Whilst I am enjoying the bound perpetual planner I chose for this year, and it certainly lightens my daily carry, I knew pretty early on that I wanted to return to a loose-leaf format for 2024. That has led me to some pretty extensive soul-searching over the past six months around exactly what this would mean on a practical level. An A5 Filofax would be too bulky and heavy, the A5 William Hannah is always a contender and, with its slender discs, is more portable than the Filofax binders whilst offering the best size of paper for my preferences. Yet my heart was turning towards smaller packages – a Personal-sized Filofax would be optimum, or an A6 William Hannah notebook if I wanted to push the boat out. I have previously experimented with the A6 William Hannah refills, using them with a simple card cover to see if I could live with the size. It’s touch and go, but if I chose a day-to-page layout it would work.
Alongside the size considerations, I also went through some deep dives around paper quality. There are two ways to approach paper for use with fountain pens. The first option is to find a paper which allows you to happily use the majority of fountain pen inks without any aggravation. For me, this means the ink must not bleed through the paper, nor have any significant amount of show through on the reverse of the sheet, and it must dry pretty quickly. This isn’t as hard to achieve with my predilection for fine nibs as it would be if I liked my pens on the firehose side, but it is still sufficiently challenging to make this a major consideration in my purchases. The second way to look at the paper conundrum is to accept the paper quality and choose your nibs and inks to suit it. Thus, using something like the Montblanc Slimline which has a very fine nib and pairing it with a well-behaved ink to give the highest chance of a happy outcome to the writing. Unfortunately, paper considerations didn’t help me at all with coming to a decision between Filofax and William Hannah. William Hannah paper is simply divine, but then I could equally well choose to fill a Filofax with Stamford Notebook Company refills which are also spot-on.
Then we have the bricks-and-mortar vs. online shopping experiences. William Hannah is online only. Buying Stamford Notebook Company refills would be online only as well. Using Filofax’s own refills would allow for shopping locally, but tip over into a paper quality which dictates the type of pen and ink that I could happily use.
Finally, I had a long talk with myself about what I would be prepared to spend on a new cover. I already knew that I wouldn’t want to use the Personal-sized Filofax Original cover I own, so either way I’d be splashing out on some new leather goods. This was where the choice started to become better-defined. At the present time, William Hannah don’t have any colour combinations which are calling to me, whilst I’ve been tempted by the blue Filofax Original cover since it was released earlier in the year. The blue Filofax Original, though, hasn’t shown up in any of my local shops, so we’d be back to an online purchase. And there my quandary rested for quite some time… or, actually, failed to rest because I kept going back over the same ground every weekend with the same failure to make a decision.
Yet here I am, it’s only August, and I’ve made my choice, bought the cover, ordered inserts, and only regretted it for about half of the time I’ve had it! Yes, it’s a Filofax, no, it’s not blue, and yes, there is a reason for that.
Jarrold’s, my trusty local independent department store, came up trumps with the Personal-sized Filofax Holborn in an acceptable shade of purple reduced significantly in their sale. I would not have bought this if I hadn’t been able to see it and touch it in real life because I thought the leather would be similar to the one they use on their Malden models. I’ve felt those, and the leather is very odd and unappealing to me, whereas the leather used for this design is smooth and sturdy. I was also taken with the look of the organiser which is classic with some interesting touches such as the contrast stitching and the layered look around the spine and onto the front. The pen loop is leather with an elasticated section to give some leeway for wider pens. I’m not entirely sure about this loop, but then I haven’t decided which pen I will carry with the Filofax and that decision will dictate whether the loop is suitable or not. Inside there are unusual slip pockets to the front and rear which are accessed from the opening edge of the cover, as well as the more standard ones which open towards the rings. I think I may use these more than I usually do because there is better access. With its smooth leather, and the additional structure from the slip pocket design, this cover has some vague echoes of a Filofax Adelphi I owned some years ago.
The Filofax came filled with the a good selection of inserts in Filofax’s slightly higher quality Cotton Cream paper and these have provided the opportunity to test out various iterations of this paper. I’ll be doing a post all about inserts later on. Bearing in mind that this was a sale item, it came with a 2022 diary insert, but that was not a problem since I had no intention of starting to use it until 2024. I always approach Filofax purchases with the belief that I am paying for the cover and the inserts come free with it so if I don’t use the inserts, it doesn’t equate to a waste of money. I have come across social media comments that Filofax should sell their binders empty so that people can choose inserts to their own tastes, with the sub-text that Filofax are somehow fleecing their customers by charging for inserts that no-one wants to use. It’s just some paper, though, at the end of the day, and perhaps we can allow ourselves to just put what we don’t want into the recycling.
I have found one thing I dislike about the contents and that is the dark brown ruler/page marker, so I will be swapping that for the clear one from my Filofax Original. Another thought would be to customise a pretty card bookmark, which is something I have done successfully in the past. To balance out that dislike, though, I adore the dividers which are basic, cream, lightweight card-stock. Way back in time, I had this style in an old Filofax, and I wrote quotes on them which made me foolishly happy. That’s definitely something I will be doing as I slowly set up this planner in preparation for 2024. I’ll be back sometime soon with an update on how that is going, including a glimpse at the diary inserts I have ordered. These are going to be a bit of a departure from my regular planning mode and I hope they are going to work out okay.
