. stickers and stamp labels
Yes! I turn into a mad sticker lover when I am traveling! Possibly because I can’t carry a lot with me, and stickers are the lightest and cutest things I can use to add accents or highlights to my spread! I usually select a wide range of them from my collection and store them in the zip pocket in my TN. I can see the Chalk Boy Flaky stickers from this month’s box are going to be perfect for some of the spreads!
I also like to bring along some plain or grid washi tape with me. They are very handy for labelling and sticking things in journals. I am taking this one from Maste, as it allows me to write on top, which is perfect! You can unroll some a card if you don’t want to take a full roll with you ☺
Tip: As I can’t bring my vast collection of stamps with me, I usually pre - stamp some on sticker labels prior to traveling. I particularly like using my label stamps for dates!
5. Number and journal templates
The date is a crucial element on a travel journal! I use my Midori brass number template to label all my spreads! This pretty template also doubles up as a ruler, which is super handy for ruling up grids for planning. I am also going to take my Kokuyu template with me this time, simply for its versatility!
6. A travel case filled with carefully selected pens/items!
I usually take two pencil cases with me - a larger one that will hold absolutely everything inside and a smaller one to carry around with me. The small Delfonics pouch was my favourite travel buddy on my last trip. Despite its small size, it takes all the pens I need as well as my watercolour palettes! Here is a list of pens and things I will be taking this time (from left to right):
- Tombow Pit Glue stick (Super handy for collage!)
- Pocket scissors (An essential! But keep it in your suitcase !)
- Microns 003 and 005 (Paints and fine liners pretty much lead my life)
- Uni-ball Signo black gel pen ( This is my favourite writing pen!)
- Mechanical pencil (That’s what I use for sketching everyday)
- White gel pen ( Great for highlights in drawings and quick touch up)
- Sarasa in vintage colour (Can’t go anywhere without Sarasa)
- Pentel Water brush (A genius invention for painting on the move!)
- Mild liner (Super handy for marking dates or labelling!)
- Sailor brush pen (Must have for writing any headers! )
- Eraser
PS. This post marks the 1st anniversary of being part of the TTS design team. It has been the most joyful experience being part of this wonderful community. I wrote this retrospective post of the items I received and have used lovingly in the past year as a tribute to Mits and her amazing company! I am so pleased I have been offered this opportunity in the past year!