about me

[dewladen]

Bio

known to most as pilot. 

things i do a lot of: anime, reading, writing, sketching, videogames, kpop, cooking, work, d&d
personality things: INTP, 9w1, cliftonstrengths: [input, intellection, learner, self-assurance, adaptability]
privacy: mostly public. feel free to link back to anything. older posts may become private as time passes.
posting frequency: sporadically but generally weekly
 

Journal Content 

• #journal. the majority of this journal. includes #trackers.
• writing. #original fiction: icescape | blank slate | dew laden. ||| #fanwork: list. ||| #shorts: list. 

Where to find me: ao3 | etsy

• transformative works policy: blanket permission is given to use any of my stories to make podfic, translations, remixes, or other transformative works with proper credit. please share what is created so i can gush!

Friending Policy

• i love meeting new people! i will most likely become a mutual unless life sweeps me away and i forget to look at your profile (in which i check if you are spam or not, or if you thrive off hate or joy). 
• comments are open to non-users and anonymous people as well, so feel free to leave a note! i appreciate them, no matter how short or random.

Comments

[meghan9436]

I often find that DW is empty with tumble weeds going by, so it's great to see another Traveler's Notebook person here! Hello!

[dewladen]

Oh hello TN buddy! Yessss I am in love with mine and I'm glad to meet a fellow TN person. I have a standard-sized blue one and it's basically my best friend haha. How about you?

[meghan9436]

Cheers! I discovered the TN system through the Hobonichi community. When they launched the Pan Am collaboration in 2016, I was hooked. I got everything from that release, including the what was then the new blue edition. That TN currently sits with a friend while they do some magic with their leather working.

My current and primary TN is a blue Kyoto edition that I picked up last summer. I also have an Ace Hotel edition in camel from that same trip, and a camel passport that I've had since 2020. I recently became obsessed with designing and painting my own inserts. The covers of my inserts are becoming works of art just as much as the things that put inside them. I have some of my processes documented on my blog <3

[dewladen]

Oohh the blue Kyoto one looks so amazing! I used to also have a camel one but I gave that away because I found out I really only use one and limited edition ones are so expensive everywhere I look. I did notice you live in Japan so maybe it's kinder on your wallet there to get limited ones! But for now, one is all I need!

I do have some of the limited B-side inserts though, the sticker release one is my fav! Other than that I use Taroko Shop's 192 page notebook as my main insert for everything! I've most recently am passionate about turning it into a system that encompasses bujo, long-form journaling, doodles, and also taking notes all in one so I can just flip through and find everything I need/learned in a time period in one place haha. Previously I had only used it for long-form journaling.

[meghan9436]

Although I love the blue edition, I'm personally more partial to the camel edition. Maybe it's because it's more matchy-matchy with everything that you own? I'm not sure. The 5th edition Star Ferry camel passport is my dream cover, but it's hard to find online. And when you do, the mark ups are insane. I do however, have almost all of the accessories that I found at online shops when I lived in Canada, and also out in the wild in my time here in Japan. I managed to find the stamp and an insert (opened, likely used to be a sample) at the retail price! In Japan, you will occasionally find discontinued products hiding behind new product at big stores, or at smaller mom and pop type shops where almost all their product is old and slow selling.

I was very late to get on the B-Sides collection, so I missed out on some of the products. I didn't get the sticker release paper, or the fabric zipper cases. There were also bonuses that they were handing out at the Traveler's Factory stores with the purchase of a set that they were promoting at the time of its release in 2021. But, I'm glad that the sticker release paper and the accordion fold inserts made it to the permanent lineup. I bought a lot of accordion fold inserts from the B-Sides lineup because they are a perfect way to present artwork.

Indeed, the mark ups on limited editions online are crazy. But because the of my location in Nagoya, it works out to be the same for me due to the cost of transportation/accommodations. Kyoto is more accessible to me than Tokyo, so I am able to go there more often. But the trip on the shinkansen runs about $60 or so each way, The trip to Tokyo runs around $120 on the shinkansen each way, but I can half that amount to $60 each way if I take the overnight bus instead. So I have to make the trip worth my time and money.

It's been over five years since my last trip to Tokyo due to the cost on a teacher's salary in combination with the issues caused by the pandemic. But, I did go to Kyoto four times last year, and I bought a lot! As implied earlier, you can buy most of the staple TN items locally and you just miss out on the location limited items. My favourite places are Tokyu Hands and Loft.

The Taroko notebook looks lovely!

[dewladen]

I did love the camel but I think what pushed me a twinge toward the blue was because my blue looks like a black one at this point haha, and it looks spiffy enough to bring to meetings, while the camel looks a bit more rustic and informal. But I did love it and tried to keep a separate work TN and a hobby TN to keep them both but my brain didn't want to keep up with two different notebooks haha. I haven't heard of the star ferry one before, but I just looked it up and it looks SO COOL. Wow, so majestic! There was one I really liked the design of but they don't particularly sell them in the USA. I think it's called the Yudo one, The hot springs one! It looks so minimal and nice so I'd say that one is my dream one.

I wasn't aware that the transportation was that expensive! But it makes sense when I think about it. That does really add up. You mentioned you were a teacher? By any chance did you first get there through the JET program? I ask because I have a good friend who first went to Japan that way and ended up staying to teach and she loves it!

[meghan9436]

I agree with you about the aesthetics for work and leisure environments!

I didn't get here through the JET Programme, but through a private eikaiwa. I've had mixed experiences as a teacher here, both positive and negative. When you have a job that's really good, it's amazing. But when a gig is really bad, it sucks big time.