I am now torn between being cool and not being cool or doing surgery to be cool.

Several months ago I finally broke down and bought a Midori Traveler’s Notebook Journal which all the really cool kids have. However, me being me, I bought the more pocketable Passport Size as the large size takes only one kind of notebook and requires a bag if you want to carry it around.

I liked it and liked that it took passport sized notebooks from Muji. It would also fit, just barely, an Eighty Pages notebook.  I started using it to carry my three basic notebooks (food journal; life and work notes; writing notes).

I like that it has thin but tough leather and I don’t mind the small bookmark, mostly because it can be cut off with no problem. With a little effort and a couple rubber bands it could be stuffed with extra notebooks.

The passport sized Traveler’s cover from the top with the Eighty Pages Volume three.

I wish that it was a little larger and could hold Field Notes sized notebooks–they can be forced in, but they stick out the ends–but I could forgive it because, unlike the larger version, it doesn’t require you use proprietary notebooks (or perform surgery on a notebook; more on that in a future post).

The leather ages well and gets softer without getting floppy. With one exception, the elastic bands held up well. The only strap I had to tighten was the strap that holds the cover closed. It’s attached at the back and was used enough that it started to get lose.

What I didn’t like almost as soon as I got it was the metal bit at the back used to bind the elastic cord and the book mark. What I didn’t realize was how annoying it would become.

First, it doesn’t even lay flat against the spine. It sticks out and is large enough to cover a mechanical pencil. It’s large enough it could be used as a weight for a fishing line. I can’t figure out who at the manufacturer thought this was a good idea. It taps when you set it on a desk. It scratches the desk. It prevents the notebooks from sitting flat. I tried moving it inside the spine, but it crushes the ends of the notebooks and works its way back outside. It’s such a bad idea only people in love with the idea of the notebook cover itself can possibly forgive its existence.

Cult Member: Dude, you’re too attached to material things. By scratching your desk you make it yours.
Me: Piss off and stop scratching the desk.
Cult Member: It’s a feature not a bug, Dude.

The metal bit in its natural position next to a Kurutoga mechanical pencil. Why does this fishing weight metal bit exist?

Something like that.

I’ve heard that, over time, the elastic bands loosen and the only way to tighten them is to remove the fishing weight, do some pulling and cutting, and then put a new fishing weight on. (Midori is more than happy to sell you a new one.) At this point I’ve heard that many people opt to knot the elastic bands rather than wrestle with the useless metal bit.

If they ever come out with a version that doesn’t have the metal bit I might reconsider using them. Until then, I have something else to try.