Travel Pens: Backpacking Edition

Summer is the season of travel and while some vacations are for rest and relaxation, others are for exploration and discovery. If you are headed off on an expedition, especially of a vast region like Europe or Asia, you will be covering large distances and will want to travel light. A great pen and travel notebook are a fantastic way to record your thoughts, do some doodles, and record all those addresses and train schedules while on the move. We've got a selection of perfect portable pens, notebooks, and ink that will fit into your backpack and budget.When living out of a backpack you'll want items that have the following qualities:

• durable
• lightweight
• easy to refill (cartridges)
• affordable
• reliable
• simple

Pens:

Kaweco

• Small, but easy to write with
• Light-weight
• Kaweco Sport for affordability
• Kaweco AL-Sport for the look, durability
• Kaweco Supra for the look, durability and versatility

Pilot Varsity

• Inexpensive
• Durable
• Disposable
• Writes well
• Variety of color options

Notebooks:

Midori Traveler's Notebook – Brown (Passport Size)

• Made to fit an actual passport, hence the name!
• Can serve as a passport cover
• Keep all the info you need in your pocket, name and address of next hostel, train schedule, etc
• Keep your money in the zippered pocket- it doesn't look like a wallet so less likely to be stolen
• Leather is very durable
• Very respectable paper quality

Midori Traveler's Notebook Accessory 016 – Pen Holder, Medium Brown

Carry your pen with you! No rummaging through that jumbled bottom of that backpack for a pen.

• Keeps your pen right with your notebook
• Matches the rest of the notebook
• Fits Kaweco okay, Varsity and Poquito fit better

Midori Traveler's Notebook Accessory 004 – Zippered Pocket (Passport Size)

• Tickets, train passes, hotel keys (the plastic kind) can all go into this one place.
• Made to fit the passport

Midori Traveler's Notebook Accessory 011 – Connecting Rubber Bands (Passport Size)

• Strap in any number of accessories you need
• Put different types of notebooks in there (blank, lined, graph)
• Skip the bands and just use the elastic on the notebook

No. 12 Rhodia

• Dot grid
• Great for quick notes, non-permanent things
• Small, durable cover
• Paper quality is awesome
• $3

Clairefontaine Basic Notebooks

• Alternative to full-on Midori Traveler's Notebook
• Clairefontaine paper is fantastic, durable craft covers