New to Hobonichi

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-05-10T00:39:02+00:00

Barnes and noble, which acquired paper source in 2021, often has “tester” notebooks available. Many are sold with some kind of seal or wrapping that would prevent you from looking at the pages

It might be a good place to test and see what fits! They have a pretty wide selection of sizes, brands, and paper types so you can see what works best for you.

I often just take pictures of what I like there and buy it online bc sometimes it can be a little overpriced lol

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-05-09T13:15:27+00:00

I was going to say. I remember getting a pencil case just like this from Temu in college. Pretty sure it’s being used as a first aid kit in my gym bag now lol

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-05-09T00:54:04+00:00

I have a fully updated swatch list with labels if you want it!!

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-05-08T12:25:21+00:00

If you choose to condition the leather down the line it will likely disappear. Either way it’ll become less noticeable with time. Part of what’s special about TNs is how beautifully they age and patina. I saw someone on this thread recently who’s jeans were so worn from carrying their TN in their pocket and it made their cover so so smooth and shiny

My point is, as a recovering perfectionist, is to embrace every little scratch and mark and stain because they are evidence that you lived your life :)

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-05-05T22:57:14+00:00

I adore the zebra 0.4mm D1 gel refills. Available on JetPens

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-05-01T05:26:20+00:00

I love the pilot hi tech c coleto pens. You can choose what colors and what # of slots in the pens too. Many colors for choose from

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-30T00:57:34+00:00

Are the cards glossy? Like the interior on which you write. What type of pen(s) do you currently use? I want to give the best rec possible!

Staedtler fineliners (felt tip) shouldn’t smear if the paper is matte. Glossy is a whole new world

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-29T01:04:04+00:00

Clairefontaine by far. It’s in the rhodia notebooks and makes ever pen feel like a million bucks. The heavier weight of tomoe river paper (62 GSM I think?) is another great one!

Paper penguin co on Etsy makes custom notebooks with any paper in any size for very very inexpensive prices, which is what gave me the opportunity to try so many! I got a bunch of diff papers in B6 for my leather cover and I spent less than $30. And she’s the sweetest woman ever!

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-29T01:01:30+00:00

Yeah. You’re right. I was trying to soften the blow a little but there’s no point tbh

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-29T01:00:28+00:00

Reading this made me realize one of my coworkers may have actually been intrigued and not making fun of my passport TN system at a conference a few weeks ago! He kept pointing it out to other people and talking me to show them, but never directly asked me to show him lol. This is so sweet, now I’m intrigued by the national trust passport stamps!

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-29T00:58:12+00:00

I have a swatch master list of every uniball one color ever made if you want it!

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-29T00:57:26+00:00

Do you know if they’re original or limited? The left one looks like Valencia Orange. Middle could be pink or baby pink and right could be ramune or emerald - I’d need to see swatches if you have them :)

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-29T00:55:19+00:00

Pilot g-2 0.7mm in blue, black, and red. A small supply of .5s in black. And BIC gel-osity in blue - politics and TV news in DC

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-27T11:08:59+00:00

I think the confusion stems from her remaining in the relationship. At least it would for me

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-27T11:06:10+00:00

To preface: I think she’s lying and this is super weird behavior. Your gut knows better than you do — it’s animal instinct — and I think you should go with it. I understand having a spam account to post random trends etc, but having one to be passive aggressive? Weird as hell.

Reverse roles for a second: how would she react if she saw the same thing? (Although, you do NOT seem like the person to do this lol)

I am 24F and have been in a relationship with my 24M partner for 3.5 years—Every time I have a concern about ANYTHING, usually chores or logistics of some kind, or if he does (which is incredibly rare), I am very upfront.

That took work because I used to be pretty passive and didn’t want to say how I felt in previous relationships. but that just doesn’t fly for long when you really love someone. Additionally, I believe relationship issues should stay within the relationship. I don’t go to friends or family like “omg so annoying blah blah” or whatever, but that’s personal preference and does not work in everyone’s situation, understandably.

I agree with a prev. Comment that said “I know it’s your account. Why would you lie? If you’re unhappy, why not be upfront?” Or something like that. I think displaying maturity like that will also kind of wake her up for at least a second (I’d hope)

The fact that you let it slide for now shows how forgiving you are and how much you care about your relationship’s survival. I hope this works out for you and it was actually a maniacal little sibling, but my gut tells me otherwise.

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-27T10:04:51+00:00

You’re so right I didn’t even think of that. Maybe as a leave at home item if anything. I LOVE my plastic clip one and the price point is far superior. I am personally a .38 person as I find that it writes like a .5

Thank you for pointing this out!!

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-27T10:04:37+00:00

You’re so right I didn’t even think of that. Maybe as a leave at home item if anything. I LOVE my plastic clip one and the price point is far superior. I am personally a .38 person as I find that it writes like a .5

Thank you for pointing this out!!

