How to Add Inserts to A Traveler's Notebook

The TRAVELER'S notebook is a favorite of stationery lovers in large part because of its central design concept: instead of carrying around multiple notebooks and planners and tools, you can customize this notebook to include all your favorite elements in one location, creating your ideal personal setup. In our blog post How to Choose Accessories for Your TRAVELER'S notebook, we explore the different types of accessories you can use to customize your notebook so it’s a great fit for you.

So you’ve got your TRAVELER'S notebook, you’ve picked out your favorite accessories, and you’re ready to go. But a practical question remains: how exactly do you set this thing up? Below, we’ll explain how to add refills and accessories to your notebook.

Adding Notebook Refills to Your TRAVELER'S notebook

The TRAVELER'S notebook comes with one blank notebook refill already inside, but you don’t have to stick to using one notebook at a time. The notebook system is designed to let you carry up to three notebooks. Official guidance from the TRAVELER'S COMPANY suggests this is the limit (especially if you want to add other accessories), but we’ve seen folks fit up to four or even five refills inside. At that point the cover can begin to feel a little overstuffed, but hey—it’s your notebook! You can set it up in whatever way works best for you. 

The TRAVELER'S notebook uses a simple method to hold refills: an elastic band that runs down the center spine of the cover, which you slide through the notebook refill to hold it in place. The secret to snugly adding lots of notebooks is the Connecting Rubber Bands accessory, which lets you “bind” multiple refills together inside the notebook cover.

To add a single refill to your notebook, open up the notebook cover and open your notebook refill to the center (you’ll see staples running down the middle of the pages). Slide the open refill underneath the elastic band inside the spine of your notebook, and voila: ready to go.

Adding two refills:

There are several ways to add a second refill to your notebook: two methods that use just the materials that come with the notebook, and two methods that use connecting rubber bands.

Method 1: Add a second notebook under the main elastic. You might have noticed that the center elastic band inside the notebook cover is one big loop, with a longer side where you inserted your first notebook and a shorter side behind it. You can use the shorter side of the elastic band to add a second notebook. First insert a single refill as described above. Then close that refill and lay it on the left inside cover. You should see the second piece of elastic peeking out underneath the spine. Gently tug on this part of the elastic to loosen it up, then open your second refill and slide it underneath the same way you did with the first.

Method 2: Use the extra elastic that comes with the packaging. When you purchase a TRAVELER'S notebook cover, it comes in a cardboard box with a piece of elastic threaded through it to hold the package closed. You can repurpose this elastic to add a second refill to your notebook. Pull the elastic out of the cardboard, leaving it knotted at the ends so it remains in a loop. Stretch this loop over the spine of your notebook cover, then open up your second refill and slide it under the new elastic.

Method 3: Use a connecting band. Add your first refill as shown in Method 1. Place your second refill next to the first one with the covers touching, and open both refills to their center pages. Slide a connecting band down to the center of the two refills so they’re rubber-banded together. 

Method 4: Connecting band, version 2. For a slightly neater version of this method, open the two refills to their centers and rubber-band them together BEFORE attaching them to the notebook cover. Then close both refills and lay them flat so they’re facing away from each other, spine to spine. Slide the whole rig underneath the central elastic so it runs between the two notebook spines.  

Adding three refills:

To add three refills to your notebook, you’ll start with Method 4 above. Open up two refills to their centers and rubber-band them together with a connecting band, then lay the refills flat so they’re facing in opposite directions with spines touching. Lay them inside the notebook cover, but without sliding them under the center elastic. 

Next, gently tug the two notebooks away from each other and pull the center elastic up between the gap. Open a third refill to its center, and slide it underneath the center elastic. Now all three notebooks are snugly connected to the notebook cover.

Adding four refills:

There are a couple of ways to add four refills to your notebook, building on the methods above.

Method 1: Start with the same steps you used for adding three refills. Open up two refills to their centers and rubber-band them together with a connecting band, then lay the refills flat so they’re facing in opposite directions with spines touching. Lay them inside the notebook cover, but without sliding them under the center elastic.

Then, open up two more refills and rubber-band them together the same way. Close them so they’re facing in opposite directions with spines touching. Finally, tug the first two notebooks away from each other and pull the center elastic up between the gap. Slide the second pair of notebooks underneath the center elastic. 

Method 2: Open up two refills to their centers and rubber-band them together with a connecting band, then lay the refills flat so they’re facing in opposite directions with spines touching. Slide the notebooks underneath the cover’s central elastic so it runs between the two notebook spines.

Next, lay these two refills one on top of another on the back cover. Open a third refill to the center and use a connecting rubber band to attach this refill to the notebook on top.

Finally, flip all three attached refills over to the other side and repeat the previous step with a fourth refill, using a connecting rubber band to attach it to the refill at the back.

Adding accessories:

Finally, some TRAVELER'S notebook accessories also make use of the elastic band system. The kraft folders, zipper pockets, sticky notes, card files, and others come in a folio format that you can slide underneath the elastic bands in your notebook. You can insert these in place of any of the refills in the methods described above. You can also add them in a couple of other ways:

• Sandwich a folder or other accessory around the outside of all your notebook inserts, so it ends up on the inside of the cover.
• Sandwich a folder or other accessory around one single notebook insert, so it separates that insert from the others.
• Sandwich a folder or other accessory inside the middle of a notebook insert, so it ends up at the very center of your notebook.

Bonus tip: If you add the TRAVELER'S notebook Zipper Case accessory to your notebook, you can use it to hold an additional refill! You can insert the front cover of a notebook refill into the back pocket flap of the zipper case to hold it snugly in your notebook.

Whew—that was a lot of methods! TRAVELER'S notebook fans are creative folks and often come up with new and different ways to attach multiple inserts. You may find other methods you like to add inserts to your notebook; there’s really no right or wrong way, so have fun playing around with different methods until you find one that feels comfortable for you. We hope this tutorial gives you a great starting point to play with!