Pam Alison Knits 
8 responses to “2024 Plans”
Love the purple binder and stitching. A very nice binder indeed. Your all sorted! I hear an inner voice saying “you better get your diary sorted for next year as well” slight panic rising.
I’ve just received my order of paper from Citrus which is always a joy to wait for and open. Personally I don’t mind shopping on line when I know my paper will be packed with care and love by a small family business. Same with Stamford. They also have a lovely personal touch and wonderful quality.
Looking forward to your refill review.
Ooh, how are you finding the Citrus paper? Which one/s do you use? You are so right about buying the paper from the these small family businesses if you are going to buy online. I might be tempted by a Citrus journal at some point.
Thanks for the enjoyable read and for sharing your thought processes on this purchase. The purple Filofax looks good and it helps that you were able to see it in the flesh first. I wonder whether your Beverly may fit in the loop: it might be like Cinderella trying on the glass slipper.
Ah, yes, the Beverley is very much where my heart is going – having a rounded end it slips nicely through the pen loop where squared-off ends are not so easy. I’m just holding back until I get the inserts so I can check how the Beverley’s medium nib interacts/experiment to find a good ink to use.
Citrus used to do a 120gm smooth paper ideal for fountain pens. I’ve used this and it was excellent. It is now discontinued so I’ve just received my latest package of 100gm large dots (7mm). This paper seems to be working out well although it’s early days.
In my previous order I asked if they may be able to make me 8mm dots rather than 7mm. This was no problem at all, just amazing service. It does take a good while for orders to be made so it’s best to send orders well before it is needed.
It was you who put me in touch with Citrus for which I am grateful.
How very organised of you – lovely Filofax. If I was to move away from A5 albeit the Midori Travelers version of of 210mmX110mm I think I might give B6 a shot – not that it easy to find readily in the UK but on the continent and in Japan readily availble. Haven’t got that organised yet but still enjoying my Travelers Company inserts and have been trying to setup and print my own notebook format A5 just to see if I can do it and how well a full size A% version of Travelers style inserts would work as I already have the A5 covers.
Will watch with interest how things develop!!
Hey, Charles. Do you find the Travelers notebooks easy to write in when they are in their cover? I’ve never gone that route because it seems like the elastic bands might be a bit less stable than a bound book or a ring/disc system. I’ve used Stamford Notebook Company “Travellers Journal” inserts as notebooks and they’ve been great. In the medium size of 210 x 125mm they sit midway between the Midori inserts and A5. However, they have thick paper. I always think an advantage of the Midori inserts is that they are very slim due to the thin Japanese papers.
Whatever I set up at present is intended to be relatively short-term because I’m still kidding myself that I will retire in two and a half years then my requirements and my carrying capabilities will change. I’ll no longer be lugging the work laptop back and forth on the bus and will probably leap right back into some form of A5. The reality is that I’ll probably have to keep working beyond that point, and my ability to carry that laptop will decrease with every passing year, so I’ll end up only being able to carry one of those DIY Planners that people used to make by folding up a single sheet of A4 paper!
Hi Pam, Yes I do the elastics, certainly with the “regular” size and the standard 3 inserts, are not problem. I am currently running 4 inserts (as each notebook is called in “Travelers lingo”) again not real problem although obviously a touch more bulky than 3 (there is a clever way on you Tube of attaching 4 inserts so that they all pretty much line inside the leather cover – none of them sticking out.
Like you my preference has always been A5 and I wasn’t totally sure about a narrow A5 and for a while as I couldn’t quite tear myself away from full size and guilt about not using my “expensive” but really nice WH cover. I ran my Midori Travelers Notebook for work and the WH for home/desk but got tired of the duplication necessary to maintain both systems.
I have now switched to MTN full time and really like the thinner Japanese ink friendly papers as well as the three or four notebook approach. By the way the MTN cover with 3 inserts weighs in at 480 grams whilst WH is 525 grams also the MTN is narrower at 110mm so rather easier to carry and stuff into and pull out of bags or rucsacs. I am finding that I am more comfortable with the MTN from point of view of always having spare paper for notes and ideas whereas with the WH I was usually trying to see if I could squeeze a few more sheets in here or there.
There are a wide range of inserts for MTN. I currently use 019 an undated weekly planer with week on the left and notes on the right it also has space above both the calendar and notes for tasks if you feel the need. I use 05 which I believe is called a ‘free monthly diary’ again undated as I need to record details for contract work that I do as well as chargeable time – it is pretty free format you can make it what you need. If you are comfortable with plain paper 013 is by Travelers standards a thick notebook with ink friendly really thin paper that doubles up your available space with 124 pages – really nice to write on.
So yes I am very happy with the Midori set up and by the way I haven’t gone for the Travelers Company notebook cover but one from Wanderings or Wandersway (can be bought from Amazon about £23.00 and seems so close an imitation of exactly how the Travelers cover works as to be identical).
Hope this helps the decision-making.
Agree with about lugging stuff around for work – not great!
Happy hunting!!