Editing The Pen Addict 517/transcript (section)

== Traveler's Company Collaboration ==


'''Brad:''' That's exactly right. Exactly right. So last year at the San Francisco pen show, that was the official Plotter launch. That was. So this will be a year from now. Are you going to any other pen shows or anything like that in the U.S.?

'''April:''' We'll also be heading over to D.C. earlier in the month. D.C. pen show. So we'll bring both Plotter and Traveler's Company as well. And recruiting a few helpers, Toasty Treat, Kelly, to be with us at the booth. And they both are like experienced Plotter and Traveler's Company users. So I'm excited to have some fun time over there at the D.C. pen show. Because I've never been to that one. And I heard it's one of the biggest. And to be honest, I'm a little intimidated. But I know everyone's going to take care of me.

'''Brad:''' So I look forward to it. So it's like that's a yes on both accounts. Yes, it can be imitating. Yes, you will be taken care of. So, yeah, it'll be fun. It'll certainly be fun. So, yeah. Awesome. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing you in person out in San Francisco. And I know everyone in D.C. will love checking out the goods. So are you doing. So you work for the broader design fill company. So are you working on Traveler's products as well as Plotter now?

'''April:''' That's right. Last year, we launched the special U.S. limited edition Let's Go on a Road Trip refills for Traveler's Company. And they're like these letterpress regular inserts and passport size inserts. And they're my babies. And I love them so much. I used up like two already. And I'm like working on my third one. But Traveler's Company this year had a special limited sets. I don't know if you've seen them. The 2022 limited sets that came out with four designs, four boxed sets featuring Traveler's Hotel, Traveler's Train, Traveler's Plane, Traveler's Airlines, sorry, and Traveler's Records. And I think it's so cool that they really expanded the universe of Traveler's Company, specifically during the pandemic, because they know how hard it is for people to not have that travel experience that you associate with Traveler's Notebook.

'''Brad:''' Right.

'''April:''' But also encouraging people to experience it through their own imagination, through their daily life. You know, you don't have to travel to faraway places for your experiences to be significant. It could be like any little encounters during your day. And then you envision it. And then you would be at Traveler's Hotel. You would be flying it with Traveler's Airline. You'd be listening from stuff from Traveler's Records and taking the Traveler's Train. So I love the series so much. And when it launched in April, I was overwhelmed with the reception as well. Like all the retailers that we have in the U.S. Sold out like the day off or the second day off. And it's been amazing.

'''Brad:''' Well, one of these years, I need to meet whoever writes about music for Travelers, especially like the Traveler's Diary online. They have exquisite music tastes that line up very well with mine.

'''April:''' Mr. Ijima-san. Yes. If only he could come too. I think he couldn't make it to the pen show this year because he has other events as well. But he's the mastermind. He's the executive director of Traveler's Company. And the things that comes out of his head, oh my goodness, for these past years.

'''Brad:''' I'm fascinated. It's just amazing. I look at this like, are you talking directly to me?

'''Speaker 02:''' Nice. I'm glad it relates.

'''Brad:''' It's pretty great. It's pretty great. It's pretty great. All right. So we've talked about Plotter and Traveler's. I want to get back to talking about some of the stuff that you're into. And I'm going to put you on the spot here, maybe for the rest of the show. And I'm going to make you choose. I'm going to make you choose some things. I know your answer is going to be all of them. But I'm going to make you choose your favorite journal. If you're leaving tomorrow to go to the DC Pen Show and you're working, you've got all the Plotter stuff. You've got all the Traveler stuff. But your personal stuff, what's the one notebook or journal or planner that you are 100% bringing and then everything else has to stay behind?

'''April:''' It has to be the, I guess, the Traveler's notebook. I usually don't take my Hobonichi on trips because it's bulky and heavy and adds unnecessary weight, especially if it's like Pen shows. And I was recently on a trip to Taiwan and I had to make that same hard decision. Like, I'm going to be in Taiwan for a month and a half. What notebook do I take with me to document my days there? And Traveler's notebook won out. My Olive edition, a very special edition that's not being produced anymore, Traveler's notebook.

'''Brad:''' Don't email April for it. I'm not selling it ever.

