I bought a Traveler's Notebook cover last year, mainly because they released an olive edition and I needed it. I liked the idea of a modular notebook, though, so I swore I would figure out how to use it. I continued liking the idea and doing absolutely nothing else with it for 6 months. But it's a new year with a corresponding new me, so here I am! Using it!

I will freely admit to dropping about 50 bucks on the cover and having no regrets about it at all, but a lot of the other stuff that Traveler's Company sells is overpriced. Some of their accessories are fine things that someone less frugal would probably be happy with, but others are garbage. I don't want to play roulette with garbage, so I've hacked together the stuff I have inside my notebook with some success.

I got the Sailor Compass 1911 as a Christmas gift. It's been on my radar because it's the least expensive Sailor pen, and it looks nice. It's the budget version of the significantly pricier Sailor 1911, which has a gold nib instead.

The Compass is made of clear colored plastic that has the fun kitsch of early 2000s technology without looking cheap. It comes in a wide array of fun colors, but I had my eye on the olive for obvious reasons. It even comes with a matching green converter.