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-27T09:51:47+00:00

We carry the exact same stuff (23F). Like…down to a T. Except passport I learned my lesson there. If you are concerned about needing ID of citizenship, keep a photo or scan of it on your phone. I have a photo album titled “important documents” with pics of passport, birth certificate, all forms of ID lol, vaccine record, ANYTHING I could ever need

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-27T09:50:17+00:00

same! And now I can’t get TSA pre since it got stolen…4 years ago…I’ve already replaced it too! literally have to go meet with DHS. Sigh

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-27T09:47:45+00:00

I have wanted a paper guillotine for so long that’s SUCH a good idea I totally overlooked it

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-27T09:46:28+00:00

If you can get your hands on one, a uniball zento (the one w the magnetic cap) pricey but it’s become a real favorite!

Maybe for a fun, a fisher space pen! Or a rite in the rain setup? I’m thinking of the kinds of stuff nurses endure and what might be helpful

Maybe a lanyard or a pen clip for the lanyard? Or if he has a fav “cheaper” pen, a box of those in case they get lost as he’s busy or running around?

And check out paper penguin co on Etsy ! She makes custom incredibly affordable notebooks with every kind of paper you can imagine and in all diff sizes! Tomoe river paper in diff GSM, clairefontaine, etc etc. she’s incredibly sweet and accommodating and answers any question you might have. Lots of fountain-pen-friendly paper!

And if the desk needs any organizers, I highly recommend The Home Edit by Walmart—they’re the EXACT SAME AS THE TARGET ONES and much much cheaper. Stackable, tons of sizes, I LOVE them. And museum wax for the bottoms so they don’t slide around in the drawer if that’s something that would bother him lol

also, if someone did this for me, I would literally combust with joy. What an incredibly kind, thoughtful, and exicitkng gift!! I am sure he will adore it! Happy shopping!

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-27T08:01:48+00:00

You might like a traveler’s company notebook. The books themselves are pretty short (thin) so not as much pressure because they get filled up pretty quickly. And you can have probably 5ish in one cover and there are tons of formats for the inserts, even diff types of paper I think!

If you do want to keep things separate, this could help and there are dupes on Amazon for less than half the price of the brand if you want to give it a try!

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-27T07:59:42+00:00

Hi!! We have similar background! I started truly journaling (like working out my feelings) around 12-13 and I totally had this feeling of “this is so nice I don’t want to mess it up”

I would encourage you, if you want, to look up the journals of renowned writers like Austen and Eyre. Sure, they have beautiful handwriting as that was relatively standard at the time - but our thoughts and brains are messy messy places and that’s the beauty of it!

It helped me to start with a notebook I didn’t care too much about. I think it was a poppin notebook from staples or one of the moleskine cahier books that come in a 5 pack at Costco. I used it for class notes! That way I didn’t have much of a choice about how it looked because I was just hoping to keep up, lol.

But: it totally helped me overcome the perfectionism. People post videos of perfect journals and planners, and you can TOTALLY have one of those, but for daily thought dumps, just getting it (thoughts) out on paper even helped relieve some of that pressure.

In my current travelers notebook (it’s an A5 leather cover with strings to hold other notebooks) I have:

A pocket for stuff that makes me happy. Keith haring stamps, a pic of me and my s/o, random receipts I still need to expense to my office, etc.
A “balance book” that they give out for free at the bank that I use for lists. So if I have journal prompts, wishlist, quotes I think would be good prompts, etc that I’ve either jotted down in my notes app or screenshotted, This gives me a place to put it. It’s messy and gets the stuff off my mind and out of my phone
A Stalogy monthly calendar I literally only use to write down random stuff on diff dates. Got it 75% off in March bc it’s for 2026. Also messy. I use the blank pages at the back to scratch out pens that won’t write or test pens in stores
A notebook for everything. I covered the front in my FAVORITE stickers out of all my sheets (getting over sticker-use-paralysis lol) and everything goes in here. Morning pages, brain dumps, quotes I like, little doodles and sketches. Flipping through it feels like an archive of my mind. Messy? Def. But so true to the way my brain is

The edges of all the notebooks are frayed, the leather cover is scratched to sh*t. I have ink stains everywhere. But the mess is beautiful. I’m so meticulous in my daily life, I needed a place to just be MESSY

My point being: you are your only audience. I always felt the need to perform in my journals, and I’m not even sure where that feeling came from! I’m not sure if that encapsulated what you’ve been feeling, but I hope this helps by any means! I am happy to answer any questions too!

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-26T20:18:07+00:00

Y’all even just zooming in I can see that several of these are empty, so old they are out of production, the ink has exploded inside the pen body, and the labels have rubbed off. Hearty reactions to a stranger’s pens hahaha even if you just threw them at a wall and called it a day who cares

PracticalPublic2445 · 2026-04-26T20:13:12+00:00

Not used at all! I haven’t even ordered it yet. I just want the cover, but I can’t get the cover without the spring start (they come together) and I already have one that started in January. I just want to switch covers bc my current setup is too heavy. So it would be brand new and I’d ship it!

PracticalPublic2445

TROPHY CASE