'''April:''' So that and like I said, the limited edition refills that I've just been going through. It's got an awesome letterpress cover and dot grid MD cream insert. So it's just super useful. So I'll definitely be bringing that to the pen show. I mean, you guys can even probably buy it, the pen show, the inserts, but not the Olive cover.

'''Brad:''' Don't leave it laying on the table.

'''Speaker 02:''' Oh my goodness. No, no. I'm going to lock it like under my arms the whole time.

'''Brad:''' I used to do that with Knock. I would bring like my favorite pen case just to have like some of my pens in there. And it would be a color that we did like three years ago that no one could get. And I would leave it on the table. Yeah. They'd be like, I want that one. I'm like, oh, that was a mistake. Yeah. So I learned. It took me like a year or two to learn. I was like, I can't leave that stuff out on the table. I just get myself in trouble. All right. So what we haven't. I don't know that we've mentioned a single pen or writing implement this entire show, which goes to show how much you believe in the journals first and everything.

'''April:''' I'm a pen nerd too.

'''Brad:''' I know you are. I know you are. So what are your favorites? I won't make you pick a single favorite because that's way too broad of a category. What do you like to write with like in your travelers or like do you use fountain pens only in your Hobonichi or use anything? So tell me a little bit about your favorite pens.

'''April:''' I don't discriminate except I don't use ballpoints. So anything else is ghosts. And so I love my fountain pens and I did pick one before I head off the show. And it's this gorgeous green appress ski from the Sailor Cocktail Series. Oh, yeah. A full size pro gear and in an M nib. And it's my current favorite for the past two months already since I inherited it secondhand from another friend in the community.

'''Brad:''' Oh, that's a great pen.

'''April:''' I love it so much. And it turned me off pro gear slims and I'm fully on the full size pro gear train now.

'''Brad:''' Yeah. I mean, I think that's the correct decision. I like the small 1911s, but I need the full size pro gear. Right. Like that's kind of my if I'm going to have a small one, I like the 1911s, but the pro gear, I need the full. So, yeah, I'm with you on that. What are you what are you inking it up with? Have you used the same ink or do you like to mix it up? You know, I mix it up.

'''April:''' I do have a lot of green inks. Green is one of my favorite colors. If people in the community knows about it. But currently it's got I think it's one of the greens from the Toh no, Kyo no Oto ink.

'''Brad:''' Okay.

'''April:''' That really vibrant green called. Oh, shoot. It's escaping me. The. I forgot. That's fine.

'''Brad:''' I can. We'll look it up and put it put it in the notes afterwards. Everyone knows.

'''April:''' It's similar to the Wagaiisu of the sailor. You know, that very like bright grass green. People are going to yell at me.

'''Brad:''' No, because I'm sitting here wracking my brain because I only have like kind of the mossy Kyo no Oto one. And I can't so I can't even think of the names.

'''April:''' No, no, no. This is one of the brighter green ones similar to that cannery yellow green. And it's it looks so good in my upper ski right now.

'''Brad:''' What type of what type of nibs do you like in your in your fountain pens? Do you like the fine ones or do you like a broader?

'''April:''' A broader nib. I'm a M nib or nothing person. Oh, that's right. You said that earlier. I used when I first started acquiring expensive fountain pens to me. Expensive is like a sailor pro gear, you know, like. Yeah, they're 200 to 400 dollars.

'''Brad:''' Absolutely.

'''April:''' And for a while they used to only have them available in like MF nibs, which is like a little bit lower between the F and the M. And I didn't like them as much. And then since then, I've been tuning all of my MF nib pens to an M nib. Like I just love that ink blow experience. Like fine is great for Chinese writing because we have a lot of strokes in the character. So I started out with fine. But now that I'm like fully writing English on a daily basis, I just love the broad nibs. And I recently got one of my pens to be ground to an architect. So I guess that's another rabbit hole.

'''Brad:''' That is. That is. I was just thinking to myself, when I go to San Francisco, I'm going to have so much nib work I want done. I've been busy buying pens and now I'm trying to refine the pens that I have. So I want to take the ones that I enjoy the most and make them the best writing experience I can. So, yeah, that's what I'm working on myself. So I'm getting getting those nibs tweaked. So, yeah, that is a complete rabbit hole.

