This July marks the start of my 14th journal. Fourteen! Journal #1 saw its first scribbles in August of 2010, when I started getting interested in self-improvement---something sorely needed back then (and probably even more right now).

Aren't they beautiful?

Each journal has more than a few tales to tell (I've written about how I journal in 2017---it might not be completely up-to-date). For instance, take a look at Number Four, the one with Mario's Piranha Plant. Jup, the dog chewed on it. I had to iron every single page to get rid of the excess saliva. Or Number Ten with the Bob-omb: dipping a toe outside the Moleskine world. Number Six, Magritte's Limited Edition, was an impulse buy I later regretted: no proper inlay pockets on the back, fixed with a stitched-together envelope.

Ballpoint pens were swapped out in favor of fountain pens around 2017, requiring me to look further for better paper. I couldn't find the Midori A5 booklets in Belgium (we got Number Ten in London) and didn't want to keep on importing. The result is Number Eleven: Leuchtturm 1917 notebooks (unlined, of course), that also didn't require manual paginating.

My nibs love Leuchtturm paper, and it's just the right size too. I've tried a smaller size once on Paperblanks with Number Seven but it did not feel right. As I suddenly found myself out of space in Number 13 and we were going on a short trip the next day, I reverted to another smaller Paperblanks I still had lying around for the current journal. It won't be the best writing experience, but at least I'll write! It's not as thick as a typical Leuchtturm so hopefully I'll burn through it fast enough.

I might have to go out and buy more Hama beads.