Jennifer Loechler

My sister-in-law gave me a Traveler’s Company (formerly and more commonly known as a Midori) Traveler’s Notebook for Christmas. I soon got swept down the rabbit-hole of the world of traveler’s notebooks.

A traveler’s notebook is a piece of thick material (usually leather), folded in half to approximately 8.7″ tall by 4.7″ wide, with elastic bands around it to hold paper booklets inside. There is a worldwide cult following of these simple Japanese journals, along with a plethora of imitation “Faux-dori” makers. People use them for many applications, but the most common are journals and planners. A lot of users enjoy making bookmarks, clips, folders, and other inserts to personalize their traveler’s notebooks.

I knew that I wanted to use mine as a planner, which meant that I needed to put a calendar in it. Of all the printable calendars online, I couldn’t find one that really called out to me, so I decided to create my own.

Using stock photos, blending modes, transparencies, and layer masking in Adobe Photoshop CC, I created a calendar that appeals to my aesthetic taste. Because of the traveler’s notebook’s odd size, it ended up being almost square. I added a gutter between the Wednesday and Thursday columns to accommodate the fold and make the days easier to write on.

This was a personal project of mine, but I plan to adapt it to next year’s calendar to offer it as a digital download online for others.