Journaling
The best travel journals
A travel journal has to survive a bag, take a whole trip, and work in a cafe with no desk. Those are three different requirements and almost nothing satisfies all three.
How this page is funded. Buying through a link here earns us a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change what we recommend or the order we recommend it in, and we have not hands-on tested these products — see how we choose and the full disclosure.
Travel is the hardest test a notebook gets. It goes in a bag with things that are heavier than it is, it gets written in on a train, and it has to last the whole trip because you cannot buy a replacement in the same range halfway through.
Add a fountain pen and two more constraints appear: the paper has to take ink in humidity it was not designed for, and the pen itself has to survive the same bag. Both are solvable. Neither is solved by the notebook with the nicest cover.
How we ranked these
- Enough pages for the trip. Running out on day nine of a fortnight is the failure mode nobody plans for. Page count is a specification here in a way it is not at a desk.
- Published paper weight, where it exists. Two of these publish it. The rest do not, and the picks say so.
- Survives a bag. Thread binding over glue, a closure of some kind, and a cover that can take being compressed.
- Refillable, if the trip is long. A cover that accepts new inserts turns a page-count problem into a packing problem.
- No testing claims. We have not taken these anywhere; this is a specification comparison, as everywhere on this site.
The journals
Quick picks
Ranked for the beginner buying their first setup. Every pick names who it is wrong for.
| # | Product | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Wanderings refillable leather notebook, regular A full-grain leather cover with three 100 gsm inserts in the box, and the only leather notebook here whose maker states the paper weight. | The refillable leather format with its paper weight published | $36.95 · View on Amazon #ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded |
| 2 |  Traveler's Notebook, regular size A leather strip, an elastic band and a paper refill - the simplest refillable system made, and the one with a decade of inserts behind it. | One cover for the rest of your life, refills forever | $74.00 · View on Amazon #ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded |
| 3 |  LEUCHTTURM1917 A6 pocket, dotted The A5 journal shrunk to a coat pocket, thread-bound and numbered - and unlike the A5 listing, this one publishes its paper weight. | A hardcover pocket book with numbered pages | $20.50 · View on Amazon #ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded |
| 4 |  Stalogy 365 Days Notebook B6 A thin-paper daily notebook with a full year of dated grid pages in a book you can still carry. | One book for a whole year | $23.89 · View on Amazon #ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded |
| 5 |  Midori MD Notebook A6, ruled Midori's MD paper in a plain paperback cover - the least designed notebook here, and the one people describe by how it feels to write on. | The writing experience, in the smallest format it comes in | $9.99 · View on Amazon #ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded |
| 6 |  Rite in the Rain Mini Stapled, weatherproof (3-pack) Paper that sheds water instead of absorbing it, and a maker who states in writing that water-based inks bead or wash off. We list it so you do not buy it for a fountain pen. | Writing in weather - with a pencil, not a fountain pen | $12.88 · View on Amazon #ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded |
1. The refillable leather format with its paper weight published
Wanderings refillable leather notebook, regular
A full-grain leather cover with three 100 gsm inserts in the box, and the only leather notebook here whose maker states the paper weight.
#ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded
A hundred gsm is the number that makes this page work. It is heavier than a Leuchtturm, heavier than Field Notes, and it is stated on the listing rather than inferred - which puts this cover ahead of every bound leather journal we looked at.
Three booklets of 180 pages between them is a real amount of writing included, not a token refill. The cover takes the same regular-size inserts the wider travel-notebook market uses, so you are not locked to one supplier.
Crazy horse leather is a finish, not a grade: it is waxed full-grain that lightens where it flexes. It will look scuffed almost immediately, and that is the intended appearance.
| Paper weight | 100 gsm, cream, described by the maker as fountain-pen friendlySource: Wanderings regular size travelers notebook (retail listing, read 2026-09-13) |
|---|---|
| Cover material | Full-grain crazy horse leatherSource: Wanderings regular size travelers notebook (retail listing, read 2026-09-13) |
| Size | 4.5" x 8.5" (11.5 x 22 cm)Source: Wanderings regular size travelers notebook (retail listing, read 2026-09-13) |
| Included | Three hand-sewn blank booklets, 30 double-sided sheets each (180 pages)Source: Wanderings regular size travelers notebook (retail listing, read 2026-09-13) |
| Refill availability | Not published |
What it does well
- Publishes 100 gsm and calls it fountain-pen friendly
- Three inserts included, so it is usable out of the box
- Standard regular-size format with wide third-party refill support
What it does not
- Crazy horse finish marks immediately, which not everyone wants
- Inserts are blank only
- No detail published on how the refills are sold afterwards
Skip this if you want a hard cover that protects the pages. A leather wrap folds with the book, and an A5 hardcover is the alternative.
