Camping Supplies

We recently went camping and here are a few stationery things I packed up. Packing stationery is sometimes half the thrill of a trip. We were only gone for four days, but of course I need to bring my enough supplies in case of apocalypse.

The black Leuchtturm is a camping journal that I bring on each camping trip. It’s both helpful—seeing what meals we made, what we packed, notes of things I forgot to pack or need to pick up—and lots of fun. The pictures from previous trips show big and small changes (a new tent, the kids growing, the new baby) along with things have stayed the same (same campsite rocks, our car, if a little more dinged up).

Sometimes having a trip or a reason to pack up only a few selected items is a good way to enjoy your favourite stationery treats. I’m fortunate enough to be surrounded by analogue treasures and tools all the time—but an abundance of choice can sometimes be a distraction.

I hesitate to use the phrase “decision fatigue” because I associate that with having to come up with dinner every night or decluttering drawers or shopping for rain boots for the kids, but only having a small arsenal of pens and colours to use well and heavily can be its own deep pleasure, offering the opportunity and the exercise to be creative with only a few tools, and to enjoy using them well. I do the same thing with my Classiky tool box at home; its limited size only holds so much, and every once in a while I enjoy the ritual of cleaning it up, cleaning it out, swapping out the tapes and stamps inside. And sometimes just tidying up, sorting through your things, and having a fresh roster is a bit of inspiration.