I am now nearing the completion of another Personal Journal (Number 30). I was at number 13 when I last wrote about my journalling (No Batteries Required: My Personal Journal) and I am still going strong on writing daily.

My normal journal of choice is a Moleskine Plain Pocket Notebook and all of my journals have followed this type so far. I have found them to be robust enough for my needs and use.

My journal normally has a mix between a Journal and a Scrapbook with inserts/stick in’s of tickets, pictures etc where I think its journal worthy. Journal worthy is mainly things that will help anyone reading the journal to get a feeling what we did and as reminders to us.

“The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.”

― Chuck Palahniuk

Although in recent times the amount of inserts has reduced with the stay at home messages.

My pen is normally a pilot V7 Hi-Techpoint which I find flows well over the pages in the journals. I have tried other pens and inks (fountain, ball point, etc) and found these to be the best.

Why do I keep a personal journal:

• Daily routine of writing – keeps my mind fresh in writing skills
• Keeping my writing skills up in an age of keyboards and touchscreens
• Memories so the family can reflect on events
• Keeping notes and remembering events
• Not everything you do has to be online
• My journal doesn’t need a battery
• My pen doesn’t need to be cabled or wifi’d to print with it
• My journal doesn’t crack when I drop it (although it can get wet)

Downsides of keeping a journal:

• No Delete Key – just cross out a word/sentence
• Physical Storage of journals rather than virtual

So what does a collection of 30 Journals(2007-2021) look like………

Two reused large shoeboxes full containing around 13 years of journaling ove 4,888 pages.

I would encourage anyone to start journalling – A great view of what you have achieved during a lifetime.