journals i'm using for the rest of 2023 ✸ travelers notebook, hobonichi & field notes

[@MyPersonalPlayground]

First and foremost I fully support you following your planner bliss. That said - I am so selfishly bummed ha ha ha. I adore the Hobonichi Cousin, 2024 will be my third year with it. I think your Cousin is one of the most beautiful ones I've seen and so I've been really inspired by watching how you are using it, etc. So I may or may not be hoping you go back, lol. I use my monthly pages for just birthdays, holidays, and days I always observe annually. My weekly pages are where my work is. I plug in daily tasks here and it's very bullet journal in nature. My daily pages I consider extra and I use as a bullet log for things that happened in the day that I really enjoyed, found positive, etc. Kinda journal esq, but less long writing and more it's a highlight of the day space. It is in the daily though that I do allow myself to get a little creative, like you, sometimes adding photos or writing a quote that inspires me. Sometimes the daily page is one line - and I've come to find that ok. I am looking forward to continue to follow your journey!

[@ritas140]

Same 😕 loved, loved her in a Cousin so much

[@simplyplans9694]

I SO get the passport daily journal. I've had to streamline, simplify & give myself some grace. Above all, had to stop the FOMO and realize I needed smaller "containers" for my now small-ish life. You are really an inspiration. TFS!

[@tortagialla]

I’m also all for passport daily journaling 😊

[@LittleCocoStudio]

As much as I love the idea of consolidating everything in one book, I’ve realized I need some variety. I function better when I compartmentalize certain aspects of my life in different books. I think it helps me stay focused on one aspect of my life at a time. I have loved using my Cousin this year, because I treat the daily pages as a catch-all notes pages. I like having the dates there for easier reference since I use the yearly pages as an index. It’s a big book, but I somehow almost always fill up the pages. The weeks notes pages could probably work for me, but I love the vertical weeklies too much to give up the cousin. My ADHD brain seems to like being able to have a weekly overview that matches my GCal. I’ve been using an insert in my TN as a “master” task list between life, work, and school tor the past few years so I know what to do each day. I used to scatter in random thoughts and notes in my TN insert, but they’d get lost and I’d lose focus on my daily tasks. Now it’s just daily to-dos. It may seem chaotic to manage different books, but it’s working well enough for me to function, so I’m hesitant to change my system too much. Whoa - I didn’t mean to ramble! As usual, I have too much to say about journals and planners. 😂

[@KaitlinGrey]

lol I think we all have a lot to say but I’m here to listen! Love love love your thoughts here, I always go between wanting everything in one book and splitting things up

[@morganmodica]

Ride or Die weeks person for personal and work planning. It's truly the perfect size, maybe not so great for long-form writing, but it's really so functional! Excited to see how you use it!

[@KaitlinGrey]

Yes! It looks so good for short planning! Ty!

[@lauraamb]

I had the exact same issue. I felt more stressed about filling the cousin's pages instead of enjoying journaling. So I'm going for the weeks as my planner and I have 2 A6 hobo grid notebooks in the same cover (one for my journal and the other for my commonplace, and both fit in the same cover which I love). I discovered I do need a dated planner but that I feel way happier with journaling and commonplacing in plain notebooks instead of dated ones.

[@anxious_apparition]

I had the same issue with the size of the Cousin as a journal/planner, so I repurposed it to be a commonplace/hobbies book. Since some of my entries can be multiple pages long I don't get that overwhelmed feeling from falling behind, so that's definitely being carried through to next year. I'm also using a Weeks as a planner in a standard TN. I love how chonky the TN feels with the Weeks inside it and I use the inserts for journaling or sketching.

[@KaitlinGrey]

That’s such a great way to repurpose the cousin! I’ve never tried to fit my weeks in my tn but that sounds very very intriguing haha!

[@ChantelleArts]

such an adorable video, i love your journals ❤❤

[@KaitlinGrey]

Thank you!

[@LiviaTavNaether]

I can really understand how you feel. The cousin was my first planner and and used to love it but with time, keeping up with all those pages was too much. 😖

[@KaitlinGrey]

It’s definitely a commitment! I’m glad I’m not the only one who found it to be a bit much

[@cathiejo2165]

Love my travelers notebooks! Freedom to do whatever you want! Love finishing a book and starting a new one. I quit wasting my money with everything else because I always return to my travelers co notebooks!

[@KaitlinGrey]

Yessss the freedom and flexibility is so so nice!

[@katem2458]

I've finally dipped a toe into the TN system. I've been using Megan Rhiannon's printables and my own to make booklets that fit in the Erin Condren folio since I'm used to A5 bujos and wanted a bit more space. I'm honestly loving it so much. I also plan to have quarterly books for the months and weeks and then will just make up commonplacing and dailies books for when they're needed.

[@KaitlinGrey]

I’ve been meaning to check out Megan’s booklets! Your quarterly book system sounds so good

[@Seagreen_scribe]

I've been on the fence about the hobonichi weeks for my planner. It's either a weeks or the passport sterling ink planner. I've a b6 stalogy for journalling and a b6 sterling ink common planner for goals and a record of my year. Thanks for talking through your line up!

