There’s something magical about starting the year with a beautiful travel journal. It makes us feel as if anything is possible – including our future travels in 2021! While we have to wait a little longer until it’s safe to be out and about again, it’s never too early to start planning our trips. With that in mind, check out the best travel journals and notebooks to inspire your future adventures in 2021 and beyond.
1. TRAVELER's Notebook
Calling all travellers with a free spirit! Jot down your travel goals, plans, and favourite memories on the TRAVELER’S notebook. With a leather cover handmade in Chiang Mai and high-quality paper made in Japan, this customizable notebook is a space for you to go wild and set your creativity free.
On top of the blank notebook that comes with your starter kit, you can add lined or grid notebooks, weekly or monthly diaries, a zipper case, stickers, and even special charms to make your TRAVELER’S notebook truly your own.
What’s included: Leather Cover, Blank Notebook, Cotton Bag, Spare Rubber Band
Price: RM145 (Passport Size) and RM175 (Regular Size)
Where to buy: Stickerrific or Tabiyo Shop
2. Kertas & Co. 2021 Planner
Credit: kertasnco on Facebook
This Malaysian brand makes colourful 2021 planners giving us all the good vibes! Whether it’s the zebra patterns taking us to the safari or the bright yellow hues reminding us of sunny days by the beach, you’ll want to keep these planners close to keep your travel dreams alive.
While the planner can be used every day for work, studies, and errands, you can also use it to write down your travel goals, finance plan, and more.
What’s included:
- Calendar 2021-2022
- Public holidays (Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore)
- 2021 and 2022 Year at a Glance
- Monthly budget
- Monthly and weekly planners
- Interactive and productive pages (e.g. This Year’s Goals, Self-Care List, Word Search)
- Monthly dotted note page
- Name personalisation option
Price: RM69
Where to buy: Kertas & Co.
3. Re: Personalised Notebooks and Journals
Re: Stationery is where you can find simple, minimalist notebooks handmade in London. Each book comes with plain and feint-ruled paper so you can write and sketch to your heart’s content!
Start creating your dream notebook by deciding on a design and colour for the cover. Then, choose a hand-illustrated motif and add your text to the front cover, back cover, and spine. The text can be a destination, your name, a special date, a favourite quote, or even a hidden message meaningful only to you. Have fun with it!
Please note shipping from London to Malaysia is expected to take 5-8 working days. You also need to pay the shipping fees as well as import duties and taxes – if any.
What’s included: Personalised A5 Notebook with Plain and Feint-ruled Paper
Price: Starts at £24.95 including personalisation
Where to buy: Re: Stationery (with free shipping for orders over £30) or Etsy
4. ana tomy x Nurul Atika Hide & Seek Planner
Malaysian personalised stationery brand ana tomy has teamed up with Kuala Lumpur-based illustrator and designer Nurul Atika to bring us Hide & Seek – a planner encouraging us to explore our city. The premium book cloth, which features landmarks such as the PETRONAS Twin Towers and Petaling Street, comes all the way from the Netherlands – before being meticulously hand-wrapped around the book cover.
After choosing from the Wirebound (180 pages) or Trio Book (208 pages) editions, you can personalise your book cover with text and pick the insert papers that will best help you plan your travels.
What’s included:
- Back pocket for ephemera and name cards
- Customised round elastic band
- Customised ribbon marker
- Customised insert papers
- Adjustable pen loop for all-sizes pen
Price: RM78 – RM138
Where to buy: ana tomy
5. Mossery 2021 Planners
The personalised planner train continues with Mossery, where you can express yourself with their collection of 46 covers.
All it takes is 3 easy steps:
- Select a cover design that inspires you to travel
- Personalise with your name on the cover
- Complete the planner with paper that works for you.
With the 2021 planner, you can choose from the Weekly Horizontal (for overall ideas of what to do each day) or Weekly Vertical (for full details of where to go and what to do at what time) layouts.
What’s included:
- 2021 Feature Illustrations
- Inspiration boards
- Priorities, values, and goals
- 10-page dotted pages and more
Price: Starts at RM115
Where to buy: Mossery
6. Field Notes ‘National Parks’ Series
Field Notes is a brand well-known for its pocket-sized notebooks meant to be carried with you wherever you go. The special ‘National Parks’ series features gorgeous illustrations of iconic United States national parks on the covers. Each notebook includes a brief history of the park, a spot for the official National Park Passport Stamp, and plenty of pages for your plans, routes, and memories. Use this to plan your future visit to a U.S. national park – or anywhere else in the great outdoors!
What’s included: 3x pocket-sized notebooks with graph paper
Price: RM55
Where to buy: CzipLee
From cute and colourful to classic and customised, there are plenty of travel journals and notebooks to choose from in 2021. If you often catch yourself daydreaming about far-off places or if your wanderlust list is filling up fast, it’s time to start writing it all down!
This article was first published in: Have Halal Will Travel