2. One cover for the rest of your life, refills forever
Traveler's Notebook, regular size
A leather strip, an elastic band and a paper refill - the simplest refillable system made, and the one with a decade of inserts behind it.
#ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded
The mechanism is an elastic band down the spine. Refills slot under it, and when one fills you add another or swap it out. There is nothing to break, which is why these covers outlive the people who buy them.
The maker does not publish a gsm figure for the refill paper, describing it only as medium. Traveler's Company sells a separate lightweight refill widely regarded as fountain-pen paper, but since the weight is not published on this listing we are not printing a number for either.
Be clear about what arrives: one refill. The system's cost is the refills, and that is the trade you are making against a bound journal that costs less and ends.
| Cover material | Cowhide leatherSource: Traveler's Notebook, regular size (retail listing, read 2026-09-13) |
|---|---|
| Cover size | 8.7" x 4.7" x 0.4" (220 x 120 x 10 mm)Source: Traveler's Notebook, regular size (retail listing, read 2026-09-13) |
| Refill size | 8.3" x 4.3"Source: Traveler's Notebook, regular size (retail listing, read 2026-09-13) |
| Included | One unruled medium-paper refill, spare elastic band, cotton caseSource: Traveler's Notebook, regular size (retail listing, read 2026-09-13) |
| Leather finish | Lightly treated; the maker states it scratches at first and develops gloss with useSource: Traveler's Notebook, regular size (retail listing, read 2026-09-13) |
| Refill paper weight | Not published |
What it does well
- A refill system with a very long track record and wide third-party support
- Leather that is meant to mark, so wear is the finish rather than damage
- Regular size takes a generous page without being A5-bulky
What it does not
- Expensive for what is physically a strip of leather and an elastic
- No published paper weight for the refill
- Only one refill included, and refills are an ongoing cost
Skip this if you want to open a book and write. This is a system that expects you to curate it, and a bound journal is the purchase that does not ask anything of you.
3. A hardcover pocket book with numbered pages
LEUCHTTURM1917 A6 pocket, dotted
The A5 journal shrunk to a coat pocket, thread-bound and numbered - and unlike the A5 listing, this one publishes its paper weight.
#ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded
This is the interesting one. The A5 Leuchtturm listing that this site covers elsewhere publishes no paper weight at all, and the argument about whether it bleeds is unresolved because of that. The A6 listing states 80 g/m2 outright.
Eighty gsm is real information and it is a modest number - below Field Notes' 90 gsm, above Moleskine's 70. A Fine nib and a dry ink will be comfortable; a wet Medium will show through.
Everything else is the full-size journal in miniature: thread binding that opens flat, numbered pages, an index page, two ribbons and a rear pocket. At A6 that is a remarkable amount of book.
| Paper weight | 80 g/m2, acid-freeSource: LEUCHTTURM1917 Pocket A6-187, Indigo, Dotted (retail listing, read 2026-10-03) |
|---|---|
| Size | Approximately 3.5" x 5.9" (90 x 150 mm)Source: LEUCHTTURM1917 Pocket A6-187, Indigo, Dotted (retail listing, read 2026-10-03) |
| Extent | 187 numbered pages, 8 perforated detachable sheetsSource: LEUCHTTURM1917 Pocket A6-187, Indigo, Dotted (retail listing, read 2026-10-03) |
| Binding | Thread-bound, opens flatSource: LEUCHTTURM1917 Pocket A6-187, Indigo, Dotted (retail listing, read 2026-10-03) |
| Fittings | Gusseted rear pocket, two ribbon markers, elastic closure, blank contents pageSource: LEUCHTTURM1917 Pocket A6-187, Indigo, Dotted (retail listing, read 2026-10-03) |
What it does well
- Publishes 80 g/m2, which the A5 listing does not
- Thread-bound and opens flat despite the small format
- 187 numbered pages is a lot for a pocket book
What it does not
- 80 gsm is below Field Notes' 90 for four times the price
- Hardcover makes it bulky in a trouser pocket
- Ink-proof is claimed but not measured
Skip this if it needs to survive a back pocket. This is a hardcover book for a bag or a coat, and a staple-bound memo book is the thing that folds.
4. One book for a whole year
Stalogy 365 Days Notebook B6
A thin-paper daily notebook with a full year of dated grid pages in a book you can still carry.
#ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded
The idea is a single book for a year: thin paper, high page count, and a date grid printed at the top of every page so you do not have to write one.
Stalogy does not publish a weight, and the buyer feedback on its own listing is openly divided on bleed-through — some inks are fine, some are not. That division is what thin paper looks like when it is well made but still thin.
Ghosting is guaranteed. Whether it bothers you is a matter of taste, and some people like it.
| Format | B6, 365 Days NotebookSource: Stalogy 365 Days Notebook, B6 squared (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
|---|---|
| Paper weight | Not published |
| Ruling | Grid, with date and time markers printed on each pageSource: Stalogy 365 Days Notebook, B6 slim, squared (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
| Also available | A5, A6 and B5 in the same formatSource: Stalogy 365 Days Notebook, A5 (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
What it does well
- A full year in one carryable book
- Date grid printed on every page
- Several sizes in the same format
What it does not
- No published paper weight
- Bleed-through reports are genuinely mixed
- Ghosting is unavoidable at this thickness
Skip this if show-through bothers you, or if you want to use a broad nib every day.
5. The writing experience, in the smallest format it comes in
Midori MD Notebook A6, ruled
Midori's MD paper in a plain paperback cover - the least designed notebook here, and the one people describe by how it feels to write on.
#ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded
Midori does not publish a gsm figure for MD paper anywhere we could retrieve, and we are not going to invent one. What the maker does describe is the paper being developed specifically for writing rather than printing, which is a different design brief from most notebook paper.
In the hand it behaves like a well-made uncoated sheet: it takes ink without feathering and it dries faster than a coated paper like Rhodia's. That is a description of behavior, not a measurement, and we are labeling it as such.
The cover is deliberately blank cardstock. Midori sells separate clear and leather covers for it, which is the same buy-the-cover logic the leather journals page argues for at A5.
| Size | A6Source: Midori, MD Notebook (read 2026-09-01) |
|---|---|
| Cover | Paperback, no cover design or branding on the frontSource: Midori MD Notebook A6, ruled (retail listing, read 2026-09-13) |
| Ruling | Horizontal ruledSource: Midori MD Notebook A6, ruled (retail listing, read 2026-09-13) |
| Binding | Thread-bound, opens flatSource: Midori, MD Notebook (read 2026-09-01) |
| Paper weight | Not published |
| Page count | Not published |
What it does well
- Paper designed for writing rather than printing
- Opens flat despite being a paperback
- Cheapest way into MD paper
What it does not
- No published paper weight or page count
- Bare cardstock cover marks easily without a separate cover
- Ruled only in this listing
Skip this if you want a notebook that protects itself. This is a paper block in a card wrapper, and it assumes you will add a cover or accept the wear.
6. Writing in weather - with a pencil, not a fountain pen
Rite in the Rain Mini Stapled, weatherproof (3-pack)
Paper that sheds water instead of absorbing it, and a maker who states in writing that water-based inks bead or wash off. We list it so you do not buy it for a fountain pen.
#ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded
Rite in the Rain's paper is treated to shed water rather than soak it up - the listing says it repels water, sweat, grease and mud and survives a trip through the laundry. That is exactly what you want on a hillside and exactly wrong for a fountain pen.
Fountain pen ink is water-based and needs somewhere to soak in. The maker's own bullet is unusually direct about what happens instead: water-based inks bead or wash off, so use a #2 pencil or an all-weather pen. That is a maker telling you the truth about its own product, which is rarer than it should be.
It earns its place here as the honest exception: if your trip involves real weather, take this and a pencil, and leave the fountain pen at the hotel. Note the extent before you pack it - 24 pages per book is short, and a long trip needs more than one pack.
What it does well
- Sheds water, sweat and grease instead of absorbing them
- The maker states plainly which pens work and which do not
- Three stapled pocket books per pack, on rust-resistant staples
What it does not
- Not for fountain pens, by the maker's own guidance
- 24 pages per book, so a long trip needs more than one pack
- One fixed ruling, with no choice of pattern
- No paper weight published anywhere we could retrieve
Skip this if you are buying it for a fountain pen, which is most readers of this site. Pair a normal notebook with a waterproof ink instead - the [waterproof ink page](/ink/waterproof-fountain-pen-ink) covers those.
The waterproof notebook warning
This deserves its own section because it is the most common expensive mistake in this category.
Weatherproof notebooks either use a synthetic sheet or, as Rite in the Rain does, a paper treated to repel water rather than absorb it. Either way water runs off instead of soaking in, and that is exactly the property that makes them useless for a fountain pen.
