My ✨perfect✨ Traveler’s Notebook setup for my trip to Japan and what's in my everyday travel bag

[@helenaliu]

This was a beautiful video! Your TN setup sounds like it was wonderfully planned and gave you the space you needed to savour memories without overburdening you. I only went to Japan in April and picked up all the exclusive items from the Tokyo Station and Kyoto stores, including some lovely charms. I can’t wait to see your purchases in your next video 😊.

[@kimdburns]

Such a great setup. I bought the TN Tokyo edition for our trip in 2025 and I've pondered about the setup and this was helpful. I love those wire-o envelope holders. I've used those for years for all sorts of things.

[@LittleCocoStudio]

That’s so exciting that you’re going in 2025! 🤩 What time of the year are you planning your trip for? I regret not getting some of the Tokyo items when they first came out. I was hoping to pick up the sticker set while in Tokyo, but by the time I got there, everything was (understandably) sold out. Yeah, the envelope booklet is awesome! I was thinking about getting an accordion folder for my ephemera, but I might use this instead once I’ve finished my memory keeping travel insert. ☺️

[@CaffeineByTwilight]

Love this video!! I’m planning a trip to Japan and worry most about traveling light since I plan on going to 7 cities and will have to have my bag with me. I love my GoodInkPressions books. How many pages was that insert? I usually use my inserts for my Passport EDC. I’m so sad that that they discontinued the Tsukushi ink because that is just such a gorgeous brown. I’m just glad I managed to get a hold of a bottle of Kiri-same. That shoulder bag is lovely!

[@LittleCocoStudio]

That’s so exciting that you’re planning a trip to Japan! I already wish I could go back 🥹 What cities are you planning to visit? I am a big fan of the GoodINKpressions inserts as well. I got them back in January, and I honestly don’t know what took me so long to crack them open. 😂 I got the 160 page 52-gsm inserts. At the time, I remember wishing they were thicker and had the lay-flat binding, like what Sterling Ink or Papertess Designs offer, but having it stapled made it very easy to keep other inserts in my TN. I am interested to see how the new Iroshizuku ink that’s coming out soon will compare to Tsukushi, because my bottle will run out some day. 😭 I’m glad you managed to get a hold or kiri-same before the remaining stock sells out! 🥲

[@charina_custodio]

I love your setup ❤ I had a similar setup ( plain insert, sketchbook, sticker book + passport ) when I travel to Japan but with a passport size only.

[@LittleCocoStudio]

A passport would have been perfect and even more portable as well! TNs are so versatile - I really love them and fell even harder for mine on this trip. 🥹

[@jksiapno]

Thank you for this video, this makes me excited to setup my TN for my upcoming taiwan trip next month

[@LittleCocoStudio]

Ooh! That’s going to be such a fun trip!! 😍 Whereabouts will you bro going in Taiwan? I visited a friend who was living there several years ago, and it was one of my most memorable and favourite trips. 🥲

[@sarahba1897]

I’ve just come back from Japan too! I definitely brought too many notebooks lol I journaled a bit during the trip and completed a couple of spreads but I’m just not the type of person who journals a lot regularly let alone on a daily basis. I wanna keep a travel journal for the sake of memory keeping so I’ve used post it notes for the days to keep track of the activities to finish my journal later. I definitely spent too much on stickers and stamps this time but the original TN covers are still on my wishlist :3 Next time I would want to plan my notebook in advance a little bit so it’s not all over the place lol Anyways great video :D

[@LittleCocoStudio]

Ooh! 😍 How was your trip?? Whereabouts did you visit in Japan? I mostly spent my budget on TN-related things during this trip. 😳 Next time (I hope there’s a next time!), I hope to spend more of my budget on stickers and other non-TN stationery. Everything, everywhere, was so cute 😭 Was this your first time visiting? And do you see yourself going back?

[@tortagialla]

I love tns for journaling! Looking forward to all your upcoming videos and wondering how you process all the information after the fact. I rarely journal while on vacation, it’s more collection of notes and ephemera.

[@LittleCocoStudio]

Thank you for your kind words! TNs really are the best for journaling! 🥲 I typically journal on vacation (something about getting away makes me extra reflection?) and I also am pretty good at collection notes and ephemera. But I’ve never been great at sketching while away, so I was thrilled with this new behaviour on this trip. 😅

[@tortagialla]

@@LittleCocoStudio You are a pro! I still am too shy to do sketching or such in public 😬

[@MindfulVespers]

I’m planning a trip in December to Tokyo and would love to hear all your recommendations for all of it! Food, stationery shops, neighborhoods, places you went to… would love to hear!

[@LittleCocoStudio]

Oh, that’s so fun! Which cities are you going to be visiting in this trip and how long will you be there? I think if we go back, we’d want to go later in the year because it was still so hot in Oct 💦. A friend mentioned the leaves might be changing colours in Dec this year as well, so it’ll be so pretty when you go! I haven’t figured out how I’ll format my video (or videos) about my trip, but I’ll do my best to include some of my highlights outside of stationery as well!

[@earthologyhut]

Hi Alison, thanks so much for this video. I’m planning on spending a few months at a friends place to great a break from starring at my own four walls day in/out and I am also feeling the withdrawal symptoms of leaving some of my notebooks behind. I am curious if the extra vacuum packing of the pens helped avoid the ink-explosion many people talk about from fountain pens on flights. I really appreciated the way you had packed your pens. My pens are precious to me too and I also can’t decide which to take and which to leave as I will be gone for a long time and so want to make sure I have enough ink for 2 months but since I like to ink-up 4-5 pens and the colours I write with usually represent my moods I am hoping I won’t need to take ink samples with me. Did you manage to back date your Weeks books? I have been health tracking in my cousin weeks section and journaling in the dailies - the dailies are up to date but not sure if I will go back to back date the weeks -I have notes on my phone so it is still possible. It is nice to have the information in a book if I want to reflect back on it. Living with MS & going through the menopause means I have had a lot of new symptoms to track.

[@LittleCocoStudio]

I’m so glad you’ll be getting a change of scenery and spending it with a friend! It was my first time going on a big trip (in terms of going overseas and being away from work for more than a week) like this since 2019, so I had forgotten about how nice it can be to unplug from life. I know it’s not always possible to take breaks like this, so I’m extra grateful we were able to make this trip happen. 🥹 I get the feeling of withdrawal from your pens and notebooks! I think if I were staying in one place for most of a trip, I would bring more of books with me. Since we were moving around every few days, I wanted to keep things as light as possible because I wanted to have my books and pens on me at all times. 😂 If you’re going away for 2 months, 4-5 sounds like a great amount to keep you company while you’re at your friend’s place. It also depends on the type of trip you’re taking, too. I knew we’d be out and about for the better part of the day, but if it were more of a slower-paced trip where we mainly stayed in one place, I definitely would have brought more. I have been backfilling my books. I’m currently adding a daily log to my Hobonichi Original’s daily pages. It has taken me longer than I’d like to admit, but it has been good to revisit what we did and add in more detail. I will backfill my health and wellness tracker after that. Personally, I think the benefits of having a comprehensive health and wellness tracker in one place outweighs the cons of having to backfill the information. I might feel differently depending on how much there is to backfill! 2.5 weeks doesn’t feel too daunting.