2025, Documented
observations and learnings from a year of journaling
If we all went a little obsessed over our Spotify Wrapped this year (did I mention my listening age was in the 70s?! I am truly an old soul), I decided to make my own. I didn’t have to look far, anyway—my journals had been visual reminders of how my life unfolded this 2025.
I know for a fact that this is part of my job, but even I surprised myself this year1. I did a quick count and worked on ten journals! What a feat.
Here’s how I documented 2025, a look at all the journals I worked on this year, and the observations and learnings I’m carrying into the coming year.
Showing up, one page at a time
It’s my second year using a Hobonichi Techo as a daily journal, and I’m glad that this habit has been a mainstay in my everyday life.
The A6 size makes it super convenient to fill a page in a short amount of time. I’m often asked why I prefer this size and it’s simply because I can’t spend more than twenty minutes writing in this space2, and that’s also why it transformed my journaling habit for the better.
Another thing I made sure of was never going past three days of no updates (I mention this 3/10 rule on my Skillshare class)—my memory goes hazy once the days pass, and I’m always rummaging through my camera roll or Instagram Stories to see what I was up to that day. I usually journaled in the evening, but shifted to more morning journaling since I moved into my new apartment (I now enjoy catching up on writing while having my breakfast and coffee in the kitchen).
What I wrote each day would vary in these formats, and I figured they worked the best for whatever mood I was in:
A bulleted list of everything I did, complete with the timestamp (very reporter style)
An opening paragraph (usually about the start of my day) and some commentaries or things on my mind
Something I’m hyperfixated3 about for the day (it could be a project at work, a person I spent time with, a movie I watched)
My Skillshare class, Everyday Journaling: 5 Creative Ways to Document Your Life, is all about building a journaling habit and capturing life’s little moments. If you’ve ever wanted to try journaling or need some fresh ideas, I think you’ll enjoy it.
Here’s a free trial link to the class 👩🏻🏫
Finding beauty in the mundane
Every now and then, I would document more specific periods in my life—mostly during autumn, because it’s my favorite season.
I picked up my travel journaling cadence pretty late this year (around May). I traveled to Belgium in January, but the trip felt lackluster and I wasn’t inspired to document it at all (I have, admittedly, torn pages in my TRAVELER’s Notebook insert and never bothered to sort through my ephemera…oops). Eventually, that insert became a jumping off point for an overflow journal—an extension of my daily journaling practice that became complementary to my Hobonichi Techo.
I share more about my everyday journaling system here:
I started a few more inserts after that, spanning throughout the summer (which was eventful to say the least—I moved, my family visited, spending time out and about in the city, and traveled to California) up until autumn.
When I first moved to Berlin, I kept a dedicated “Berlin journal” and filled it with ephemera, especially food packaging, as a way to capture everything that felt new.
This year, with some new life changes happening, I have been discovering new spots in my neighborhood and would walk around different routes to see what I can find. Documenting them in my TN inserts allowed me to capture those details I otherwise would forget about in my day-to-day life.
Recording every detail of a trip
Of course, the TRAVELER’s Notebook system has always been my travel journal of choice—and this year was no exception. I decided to use one insert for all my Europe and UK trips, since it was mostly short trips and I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish all 64 pages in one go.
So far, the trips I’ve documented in here are:
London (teaching at the Miso Paper event)
Düsseldorf (visiting the Schmincke factory)
Salzburg (took my mom and sister to Austria)
London again (because I needed to maximize my visa lol)
I’ve always found myself gravitating towards the regular size for my travel journaling practice, but somehow, after working on these pages, I found the size too intimidating and time consuming (shocker for me to say that).
The main reason I’ve kept a regular size in my system is mostly because ephemera fits seamlessly (I mean, just look at the huge Beatles Story packaging that I stuck on the page). Otherwise, I’ve been feeling meh about using this regular size for upcoming travels. Right now, I have around 5 blank spreads I’m allotting for when I’m back from my holiday trip (yup, you guessed it, also in Europe). But it seems like this won’t be a mainstay for next year’s lineup.
Maybe I’ve outgrown it, or maybe I just don’t have the creative bandwidth to work on a larger format. Or maybe I am getting influenced with my Hobonichi usage…
Keeping it small and simple
There was no real “aha” moment to downsize from a regular to a passport. I just found myself reaching for smaller size inserts more often this year. I think it naturally started when I was finishing an insert early this year, documenting my family trip to LA last Christmas.
