Gwenly

Oh how I have been looking forward to this one! I’ve been so excited to share what notebooks I picked up for the year 2026, and even more excited to finally get to use them (I purchased these during “planner season” in October!)

As a kid, I journaled all the time. My go-to was the trusty college ruled composition notebook. During college, I picked up the “Bullet Journal” method, using the popular Leuchtturm1917 (I still love these) and a few gorgeous AmandaRachLee Doodle Planners. Last year, I kept a simple notebook for journaling (still in use), and I picked up my first Weeks Planner from Sterling Ink, which became my daily companion. For 2026, I decided to change things up again, and finally get my hands on a popular brand on my wish list.

After much research via mostly YouTube from other fellow journal keepers and planners, here are my selections.

Yes, I have purchased my first Hobonichi notebooks! I’ve had my eye on Hobonichi for a few years. They can be expensive though, and so I held out until I was more financially capable of such an expense on a notebook. This also allowed me to pick up two, as you can see. Plus I purchased clear protective covers for both, and an additional decorative, more functional cover for each. If I am going to be taking these expensive little notebooks out into the world, you know I am going to be protecting them from damage. So what exactly do we have here? Lets break it down.

The Hobonichi Weeks

In 2025, I used a Weeks style planner for the first time and ended up loving the format. Its set up exactly how it sounds, with the left page displaying the week ahead, and the right page blank, for whatever you want really. The Weeks serves as my planner for all things scheduling, tracking, notes, daily to-dos, blog topics, or photo ideas for my photography Instagram. I also tend to use the additional notes section in the back for any recipes I find, expanding on blogging thoughts prior to actually writing them up, long term to-do lists… pretty much anything that requires more page space.

Along with the clear cover, which has a few built in pockets itself, I also grabbed a more functional sort of carrying case style cover. I wanted something that could stash away any extras I might want on the go, like pens, paperclips, or stickers. It has plenty of smaller pockets and the front zipper pouch holds those extra pens, my mini ruler, and tabs, to name a few examples of things I might keep handy.

The Hobonichi Techo

The Hobonichi Techo is iconic. At least, that’s what I found in my research, and it was the first notebook to catch my eye when I discovered the brand. This small but mighty notebook is just a bit bigger than my hand, making it the perfect size to bring just about anywhere. (If you speak planner, its a compact A6 size). The way I would describe the format is “one entry a day”, meaning there is a dated page for every day of the year. Some fun features that I really like is that each month has its own color and each 2 day spread has a unique quote.

For this notebook, I chose from their beautiful selection of covers and decided on this lovely floral and pink cover designed in collaboration with Liberty Fabrics. Then, to protect the fabric, a clear cover of course. Just like the Weeks, this cover has all your pockets and slots, minus the larger pen pouch. What this cover does have, is a double pen loop, which serves as an enclosure. When your pen is through both the loops, you not only always have a pen handy, but your notebook is also kept closed and secure. I thought this was so clever !

The Techo will be my daily journal, and will definitely take some commitment and discipline. I would love to get back to journaling my own daily thoughts, or memories from the day, or even just something I’m grateful for. I was also browsing YouTube to get ideas on how people use their journals and how they commit to them. One person had mentioned that they at least try to stay within 3 days. I believe what they meant was, they never get 3 days behind on journaling. I like this idea and will try it out. The format of the Hobonichi Techo should help with this goal, with its one page per day set up. They aren’t huge pages either, we are literally starting small. Besides, lets face it, somedays are just exhausting, and all you want to do is crash into bed and zone out with an episode of The Office.

To go with my new notebooks, I recently ordered a few sticker sheets from JetPens, and a beautiful yet simple, beginner friendly fountain pen. I have no idea if this pen will even be compatible with the Hobonichi notebooks. Their paper is very thin, which I like, but we will have to see if even a fine tip fountain pen might bleed through too much. I just couldn’t resist, I really want to try writing with one!

After so many years of scoping out these notebooks, I really hope we have a good year together, and I find myself going back for more next planner season.

Do you journal or use a planner of some sort? Have you got your system picked out for the new year? Its never too late to start.

Thank you for reading, and, I’m happy you’re here.