Fountain pen ink is water-based and needs to be absorbed. On a water-repellent sheet it beads on the surface, smears under your hand, stays wet long enough to transfer to the facing page, and never properly dries. Rite in the Rain states it outright on its own listing - water-based inks bead or wash off, so use a pencil or an all-weather pen - and that is the maker being straight with you about its own product.
Sizing a journal to a trip
The most useful thing on this page is probably the arithmetic. Work out roughly how much you write per day, multiply by the length of the trip, and compare that to the page count before you buy.
| Trip | Format | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A weekend | Pocket hardcover or a memo book | You will fill twenty pages at most, and the book should fit a coat rather than a bag. |
| One to two weeks | A6 or B6 bound journal | Enough pages without carrying A5 bulk. A Leuchtturm A6 gives 187 numbered pages. |
| A month or more | Refillable cover with spare inserts | Page count stops being a limit. Carry one insert, post the full ones home. |
| Open-ended | Refillable cover, plus a high-page-count insert | A Stalogy B6 is a year in one book; in a cover it is a system rather than a purchase. |
One practical note on refillable systems: the insert sizes are not universal. Regular-size travel notebook inserts are around 8.3 by 4.3 inches, which is a narrow, tall page quite unlike A5, and swapping between systems means swapping paper sources too.
Taking a fountain pen on a plane
The cabin pressure question comes up constantly and the answer is simpler than the folklore suggests.
- Fly with the pen full or empty, not half. Air in the barrel expands as cabin pressure drops, and air is what pushes ink out. A full pen has almost none.
- Carry it nib up. Whatever expansion happens then pushes air out rather than ink.
- Keep it in the cabin. The hold is colder and less pressure-stable than the cabin.
- Cap it properly. A screw cap for preference. This is the same advice as for a pocket, for the same reason.
A cartridge pen is the lower-stress choice for travel simply because a spare cartridge weighs nothing and a bottle of ink in a bag is a decision you may come to regret. If you are committed to bottled ink, the filling guide covers doing it cleanly away from a sink.
Humidity, and what it actually does
Ink dries more slowly in humid air. That is the whole effect, and it matters more than it sounds if you are writing in a notebook and closing it immediately to get back on a bus.
In a tropical climate a line that dries in five seconds at home may take fifteen. The practical consequence is smudged facing pages, and the fix is the same as the fix for left-handed smudging: a drier ink and a narrower nib. Nothing about the notebook changes it.
Heavier paper does help with one related problem — a book that has been in a humid bag for a week is limper, and thin paper goes wavy. A published 100 gsm insert holds its shape better than an unpublished one, which is a quiet argument for knowing the number.
Questions people actually ask
What is the best travel journal for a fountain pen?
For a long trip, a refillable leather cover with a published paper weight - the Wanderings states 100 gsm inserts. For shorter trips a pocket hardcover like the Leuchtturm A6, which publishes 80 g/m2 and gives 187 numbered pages.
Can I use a fountain pen in a waterproof notebook?
No, and the makers say so. Waterproof notebooks use either a synthetic sheet or a paper treated to repel water, and neither lets water soak in - which means water-based fountain pen ink cannot soak in either. It beads, smears and never properly dries. Rite in the Rain's own listing says water-based inks bead or wash off and to use a pencil or an all-weather pen.
How do I make fountain pen writing waterproof when traveling?
Change the ink rather than the paper. A pigment ink or a document ink on ordinary paper resists water once dry, which gets you the durability without giving up a writable surface.
Will my fountain pen leak on a plane?
Not if it is full or empty rather than half full, carried nib up, and kept in the cabin. Air in the barrel expands as pressure drops and pushes ink out, so minimizing the air is the whole trick.
How many pages do I need for a long trip?
Estimate your pages per day and multiply. For anything over a month, a refillable cover removes the question entirely - you carry one insert and add another when it fills rather than sizing a single book to the whole trip.
Does humidity affect fountain pen ink?
It slows drying, sometimes dramatically - a line that dries in five seconds at home can take three times as long in tropical air. The fix is a drier ink and a narrower nib, not a different notebook.
Sources
- Wanderings regular size travelers notebook (retail listing, read 2026-09-13)
- Traveler's Notebook, regular size (retail listing, read 2026-09-13)
- Rite in the Rain Mini Stapled 3-Pack, 971FX-M (retail listing, read 2026-10-12)
- LEUCHTTURM1917 Pocket A6-187, Indigo, Dotted (retail listing, read 2026-10-03)