The Shift
this feels right
I remember the first time I saw a Traveler’s Notebook.
I was browsing the journal section in Barnes & Noble, trying to convince myself I absolutely, positively did not need any more blank notebooks, when I picked up a beautifully simple leather cover with multiple inserts tucked inside. I held that notebook in my hand and imagined myself carrying it on a train in Europe, tucking it into a backpack, pulling it out during a quiet moment on the road. I imagined the feeling of documenting all my amazing journeys, capturing my voyages in the way of so many writers I admired and studied.
At the time, that seemed like a dream life I’d never attain, so I reluctantly put the notebook back on the shelf and walked away empty-handed.
It’s been at least a decade since that moment, and I’ve filled a lot of notebooks and planners in the intervening years. I didn’t come back to the Traveler’s Notebook until the spring of 2023, when I finally decided I “deserved” the splurge. I purchased my first TN as a gift for myself before my husband, Kevin’s, and my last trip to Europe together.
It was a beautiful and heavy time. Kev was dying of cancer and we both knew it. He called it his “goodbye tour,” and I hated that, hated facing the reality of all the vacations we wouldn’t be taking together in the future, but we had a month abroad and we were together and that was the reality of the moment. It was my last chance to document the sort of adventure we’d always loved taking together.
The truth was, I didn’t write nearly as much as I’d imagined on that trip, but my notebook and I did make it onto multiple Eurail trains.
Kevin died just under a year later.
In the intervening months (and the two years since), I learned that all of life is worth documenting, not just the dream trips and the big splurges. Because every moment is a gift.
Which brings me to “the shift.”
I’m going back to the “From Jenn” branding on this newsletter and, after some soul-searching (and market research) am pointing this space and my accompanying YouTube channel toward the inside of my notebook…and the inside of your notebooks! Because that’s where life is examined, appreciated, processed, and preserved.
To that end, I created this basic guide to Traveler’s Notebooks. The truth is, it doesn’t really matter what you use to document your life, but this particular notebook has been my companion for years now and I wanted to introduce you to it.
I hope you enjoy this subtle shift in direction, but I know many of you have been with me since I was a married, stay-at-home mom with a paper flower business, and things have changed a lot since then! If it’s time for you to move on, no hard feelings. This is your opportunity.
As always, feel free to reply to this email, leave a comment here, or comment on any of the videos over on YouTube. A like or hype on those videos goes a long way too!
Until next time, I’m wishing you love and joy and all those good things,
Jenn
P.S. The new subscriber tiers are “Journeyers” and “Sojourners.” All paid subscribers will get their ad-free video in a separate email. Watch for that this afternoon.