Mixed notes

Mixed notes. 

Life is devaluated a little more every time you cross the street in Vietnam. First day you are afraid to die by motorbike hit, which is natural reaction for any living being. Second day you risk a little more. After a few days you reach the nirvana, life has no value, you just walk forward and you put your life in hands of every random unknown biker decision. 

Happiness comes.

Bye bye old world

Big fishes are vanishing fast. Tech is key. Power is being reorganized. Nothing is by coincidence. 

Writing tools while traveling (updated)

These are my writing tools I'm carrying in my trips. I try to optimize volume and mainly weight. Simple is better. Even sometimes I have the feeling I'm using too many colors.

Notebook size is 9x14cm. The second case keeps some spares and tiny ink bottles. I included a pocket watercolor pad but it's an alien item and not a regular part of the kit.

New inks for fountain pen in use

I wanted to switch to permanent bulletproof inks long time ago. I was happy with my current colors after a long process of testing and trying new ones until I defined my palette. Adding the superpower of waterproof (and more other properties) could be a plus. Since I know the colors I want the task seemed easy. Just find a new brand with those colors and try.

Expert's voices about archive and conservative materials pushed me to change. It looks like cleaning and restoring a notebook in the future could be much easier with these bulletproof inks otherwise the inks goes away almost like magic. Have a look at this video to see by yourself.

Rohrer & Klinger is my first attempt. The colors are amazing, exactly what I was looking for. And the color's names very original for inks! I chose Carmen, Frida, Emma and Klara for this trip.

It's quite risky to start a new long trip without testing them in deep but I had to do it. New year, new trip, new notebook and... new inks.

Result of investigations coming soon!

Asia travel map

Ah, the art of maps... Many ways to develop a map, many of them fascinating. I'm always tempted to do a new style with risk of reaching nothing interesting but at the same time the only door to innovation. Simple and stylish, easy tools and clear for the eyes. Anyway old maps set the mark in a high level.

This is my route along part of Asia during last year. It looks like Bangkok is a magnetic point and I'm happy for it.

Galgo paper

Many people ask me which paper I use in my notebooks. I've using laid paper during the last years, cream color, 100g/m2. The brand I still use is Galgo, a classic Spanish brand which shows a "galgo" (a kind of dog) in the pages. It's great quality paper and it can stand fountain pen ink and small watercolors. What I love the most is the texture and feeling when it's touched. Something impossible to describe. I knew it was going to be "the paper" since I used for the first time.
Unfortunately Galgo factory closed not many years ago. It was a surprised for such a brand I remember since I was a child. I was able to keep a stock of paper for many notebooks ahead.

The pessimistic chess player

Once upon a time a chess player so good he lost all the games.

His brilliant mind could calculate many moves from his adversary in advance. His body was so full of worries he finally surrendered with panic seeing only adversary’s win moves. Play a few moves, then surrender. Always the same. He not only don't win a game but also he don't enjoy the same.

Same as real life. Too many worries and seeing only the worst scenario is a paralyzer mindset. Let life flow with freedom.

Inks in use

These are the inks I'm using currently. There were chosen in order to match with my notebook style. After years I manage to use them properly and find myself confortable with these tones. My fountain pens love them.

However they are not waterproof and I wonder if I could find similar colors in waterproof brands. Soon I will post a video testing these ink with water. Horrible results.

About nomadic life

Ah, the nomadic life… (note necessarily me). What a fascinating lifestyle it is. Easy and appealing. It hooks. 

No ties to belongings, contracts or bills. He walks light, just a few kilograms in quantity of 6 or 8, plus what he wears, which allows him to move forward easily, almost in an ethereal way. He takes the advantages from each place and discards the bad ones. He takes the flowers and misses the thorns. He enjoys optimizing the luggage and even creates a a new words to describe that feeling. He didn’t find that word yet but probably it woulds ends as “-tisfaction”. He knows the value of magical technology and allows it to take some grams in his bag. Doing like that applies also to life. We are here just temporary and it’s better go light. Belongings will not come with us, actually they will become dust eventually. 

I add something: Being nomadic is not needed all the time. Actually it fatigues a little.

My portable studio for travels

Here the inside of my travel writing kit. I use it in my last travel to Southeast Asia.

Left: Wooden box with current writing tools. Rulers, glue, Pilot G-3, hard pencil, Pilot G-2, Pigma Micron, Zebra brush, Stabilo orange and turquoise, mechanical pencil, Lamy fountain pen, TWSBI fountain pen, Platinum Carbon fountain pen, fine brush, scissors, sharpener, sepia pencil and eraser.

Right: Case for spare tools plus tiny watercolor box, inks and tape. Still things to optimize, for example swapping the wooden box for a fabric case could save weight and volume but for me this box means a kind of ritual writing.

It's not too heavy and contains all I need. It could be optimized a lot and I'm thinking about it these days.

Some additional notes:

Wooden box is a kind of writing ritual for me. It's always in my field of vision and is part of the notebookmaking atmosphere. Too heavy and big for an optimized backpack.

Scissors are (sometimes) prohibited on flights . They are cheap and easy to find so it's worth to use them and buy new ones after flying. Otherwise paying for extra luggage only for this reason has no sense.

I'd include a waterproof bag for the notebook. Raining and humidity in the backpack could damage the paper so easily.

I've discovered a new world of watercolor colors. That makes difficult to keep this tiny box only, but this is another story.

The main idea behind this is to appreciate the power of a portable studio. Everyday a new scenario. That provides a great level of flexibility and freedom.

And again, you don't need complex tools in order to create magic. Keep near to the basic and easy to replace items.