Who hasn’t come home from a terrific vacation only to find that the travel journal filled with notes, ideas and memories is wet, crumpled, bent, broken, torn or otherwise unreadable and unusable?
Never again, thanks to Nomad Journals of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The small company’s journal isn’t just another spiral notebook with a pretty travel scene on the cover and a rubber band holding it together. The Nomad journals are sturdy, durable notebooks with heavy-duty spirals on the top, not the side, meaning every page lies flat and nothing interferes with hands while writing.
Best of all, the journals come with a thick, weather-resistant, disaster-proof zippered carrying case. Even the Transportation Safety Administration can’t hurt these things. The heavy cardboard back of the journal slips into a sleeve in the back of the cover. A pen holder keeps writing tools in place. The cover opens completely flat for ease in writing.
The travel journals themselves come with a variety of daily entry topics such as “most memorable daily event,�? weather conditions, new acquaintances and “local knowledge.�? Two blank lined pages follow for the traveler’s other musings. A mesh pocket on the top interior of the case protects ticket stubs, brochures and other items picked up along the way.
The covers come only in a burnt orange color with black trim and the zippers sometimes don’t close tightly in that last half-inch without extra effort, but these journals offer a great solution to observations scribbled on plane tickets, guidebook margins or lost in rain-soaked notebooks. Once you fill up one journal, just put another in the case and head off to a new adventure.
The journals grew from the company founders’ desire to remember everything, in great detail, about their adventures. Nomad is committed to protecting the environment and supporting environmental organizations. To that end, the journals are produced with recycled paper and printed with soy-based ink. Shipments are minimally packaged.
Journals are available for a variety of activities: travel, climbing, bird watching, fishing, music and festivals, paddle sports and camping/backpacking/hiking. The newest products include the waterproof paddle sports journal and a pocket-sized waterproof hiking/backpacking journal. Future additions include journals for mountain biking, surfing, sailing, diving, wine touring and a nature discovery journal for children.
Journals can be ordered direct from the company at www.nomadjournals.com. Prices range from $8.99 for the pocket-sized journal to $24.99 for the full-sized (6�? x 8�?) covers and journals. Replacement journals without covers can be purchased for $14.99.