In my last post, I shared a photo of the notebooks I had with me on my end-of-summer vacation. Commenter Vic, from Portugal, noted that for a “short vacation,” 8 notebooks was maybe kind of a lot, especially since I was in a place where I could (and did) easily buy more notebooks.

Guilty as charged! I was only away for 7 nights, so it does seem a little ridiculous to have more than a notebook per day of my trip. But here’s a breakdown of what I brought, and why.

In the photo above, I’ll go from left to right. First, we have a Moleskine watercolor sketchbook, on top of a regular Moleskine sketchbook. The watercolor sketchbook only has a few pages used so far. The other sketchbook is one that I started for drawings devoted to a particular subject, and only a few pages are used. I thought I’d want to add to these sketchbooks on my trip, but in the end, I didn’t. (Not for lack of art supplies: I brought plenty, including two watercolor sets.)

The next pile has a black squared Moleskine on top of a green Moleskine Zoom notebook, also squared. The black one is my current journal. It’s about 3/4 finished, so I got a little anxious that I might have a burst of introspection and finish it during my trip. The Zoom notebook was my backup in case I needed to start a new journal. Which I didn’t. I only covered about 10 pages in my current journal. Better safe than sorry though, right?

Then we have my Nolty Gold planner, on top of another Moleskine sketchbook. I did all my usual jottings in the Nolty, and I did one drawing in the sketchbook, so those earned their place in my bag. (The sketchbook only has a few blank pages left, so I probably should have brought a spare so I wouldn’t have to encroach on my single-subject one or the watercolor book. I don’t know what I was thinking!)

At far right, we have a Filofax Guildford Pocket Extra Slim on top of a Louise Carmen notebook. The Filofax is something I have had for a while but not used until recently. I’ve been wanting to try using some kind of looseleaf notebook again, so I’m trying this Filofax for some long-term lists and work notes. I haven’t totally settled on a system yet, so its purpose may evolve. I love the size of this Filofax, and have it filled with Plotter inserts, which suit it perfectly. I did jot some notes in it during the trip.

The Louise Carmen notebook holds a Field Notes insert, and I am currently using it for French class notes. I could have left it at home, as I did not really use it, other than to remind myself that my homework assignment was indeed what I remembered it to be. It’s one of two Louise Carmen notebooks I had with me, but the other one functions only as a wallet, so I didn’t include it in my photo. It’s kind of silly to be using this one for my French notes, but I didn’t feel like just leaving it stored. I spent way too much money to order it from France, because this green color was what I originally wanted when I bought my wallet in the natural leather. At some point, I might swap it into use as my daily wallet, and give the natural leather one a rest. Or maybe I’ll just save it as a spare.

In the bottom row are two Pen & Gear notebooks I bought at Walmart. I’ve been hearing that these are fountain pen friendly so was curious to review them, especially since the Exceed notebooks I’d bought from Walmart were so great. These two notebooks cost less than $4.00 total, so how could I resist?

So… 7 nights, 8 notebooks. 4 notebooks used, 4 notebooks not used. 2 new notebooks bought. That’s my idea of a fun vacation!