'''Speaker 02:''' I'm scared now. I'm in too many holes. I can't like open another one.

'''Brad:''' Well, then tell me about this one because I think this could actually be opening a pretty big rabbit hole. Anything that goes in your notebook that's not a writing instrument. So accessories, tapes, stickers. Like do you have favorite things you always have handy? Do you have a kit you keep at your desk that is all of the accessory type stuff for your planners and notebooks?

'''April:''' I'm laughing because I have multiple kits of different categories of stuff. I literally have a tin case of washi tape with like 30 washi tapes in front of me. And then those five-tier Muji clear acrylic case filled with rubber stamps. And then like I on the left side of me are five like sticker sheet organizers from Michael's all filled. So it's hard to pick. No.

'''April:''' Stickers. I guess stickers. I love stickers so much. And they're cheap to acquire. And, you know, it's always like, oh, it's just like $2. I can get some and then suddenly you're checking out with like a $60 card on cute things from Japan. So listeners, you will relate.

'''Brad:''' Oh, I'm laughing because I completely relate. And I'm laughing because our listeners are going, oh, yeah, she is. That is exactly right. That is exactly right. Yeah. Changing the subject, you made me think of this and you mentioned it before about your trip to Taiwan. Did you pack an extra suitcase just for the return trip? Or was it or did you not go too busy to really go deep into the stationary?

'''Speaker 02:''' Are you kidding me?

'''April:''' I came back with like three suitcases full of stationary and two extra boxes, each seven pounds each that have to ship back separately. Oh, my God.

'''Brad:''' I went ham. You're my new best friend.

'''April:''' I went ham on this trip. And it's sad because I can't even say that I was deprived of stationary in the past two years because I never stopped buying. But I went back to Taiwan this time. The last time I was back was 2018. And so it's been a while. And the stationary scene in Taiwan is like insane and like peak right now. And I couldn't hold back. You know how like you went on that trip to New York and Toronto and you had like a day where you just like went to three to four stationary stores? So I had several days of that. And then like one specific day where I went to 12 stationary stores in Taichung from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. My friend had a car and we were just like treasure map hunting. Like stop here. Get in the car. Get off the cars. Go in here.

'''Speaker 02:''' Came out to the next stationary store. And it was the best experience of my life.

'''Brad:''' That's amazing. So here's a business idea for anyone out there is stationary tour vacations. And me and April and I will be your trial. Your trial.

'''April:''' A guide. We hold zero responsibilities for your wallet. You have to sign a disclaimer before you sign up to the tour.

'''Brad:''' So just just randomly being able to hit up 12 stores in a day in Taiwan. The fact that that's actually doable to a lot of us like that mentality likes, you know, someone like myself in the U.S. in the middle of nowhere. Like that's not an option. If I got in my car and I drove three hours in any direction right now, I would not hit a stationary store. Not even a staples? I would. No, I would hit a. Yeah, I would hit an office supply store. But just that level of access in the Asian market is just unparalleled, right?

'''April:''' A lot of people said Japan is the place to go. But I feel like your wallet is in a bigger risk if you're in Taiwan. Because Japan has like a lot of stationary everywhere. But they are pricier, in my opinion, like the stuff. And in Taiwan, you not only have the Japan stuff because it's closed for export and import. And then you also have the Taiwanese stuff. And then you also have the bookstores. And you also have the chains and the independent creators and the flea markets that happens like every weekend, like in multiple spots. It's very scary to live in a stationary attic in Taiwan.

'''Brad:''' I would need a month and a half just to be able to like keep my sanity and then still probably not to be enough.

'''April:''' I didn't even hit up all the fountain pen places. Like I found out about several fountain places that were literally a 10-minute walk from my home, like on the last two days. And I was like, I can't go in there. I can't.

'''Speaker 02:''' Like it's too scary.

'''Brad:''' Well, that's awesome. I'm glad we got to talk about that a little bit. So let's wrap it up on this. What's next for you? What's next for the Penguin's creative side of, you know, what you're doing? You know, you've got the Stationery Cafe podcast. You're streaming on Twitch. You're all over YouTube and Instagram. What are you enjoying? And what's coming up on all of your channels? Which we'll have linked in the show notes for everyone to go check out.