Traveler's Notebook

I was introduced to the traveler's notebook through the Scrapbook and Cards Today's monthly sampler subscription.

In my sampler, I received a cute little cover. I searched Google to find out what it was and what it is used for. It was a cover to hold 3.5 by 5.5 inch notebooks. 

I LOVE notebooks and organizing products - a cover with pockets and a pen holder to house the notebooks; I am in heaven!!! I raced off to Michaels and bought 3 little notebooks to fill the cover I had received.

I used the traveler's notebooks for our family trip to Cuba in 2019. Jotted down the daily events so that when I scrapbook the trip years from now I will have all the information and memories in one place. I also used the notebooks to jot down highlights for each month of 2019 and 2020 so that when I pocket page those events, I will remember what happened.

Recently, I got hooked on Layle by Mail YouTube videos about traveler's notebooks. Traveler's notebooks is not strictly to record your travels but can be used for all sorts of memories, thoughts, lists or anything else you would like to put to paper. 

I am a serious list maker. I make lists all the time. Lists help me braindump, which in turn helps me relax. I have lists all over my house and some lists are in duplicates. 

I used one of these little traveler's notebooks to make a list of the crafting items I want to buy. The next time I am at a store or there is an online sale, I can look at my list and focus my shopping. 

After watching a few of Layle's videos I decided to use one of the larger traveler's notebooks to record each of the Crop and Create events that I have or will have attended from September 2014 to November 2021. 

I am going to use another one to record my flower and vegetable gardens. I will take pictures this year to help plan the gardens next spring - which gardens should I thin out, where are my colours, what changes should I make. Each year I will take pictures of the gardens so it reminds me what it looked like in order to make spring planting decisions.

For me, these traveler's notebooks are a great place to record life's moments/memories that you would not put in a traditional layout or a full pocket page. 

Layle also uses it to make reflective lists, such as a list of your favorite books, favorite movies, your quirks, your bucket list. If you were to repeat these lists every decade or at the different stages of life, the lists will change. I am sure my bucket list at 40 is very different than when I was 20. These lists are an easy way to capture you, your family, your loved ones in moments of time. I could make a topic list with my son who is 9 (goals in life, what job he would like to have) and then have his 20 year old self read the list he made. 

The great thing with the traveler's notebooks is that you can make them as simple or as embellished as you want. 

Once I have filled the traveler's notebooks I bought, I plan on making the others from paper in my stash. Instructions on making your own notebooks can be found here.

If you are interested in recording your own reflective lists, Layle has listing topics in her blog that can jump start recording life's moments - like your favorite cartoon when you were young, what jobs have you had, or what do you want to do more of and less of in 2021.