I think we’ve all seen the Midori Travellers notebooks. They look highly desirable, and highly expensive too. I sometimes have a search for them, just to see if they’re on offer anywhere, but usually not. If you’re lucky you can pick one up for about £35, but usually they’re nearer the £40 mark. Other companies and individuals make their own versions, but they tend to be a similar price or not as good quality.
So when I had a look on Amazon one day and saw a genuine Midori TN Passport size for £6.87 including shipping, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The standard TN was around £15, both shipped directly from Midori in Japan.
Six pounds and eighty seven of your Earth pence? Including shipping? It could be a trap. Or a pricing cock-up. So I played it safe and bought just the passport size with no extra inserts.
>WAIT
Time passes…
Just over two weeks later it arrived. So let’s take a look shall we?
The packaging is splendid, all wrapped up in a cardboard envelope which is held with an elasticated band, exactly the same as the one used around the notebook itself, and therefore acting as a spare should you need it. Also inside is another.
Within a cloth bag the notebook resides. It’s all very well presented and nicely made, there’s nothing shoddy here.
The notebook supplied is plain with perforated pages and even the back page is printed to resemble a passport (see what they did there?) The pages feel quite thin so not sure if it will take a fountain pen or not. The refills seem to come in 2 types of paper, one can take a fountain pen and one can’t, I won’t know until I try I guess.
The elastic that holds the book shut when closed is knotted and fed through a hole in the middle of the back cover. As some have mentioned on Amazon reviews, the knot is then under the back of the notebook, making it difficult to write on, and why didn’t they put it in the spine? I think if you have a couple of books in there it’ll only be an issue for the one nearer the back. I also think if it was through a hole in the spine the knot would interfere with how the books sit in the leather cover when opened and closed.
There are a couple of options to this if it is an issue. I’m left handed, so tend to write on the left side of notebooks like this. The elastic just pulls out and is easy to put back in. Also given the DIY nature of the Midori books, it wouldn’t be a difficult task to make a hole in the spine if you really wanted. Or you could just use a loose band that comes right off, and maybe keep it on your wrist while you’re writing.
Size wise the passport is much more pocket-able, so better as a take anywhere book, whereas I suspect the bigger TN is better suited to carrying around in a bag, unless you’ve got big pockets.
So overall, it’s a really nice notebook, and I should have bought one of the full size TN’s too, and a couple more of the passport size to give as gifts at that price. I’ll be keeping an eye out for more special pricing (or cock-ups, either or) in the future. I certainly couldn’t justify paying the full price for these, as nice as they are, they are basically a piece of leather and some elastic bands, albeit very high quality and nicely presented. But once you have it, the refills are not expensive (but perhaps not as good value as some other notebooks), and it’s easy to change the inserts about to suit whatever you’re doing or wherever you’re going, so the cover itself becomes the travel companion, and with all leather, the more it’s used the more character it gains.
Bought as is, it feels a bit empty, so I’ve ordered a couple of refill books and some bands to hold them in from The Journal Shop (www.thejournalshop.com (I’m not affiliated in any way!)) as they were cheaper than Amazon for refills. I’ll add a post about them when they arrive. A pen holder might be in order at some point too.
The Secret Notebook Hoarder 