I joined the Midori Traveler’s Notebook (TN) club this past Summer. I missed the big blogging heyday about them around 2012 to 2015 when the Internet seem to explode over this nifty little notebook system, but I was all about digital back then. I loved my iPhone and didn’t feel a need to go analog.
Recently, though, I noticed some artists doing inspiring things in their TNs, and I thought this could be the kick in the pants I needed to fit sketching back into my life. I started small with one notebook insert with a leather cover. Only when I noted that I was actually using it, I invested in more inserts. The only feature it was missing for me was a ToDo list insert, but nobody made one.
And thus I began my journey yesterday into DIY Notebook Hell.
With ADHD as my guide, I boldly discovered blog after blog of incredibly ornate notebook inserts that people made for themselves because the official ones were just “too expensive”. Since you can get official ones for as low as $4.30, I wasn’t sure what they were talking about. Perhaps TNs weren’t sold in a US store back then. If people had to import these inserts from Japan, I can see why they might want to make one themselves. If you ship via Japan Post, you could practically grow your own tree and harvest it for paper before the package arrives. Yet the examples I found online were so detailed, elaborate, and time consuming. These bloggers clearly weren’t trying to save money. Personally, I didn’t need custom stickers, embossed leather, and personalized charms. I just wanted a notebook that had squares next to lines that I could fill in and then check off.
Then I discovered Ray Blake of mylifeallinoneplace.com who provided the journaling community Midori TN templates to download. He’s still providing updated templates for free, even today, but it was his video from nine years ago that showed how he made his own booklets that caught my fancy. His no-nonsense approach was perfect for my needs, and armed with the knowledge that he shared, I loaded up my Amazon shopping cart with fountain pen safe printer paper, cracked leather cardstock, and a Swing-Arm Swivel Stapler perfect for saddle stapling. There I was, ready to plunk $38.96 down just to make a ToDo list insert for my traveler’s notebook.
But I didn’t pull the trigger.
You see, I just recently got myself in over my head with eBay purchases. I had ignored the rule:
Never Bid on an Auction When You Are Sick or Ticking.
Unfortunately, I steamrolled over this rule a few weekends ago when I was both sick and ticking (I have Tourettes). Somehow my brain thought it was a loophole? Alas, it was not. I ended up purchasing quite a few Splatoon collectibles. Oh yes, it was glorious. Finally! My collection was complete.
Except one of the figurines I bought was broken. I failed to notice the photograph that showed that it was broken. It was right there in the auction. The seller photographed his own hand pointing at the broken part. The little character was missing its ponytail. I missed a giant, gaping hole in the head of the figurine. As obvious as a blinking stop sign. I was gobsmacked. And the other figurine was what I thought was the Smash Brothers version of the Splatoon inkling girl. However, it turned out to be one of four I already owned. So now I have five.
Of course, the other figurines are still on their way from Japan. Who knows what I got wrong with them? But it gets better. The money I used to buy these wonderful bonehead bargains had been earmarked to register my car. Go me.
If I were to tell you that adults with ADHD have a lack of impulse control, please consider me the poster child of ADHD in this regard. When I am sick or ticking, that impulsivity is hypercharged. That’s why I have so many rules to keep myself from making a fool of myself. It doesn’t always work, and now I feel like a jerk. I’ll have one heck of a collection when the packages finish traveling from the other side of the planet, right⸮
So with these wounds freshly bleeding, I looked very suspiciously at my shopping cart filled with new equipment to pursue a shiny, new distraction. Did I really need this stuff? I mean, really? I decided to go to the source. I went to the Traveler’s Company USA site and looked through all of the inserts that they offered. Maybe there was something I missed.
And there was.
Down at the bottom of the list was an insert with a dot grid pattern. One of the examples that demonstrated how to use this wonderful little insert was a ToDo list. So I bought a few, and they’ll arrive next week. In the meantime, the DIY items have been removed from my shopping cart. Maybe one day I’ll invest in them for the fun of it. That day is not today, however, especially since I still have to register my car.