Traveler's Notebook as a Travel Journal: San Francisco

A year and a half ago, Caleb and I went on a trip to San Francisco, and while there, I kept an insert in my Traveler's Notebook to document some of the things we did. It was my first time flying solo with Caleb and without Jon, and we both survived. We attended a wedding, did some touristy things, and also visited the San Francisco Pen Show.

As we look ahead to a bit of traveling this summer, and maybe a bit more traveling in general, now with the babies a bit older, I thought I would share a few of the pages from my travel journal.

While actually in San Francisco, I did a bit of scribbling and writing, and taped in a few of the tickets and things we accumulated while there, but I also did a lot of back tracking and filling in the blanks after I returned to Toronto. Some things I taped into pages just to mark the spot and timeline, but mostly I just slid things into my zipper pocket. Unsurprisingly, it is a thousand times better to finish up your journal fairly soon after, but I was aided in my fairly substantial procrastination with photos and a few hastily scribbled notes.

I really wish (as always) that I had written this blog post a little earlier (like uhm a year ago) because I could've also told you all what I brought up with me in terms of tools and supplies. From my foggy memory:

• fountain pens (I think around 4-5??) in a Nock Co case
• no ink because I had plans to make it to the San Francisco Pen Show
• my Traveler's Notebook
• a tin case
• two rolls of washi tape
• a pen, a few pencils and pencil crayons for Caleb (maybe 5-6)
• a sharpener
• an eraser
• some stickers tucked into my Traveler's Notebook

For my travel insert, I used the 014 Kraft Insert, which is one of my favourites.* The paper has a bit of texture to it, and it's also a bit thicker so it holds up well to tape and extra weight from photos or ephemera. It's also great for fountain pens.

A few of my pages were sacrificed to keep some little fingers busy.

In any case, it was a good trip. We rode the Muni and the Bart and cable cars, we visited City Lights bookstore and Japantown and Kinokuniya. We got lost a few times, found ourselves at the Chinatown SF Public LibAQrary and found ourselves amidst several Cantonese-speaking librarians, ate some burritos, took a double decker bus to the bridge.

Caleb proved himself to be a very steadfast traveler - in general, being a fairly steadfast little person. We only scheduled one big excursion everyday, a nap midday, and then a tiny adventure to find dinner afterwards. A boy who has always been fascinated by trains and vehicles, I think most of the adventure, as maybe in life, was just the journey getting to where we were going.

*Other personal favourites include: the 018 Weekly Vertical Plannerand the 013 Lightweight Paper.