Hello, from Tarragona, Spain!  This is Rachel, and I am so excited to share a little bit of travel documenting and planning that I am doing in July. My husband and I are on an extended vacation and have made Tarragona, a beautiful, Mediterranean beach town, our home for the month. Of course, I brought my planner (ok, planners!) to document our days here. The hardest part about packing was choosing which planners and supplies to bring! One collection I knew I wanted to bring was the Bloom Collection. I love the florals and black accents in this very feminine collection.

You may notice something a little different about my personal size Robin’s Egg planner and its inserts. That’s right! I have performed a little “planner hack” to transform this ring-bound planner into a B6 size travelers notebook! There are lots of videos on youtube explaining how to do this. I have included a few photos here to share my process.

First, I used a pair of jewelry pliers to remove the middle rivets on the spine mechanisms. This take a little time but, eventually, the rivets will come out. From here, I was able to pop the ring mechanism off. 

Next, I used an crafting knife to remove a few stitches from the bottom of the planner. This allowed me to pull the inner mechanism out. Finally, I threaded some elastic through the top and bottom of the planner for the bands that hold the inserts. To make the inserts fit into the planner, I simply trimmed about a .75 from the bottom and .50 inch from the top of the insert. This travelers notebook size and format is so compact and fits nicely in my smaller purse that I have carried it with me everywhere we go!

Since coming to Tarragona, we spend a lot of time outside. I love all the outdoor cafes and restaurants. And with that gentle sea breeze that is never far away, there is no need for air conditioning! On this afternoon, John and I decided to sit at one our favorite cafes near the Cathedral Basilica of Tarragona with books, drawing supplies and, for me, my planner!

I just love opening my planner to see my pockets filled with Bloom bits and pieces and the 3x4 element cards. I always have my 4x6 stickers on hand for documenting on the go. I also keep the 4x6 photo crop inside this planner for making straight lines in my weekly spreads, trimming washi, and even acting as a study surface for writing inside my planner.

Planning has looked a little different for the month, which is I why I love using this blank grid Bloom notebook to totally customize my planner pages. I have laid out weekly pages toward the front of the insert and daily pages in the back of the insert. The weekly pages are great for planning things like the two mini-trips taken this month. To make this week’s layout, I used the photo crop as a ruler to make the lines and used Simple Stories Letter Stickers for the days of the week.

For both weeks, I decorated with the Bloom washi, the 4x6 stickers, and the A5 Bloom Sticker Tablet. While this collection is very feminine, it is also so versatile and almost neutral in theme, which I really like. You can decorate just about any week with this collection.

The heart of this insert is reserved for memory keeping with daily documentation. I work on these pages after the day has passed. Typically, I use one page per day, although, there were a few days that needed two, and I number the days using the A5 Numbers Sticker Tablet. The beauty of a blank insert is that I can adjust my planning according to my needs!

Each day, I like to include a little bit about what we did and a story or two about something unique that happened. One of the lessons I’ve learned while traveling, is to document the little moments as well as the big ones. The details will get fuzzy later if you don’t write it down! So now, I document it! If I’m not ready to decorate a page, I simply write the story on a post-it and come back to it later.

I hope you enjoyed this look into my personal planner turned travelers notebook. Be sure to check out my instagram to see more of my travel documenting!