Pens for travels, a mnml guest post
It makes me happy to welcome one of my best pen friends back for another guest post. Jo recently returned from an extended trip abroad. This is their thought process through planning a pen-and-ink complement for traveling there and back again.
You can find them online at @pagesax3lsandink.
— JP
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Last month, I had serious FOMO. You see, I was scheduled to miss the biggest pen event of the year, the DC Pen Show.
Missing the show was for good reason: my cousin got married in LA that same weekend and I even had a role in the ceremonies. I knew about this event for nearly a year. You’d think that would be enough time for me to be at peace with missing DC. Yeah, me too.
An opportunity to keep pens at top-of-mind did present itself. You see, immediately after the wedding festivities, I planned on flying to Australia and New Zealand for a long vacation (at least by American terms). I’d essentially be out of touch from my regular life from August 3 to 22. That’s at least three weekswhere I couldn’t (or really shouldn’t) change my pen loadout.
Now, I’m usually a one pen-one ink person and can keep an ink in a pen for well over a year. This results in me typically having around 12 pens inked up at once, with pens changing in the rotation once I’ve run out of ink from a particular fill.
For 19 days out-of-pocket and hopping around 3 cities (in 3 countries!), I quickly decided that it wasn’t wise to take along my 12 currently inked pens. No, not when that includes my new Pilot Custom 845. Thus, I needed to make a few tough decisions.
To help me decide, I ended up setting on a few guidelines for myself that will serve as a useful framework for future long trips.
1. First choose the pen case, and consequently, the number of pens to take. For this trip, I packed light: one check-in bag, one carry on bag, and my backpack. I packed a 6L Osprey Dayline Sling bag to serve as my daily bag for city exploring and entering stadiums.
No way my trusty Franklin-Christoph 12 pen penvelope fits into this little bag.
2. Don’t take a pen that will hurt to lose. Alternatively, what is the pen cost threshold for what I’m willing to lose? This sounds like common sense, but this is something I haven’t been known to instinctively possess. Seriously. I nearly automatically took my Pilot Custom 74, which I haven’t been separated from since 2016. While I knew that the probability of me losing a pen was low, I realized that even the thought of losing this pen had me emotional.
3. Take pens that either (a) have enough ink capacity that I won’t need to refill the ink or (b) take a pen where I own spare ink cartridges. Really, because running out of ink when in a flow state of writing is the worst. And no way I’m traveling with spare ink or filling accessories. Blunt-tip syringe, anyone?
4. Take a varied ink selection and at least one must be water resistant. I, of course, had a ballpoint on hand, but my journaling is all done with fountain pen. I needed to be ready to write in a variety of settings, such as the two plus hour bus ride when visiting Hobbiton in New Zealand. And as you’re currently reading this blog … of course you’ll understand my desire to always have more than one ink available for selection.
And based on the above, here’s what became world travelers:
Leather Flap Pen Case for Three Pens - Crazy Horse Brownfrom Galen Leather. This case comfortably fit my day bag with my necessities and its fixed shape felt secure and fit well in my backpack for my air travel.
Platinum Cool (M). Platinum Blue Black Cartridges. An all-around pen with a snap cap and a handy consumer of the many Platinum ink cartridges I have on hand. This is one of my first pens that fell off the use rotation due to evolving tastes. I was excited to give it new purpose as a travel pen. Blue Black is no-nonsense and most importantly, water resistant.
TWSBI ECO (1.1mm stub). Montblanc Encre du Desert. A full fill with this piston filler always feels like it lasts forever. A stub gives a natural option for entry headers and commentary for ticket stubs, pamphlet cutouts, and other errata. Encre du Desertis businesslike, but provides a warmth that gives a different writing dimension from Platinum Blue Black. Plus this pen and ink combination makes for a smooth writing experience.
Récife Crystal (M). Pilot Iroshizuku Shimbashi-iro. An eyedropper – the best way to go when I want an ink fill to last. This pen is a traveler by nature, as I picked it up while on a work trip in Paris. The clear body shows off the ink inside. Shimbashi-iro was chosen primarily because of its difference – something to stand out among its more muted partners.
Pen Honorable Mentions – aka the last two who were cut:
LAMY 2000 (F). Bungubox Melancholic Grey. Cut from the final list because I cringed at the thought of having to find another L2K with a nib I like should I lose the pen. Did not want the possibility of experiencing that again. Otherwise, the ink capacity is solid and the nib gives a smooth fine line.
PenBBS 355 (Bacas Broad Cursive Italic). Colorverse Mars Curiosity. This was actually my first choice pen- I love the form factor and ink capacity. But then I realized...wait this is my custom Bacas grind…when was the last time I’ve seen him at a show I’ve attended? ...well my friends, this certainly made the decision for me. I could have done a nib swap, but I had enough anxiety getting the nib (a TWSBI #6) into the pen that I did not want to experience again.
This exercise was difficult but ultimately satisfying. I hadn’t evaluated how I value my toolset in quite a while and it had me feel connected to the pen community when seeing everyone excitedly prep to attend DC. When taking trips, how do you typically decide what travels with you?