[@KaitlinGrey]

Both sounds like awesome options! Ofc, I hope you enjoyed

[@michelleadams5609]

isn't the Cousin around $70 post-tax? I bought a Take A Note for $40 from Amazon. That's why I love Discbound systems. I can change it as often as I want. The last planner I bought was $3.49, regular $42.99 from Michael's. I have Rhodia journals and Leuchtturn 120g if I want the premium BuJo experience, but I think I'll be quite happy with the Take a Note going forward.

[@KaitlinGrey]

It’s a bit less expensive if you get it from hobonichi with some other planners or accessories, but from a stationery shop it’s probably around that. Oh nice nice, which size TAN did you pick up?

[@michelleadams5609]

@@KaitlinGrey Oh, yes, I do have a cart full of stuff at the Hobonichi site, but can't bring myself to pull the trigger. The primary reason is the quotes and colored pages. I love color, but I want a neutral page and I don't like quotes. Otherwise, the Tomoe River Paper is fantastic. I'm new to Hobonichi and I don't want to buy a lot that I may not use, What I did was I bought a Hobonichi notebook A5 and turned it into a bullet journal for a few weeks to see if I'd love the paper, which I do. Because of that, I went with the Take A Note (which is still available btw on Amazon), which doesn't have the quotes and though it doesn't have the Daily Pages, the look of it is a bit more toned down and perfect for work planning. I bought the A5 Take a Note. (Also, Catherine from Sterling Ink had stated that she is going to have another sale in Mid-November, so I really want a dated A5 for journaling and memory keeping.)

[@rileytherandom]

i bought a 3 dollar weekly planner and i was ok with it cause i think im gonna use it mostly to track birthdays, what i watched or played that day but now i want a prettier one 😢

[@Jasper0o0]

Hi Kaitlin. Have you ever tried a travelers notebook from Galen Leather? I’m thinking of ordering one, but I don’t know what the duties would be to Canada. I like the band system on it, & no knots in the back cover, but would that be worth the cost of duties & taxes? Things to ponder 🤔.

[@KaitlinGrey]

Hey! I haven’t tried any covers for my travelers notebook besides the ones from travelers company, but perhaps there are some video reviews on it?

[@Jasper0o0]

@@KaitlinGrey There are a couple, but not many, maybe because it ships from Turkey. Maybe I’ll order one, late at night, when I’m overtired. Then if the shipping, duties, & tax’s are too high, I’ll just blame it on being overtired lol.

[@SrirachaSandvvitch]

I get you. The Cousin was my first Hobonichi planner, but I've fallen in love with the Weeks. I've given my Cousin to my sister and I'll be using 2 Weeks Megas: one for personal and one for work. It is a perfect little notebook.

[@KaitlinGrey]

I’m sooo excited to use my weeks next year, it seems like such a good little planner

[@seemeplan]

How does the Uni Ball One pen feel with the Sarasa refill? I tried using one and the pen click was not smooth. The refill was a tad bigger than Uni original refill. I checked out what JetPens listed as compatible refills, and went with a blue black Uni Signo refill. It works perfectly; I guess since they're from the same manufacturer - Uni.

[@KaitlinGrey]

Someone else was telling me they also had trouble fitting their sarasa refill in the uni ball one, idk if its bc my Uniball one is a limited edition one but I’ve had no issue fitting multiple different sarasa refills in it 🙇🏼‍♀️

[@seemeplan]

@@KaitlinGrey never let go of that pen!

[@AileenTownsend]

Whoa! I didn't know that was something people did! Intriguing!!

[@bonnieshapiro3511]

@@KaitlinGreyCurious if you use a .38 or .5 in your Uni-ball. I found that I needed to go to a.5 in a hobo weeks because of the narrow pages. I’ve never used a .38 refill and wondered if you use it and how you like it. I don’t like the fact that the hobo weeks doesn’t have grids on the left page. I’m unhappy without the grids. I love hobonichi’s cute covers but I’m trying to hold back until Sterling Ink gets her weeks back in. I’m afraid I went too crazy this year on hobonichi and travelers products. I love watching your videos about how you use your notebooks. I understand how you feel about the cousin being a lot of work. I don’t really spend time journaling I am more into functional planning. Eventually I will use my cousins for commonplace type reference info and notes.

[@KaitlinGrey]

@@bonnieshapiro3511 The sterling ink weeks sounds really nice! I get what you mean, I wonder why the weeks does have a grid on the weekly pages?? I use the 0.5mm gel pen, I find 0.38 a bit too thin for my writing

[@mgtogno]

Nooooo~ u abandoned the hobonichi, what u gonna do with the one u bought? I understand it can be overwhelming, i struggled with itr a lot on my first two years, now i use it for daily journaling and I dont force myself to fill out the pages, it is what t is, empty pages can also tell a story. I am using 2 cousins and a A6 next year. Planner, daily journal and a small health and fitness planner for me to write down my work outs. But tbh im not sure if ill be able to keep up =x i hope i can hahga all the best to u kaitlyn, love ur content and looking forward to 2024.

[@KaitlinGrey]

I know I knooooooo 😅 I might sell me 2024 cousin or keep it, we’ll see!

[@camilagonzalez5451]

@@KaitlinGrey ohh noooo keep holding on girl!!!!