Once I completed this, my friends and I were gearing up for an upcoming camp and hike trip in the spring, and it was no surprise that I would bring the passport size as we needed to pack light (I literally only had a backpack with me for a weekend away in the south of Germany).
I ended up assigning this insert for nature activities, such as camping, or hiking, or going for walks at the park4 (the Mesa Verde sticker has no connection whatsoever, but I figured it blended nicely on the cover). I used a 1/2 trip refill for the same reason I mentioned above (again, packing light)—I plan to continue documenting here for upcoming nature trips in 2026. I’m hoping to bring my brother around nature spots when he visits me in the winter…
Want to see the full journal tour? Join my art club for full access here 📔
As summer rolled around, I made sure to secure this special edition insert as I went on a week-long road trip with Jackie around (mostly) Colorado. Job had gifted me this beautiful cover which I love dearly—it came with a kraft insert that I have never used as of this writing (again, oops!).
Initially, I had planned to start with this passport insert and continue with the regular sized one—again, going back to my statement above about ephemera sizing, and how most spreads would look significantly better on a larger sized notebook.
But as I flipped through my road trip passport-sized insert, one that had witnessed every visitor center we stopped at, served as a space for friends I met up with to write and draw in, and became my own canvas for getting creative while on the road, it felt less like a journal and more like a companion.
Unfortunately, this insert is still unfinished. I plan to resume working on it in January. With the changing of seasons last September and a week of jetlag, I wasn’t in my best creative state.
Packing lighter, going further
When I set my mind on a solo Tokyo trip, I had, once again, without hesitation—told myself I’m definitely bringing a passport size insert.
Because of this portable size, I was able to pack light and stamp away at any stamp station I could find, without the trouble of taking out such a big notebook every single time (let’s not forget that I also bring a camera with me everywhere, among other things).
I also exercised being resourceful. Japan is ephemera heaven, after all—and while I’ve kept every map and ticket from the places I explored, I challenged myself creatively with experiments such as using a craft puncher to decorate my page (this is obviously my favorite one). My friend Sophie had gifted me a postage stamp craft puncher and it’s one of my new obsessions in my stationery collection.
Needless to say, I’ve grown comfortable with the passport size—I decided it would also be the perfect canvas for December Daily5 this year.
I’m taking this 1/2 trip refill with me for our annual family trip away; I’m also including an accordion insert which I’m excited to use for drawing and taking notes.
Looking back, it wasn’t one big decision that led me to using passport size more often, but a series of small ones. Will I use it religiously? Probably not. I still reach for regular size when I need space to plan, and I’ll share more about that in a future essay. For now, I’m happy letting TRAVELER’s Notebook passport size be at the forefront of my documenting system (together with the Hobonichi Techo, of course).
Maybe it has something to do with how much (and how long) I traveled this year, or how tired I felt by the end of it. Or maybe it was my way of balancing my creative energy across everything I do, from journaling to filming, making photo diaries, and writing essays like this one. I think I’ve learned that I don’t need all my creativity to live in one place anymore. I like having room for different outlets, different formats, different seasons.
And that, too, feels like something worth documenting.
If you’re reading this around the holidays, I hope you have a lovely and restful one, and a wonderful new year ahead!
I know I just restarted my Substack this December, but I truly feel so creatively energized to be part of this community and slowly finding my writing voice again. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, it truly means a lot! 💛
For the record, I don’t normally work on this much journals, and there’s no requirement to work on x number of journals (unless my boss, aka me, says I have to, lol)
I truly believe in the beauty of limitations because I’m forced to get creative with it
Recent hyperfixations: Joe Keery (what a talented cutie), ABBA, NYT Cooking’s Cookie Week, Stranger Things press interviews, Eternity video essays (you get the idea)
Before this insert, I started a regular size one for walks and nature trips, and abandoned it. So I decided to try it out on a smaller format (and it stuck!)
December Daily is a project initiated by Ali Edwards, but I’ve been doing it mostly influenced by my best friend Job
Such beautiful spreads, thank you for sharing your journals and tips. Have you previously shared any tips on keeping a neat handwriting? Your handwriting is so beautiful and well aligned! But I'm sure you worked for it 😊
Lots of fun journal pages to see! Thanks for sharing. Sounds like some amazing trips this past year. Keep on documenting!