But anyone that is interested in getting a blank, real cool journal that will fit in your jacket or even shirt pocket read on.
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For last the mini-summit in Burbank, I brought in my saddlebag with liner. Since I had the saddlebag for over 6 months, Chamorro then asked me what else I was holding back.
I wanted to share this alternative blank journal book that I discovered and it's cheap (~$11.00). I have been a blank journal kind of guy. I have used journals/notebooks to capture notes on some of my trail hikes, separate journals for business, technical meetings, and sketching ideas, etc. You get the picture.
I have looked into getting a blank LC grail dairy, but at that price, I wouldn't dare take any notes. The Raiders version (grey and red), was more well suited to carry in a MKVII and not a pocket, so that scratched that idea. Through the years, I have used blank journals from Collage.com which fit the bill. They came in 2 sizes, 4 x 6" and 5 x 8" but still on the expensive side (~$40 per journal) and at 288 pages, they were quite thick.
And then I ran into Moleskine. See picture below:
The history of the Moleskine travel journal is below. It's been around for two hundred years and went out of business in the 80's, but it is now back.
Again, the best attributes of this pocket journal is that it is 3 1/2"x5 1/2"x 1/2", so it's easily stored in any jacket pocket or shirt pocket. It can be bought online as cheap as $10.95. They typically hold about 90 pages. It has an elastic band to make sure you can hold all the contents inside. Every style has a pouch in the back part to hold tickets, receipts, etc. The paper inside the journal comes in plain , ruled paper, square grids, sketch paper, address, travel, memo pockets, etc.It is two centuries now that moleskine has been the legendary notebook of European artists and intellectuals, from Van Gogh to Henri Matisse, from the exponents of the historical avant-garde movements to Ernest Hemingway.
This long-standing tradition was continued by writer- traveller Bruce Chatwin who used to buy his moleskines at an old Paris stationery shop in Rue de l'Ancienne Comédie where he would always stock up before embarking on one of his journeys.
Over the years he had developed a veritable ritual. Before using them he would in fact number the pages, writing on the inside his name and at least two addresses across the world, and a message promising a reward for anyone finding and returning the notebook in case of it being lost.
He even suggested this method to his friend Luis
Sepúlveda, when he gave him a precious moleskine as a present for a journey they were planning to undertake together in Patagonia. And there was no doubt as to how precious it was, given that at the time even the last moleskine manufacturer, a small family-run firm of Tours, had discontinued production in 1986.
'Le vrai moleskine n'est plus' was the short and curt statement of the owner of the stationery shop where Chatwin had ordered one hundred before leaving for Australia. Despite having literally swept up all the Moleskines he could find, they were not enough.
Now, the moleskine is back again. This silent and discreet keeper of an extraordinary tradition, which has been missing for years, has set out again on its journey. A witness to contemporary nomadism, it can once again pass from one pocket to another to continue the adventure. The sequel still waits to be written and its blank pages are ready to tell the story.
Well I have bought tons of them at that price. Check it out.
-Sergei
that list the trails and mountains with maps and special features that I encounter. I list various landmarks, so I can find my way back if I need to (including a moose on the Wilderness Trail in New Hampshire)! The bridge in my Avatar was on the Wilderness Trail as well. It is in my book now 
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