The $450 notebook I’m taking around the world: meet my Louise Carmen roadbook

stationery lovers - this one's for you

I've embarked on something I never thought possible. Notebook monogamy, if you will. One journal to rule them all. No more dabbling in half-filled Moleskins or flirting with new Filofaxes.

Travelling with a pen and paper is essential to me. When life throws me a problem, I’ll throw it onto paper. Mind-map mania. Pros-and-cons galore. During exam seasons, I would turn my room into a one-woman revision bunker, scribbling repeatedly until the information was buried into my subconscious. And of course, the journals I kept during my single era rival Bridget Jones (big mistakes, bigger knickers).

Before embarking on my world trip, I knew I needed a trusty companion to take with me. A notebook to help me problem solve, creative brainstorm, daydream, bitch and prep for future job applications. For a stationery lover, this seemed an impossible task.

the fire of my loins; my Louise Carmen roadbook

---

Choosing my journal

Over several months, I weighed up my options, including Moleskin, Smythson, Muji and Filofax. I even purchased a Paper Republic leather bound notebook. But nothing felt right.

Then, one rainy afternoon, the Instagram algorithm served me a plate of steaming deliciousness. An unsuspecting Reel began with a pair of chic-looking hands flipping through a dreamy array of jewelled leather notebooks, accompanied by a raspy French accent, “letz create ze notebook of your life”. The brand? Parisian-based handcrafted notebook company, Louise Carmen.

But it wasn’t just the to-die-for notebooks. After some research, I discovered that the founders, Fabien and Natalie Valmary, established Louise Carmen after taking a ‘gap year’ to travel around Asia. It was their time in Japan that sparked the idea for a luxury stationery brand. This was my kryptonite.

Side note: this Instagram recommendation would go on to rival my mum’s legendary carpet comb - a device I discovered existed when I walked in on my mum, on all fours, combing the carpets with what can only be described as a tiny metal rake. The hoover watched on, puzzled.

---

My Louise Carmen store experience

A couple of months before I quit my job and set off on my gap year, I found myself in Paris. I pushed back my Eurostar train in order to squeeze in a trip to the Louise Carmen store.

Despite the fact that it was a cold, dark evening in Paris, I was swept up by the city’s magic. The scent of rain lingered on the cobblestones and warmly lit bistros glowed amber. Couples huddled over glasses of red wine and elegant figures smoked cigarettes against pockmarked walls. Paris is one of my favourite cities in the world.

The Louise Carmen store is located in Passage du Grand Cerf, a 19th-century arcade with an ornate glass roof. I braced myself for queues, but arriving near closing time meant I was one of the last customers. A store assistant waved me in and we began.

photography was bad because I was too excited

Designing my notebook

Leather

The design process takes place in a one-on-one session with a sales assistant. It was all very fancy (and a little intimidating at first). I knew I wanted to go for Louise Carmen’s Roadbook size. The leather cover can fit three A5 notebooks and a portfolio (a small leather wallet). Phew, that was easy.

Now for the colour of the leather. This was the killer. To my dismay, the gorgeous oxblood/plum leather was sold out. As was my next choice - dark brown chestnut. “They don’t have the colours you want so you should wait until they are back in stock and buy another time”, my brain rationalised.

I shut out that voice as quick as a whip. My hyperfixation (that in general, serves me very well) needed a Louise Carmen notebook, pronto. In the end, I landed on ‘whisky’, a burnt orange that darkens over time. To match, I selected a metallic, light blue leather portfolio and tied it all together with flamboyant gold elastic, a gold-encrusted blue jewel and a travel case with parrots on. Because why not.

Charms (eg ‘gris-gris’)

The best bit - purely for the guttural French pronunciation of ‘gris-gris’. The store assistant brought out multiple trays of charms and told me that I could attach them to the front and side of the notebook. I picked five gold-toned charms:

1. A Taurus Zodiac coin, my star sign

2. A blue feather, to represent freedom and flight

3. A sun, to represent warmth and happiness

4. A blue evil eye, for protection.

I got totally carried away. These charms cost a small fortune and full confession: I’ve never been ‘into’ star signs, I don’t believe in amulets for protection and the blue feather and sun just looked cute. But nevertheless, my notebook, dripping with pretty gris-gris, tinkles joyfully upon use.

la gris-gris

Engraving

Finally, the engraving. I spent weeks working out what I would write within the limited character space. I knew I wanted to reference wildness and toyed with quotes from Clarissa Pinkola Estes’ Women Who Run with Wolves (anyone else find this book lifechanging?). In the end, I settled on a reference to a very dear Mary Oliver poem and landed on ‘one wild life’.

A word of caution for anyone following in my footsteps: I didn’t specify the capitalisation and at first, the capitalisation of ‘One’ really bothered me. I had initially envisioned ‘one wild life’ in lower case (and expected the engraver to know that telepathically). But my millenial roots run deep and I’m now happy with how it turned out.

these pictures make me salivate

---

The cost

“$450 on a notebook. Are you insane? - my boyfriend

Now. I know what you’re thinking. $450 is an absolutely insane amount of money to spend on a notebook. Literal insanity. Especially given I ended up quitting my job two months later. But here’s my thinking (spoiler alert, it features ‘girl math’, the use of unconventional mathematical logic to justify spending):

1. This notebook might store an idea that leads me to become a billionaire. If that is the case, the $450 is a very small price to pay - a fantastic return on investment.

2. The notebook is reusable (the innards are refillable), and as such, I will use this notebook for the rest of my life. If I live another 60 years, that’s $7 per year, or $0.025 per day. Bargain.

3. I shall make this notebook a family heirloom.

4. I was mainly just very unhinged in the last few months before I quit my job, leading to some questionable decision-making.

---

So, how’s the notebook fairing on your world trip?

I’m 8 weeks into notebook monogamy. I have zero regrets. My companion connects my brain to my body, gives my brain clutter a home and is a much-needed safe-space and place of solitude. The engraving reminds me, every day, that I have One wild life. I can’t wait to remember, during corporate meetings in the future, that this notebook travelled the world with me and knows all my secrets.

Yes, the leather is now imperfect. The corners are a little dog-eared. It bears marks. My roadbook, once pristine, is now scuffed and scratched. But I remind myself that this wear is part of the journey. To embrace imperfections and view the scars, scratches, frayed edges and tarnishing as beautiful remnants from my journey around the world.

PS. This post is not in any way affiliated with, or sponsored by, Louise Carmen. I wish it was.

---

If any fellow stationery fanatics are reading, please let me know what your favourite notebook is or if you’ve heard of Louise Carmen. I will happily nerd out with you in the comments!

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading my post. You can catch up on all my posts here. Consider subscribing if you’d like to follow my journey.