An address book for the Midori Traveler's Notebook to print and make

On the Midori Traveler's Notebook resources Facebook page recently, somebody asked for an address book. I thought this was a good idea, so I built one. Here's how it looks:

Inside the front cover

Internal layout - note the highlighted letters down the sides of the page

This is designed to work as a Midori Traveler's Notebook insert but will work equally well as a stand-alone booklet.

You can download the address book pages and print a booklet for yourself. The file prints double-sided on A4 paper in booklet mode. You can then bind the sheets into a cover and trim. This post will show you how.

I'm making this available as a in two formats, so everyone should be able to use it. If you want to tinker with it, choose the editable Word file, which is unprotected.

To get started, either download the Word file or download the PDF file.

Indexing your notebook content

If you use a bound notebook rather than a loose-leaf system it can be tricky to locate a particular note just when you need it. Your notes are likely to have been accumulated in a chronological order and unless you maintain multiple notebooks the information won't be organised to make retrieving it always a simple matter.

That's where an index can be very useful. When you set up a new notebook for the first time, reserve the first six pages (or the last six - the choice is yours). Divide each of those pages into four sections, like this:

Do this to all six pages and you will have 24 sections in all. You need to assign each to a letter of the alphabet, combining X, Y and Z in the last section. If you want to combine a few more letters (P and Q, or W and V, for instance) you might be able to get the index down to 4 or 5 pages. Write the relevant letter in each section:

Now, as you go about filling the rest of the notebook, take some time, perhaps weekly, to review the new content and index it. If, for instance, page 3 of your notebook contains a list of the books you want to read, create an entry in your index section for the letter "B":

 If later you should list more books you want to read on page 16, you can add this to the same entry:

Here's how your opening index page might look after a couple of weeks of use:

This is a really practical way to get the advantages of a bound notebook and still be able to find specific content quickly when you need to.

New Midori Traveler's Notebook cutout - 2014 UK Holidays

A while ago, I decided to start making information sheets you could print, cut out and stick in your Midori Traveler's Notebook, just like the ones you can get at the Midori site.

Today's cut-out file shows UK holidays in 2014.

In all, there are 4 pages in this file which collectively list all the major holidays in the UK in 2014. There is space for you to add your own important dates too.

You can download the PDF file here.

Print at full size and cut as indicated (there are printer's crop marks on every page as shown below.) Then simply glue into your notebook insert.

I'm intending to make more of these cut-out inserts; please let me know in the comments if there is anything you would like to see included.

Filofax Personal note page inserts for Letter Paper users

If you're in North America, without access to A4 paper but with plentiful stocks of Letter paper, you'll probably be keen to download and print these generic note pages for your Personal size Filofax.

There's a choice of three for you: lined paper, grid paper or dot grid paper.

My lined paper is a little different from the standard Filofax version. Here are the two side by side so you can more closely compare them - mine is on the left, with the standard Filofax page on the right.

In my version, there's less space at the very top and the lines are more widely spaced.

Download as a Word file or as a PDF file.


Here is the grid paper:

Download as a Word file or as a PDF file.


And here is the dot grid:

Download as a Word file or as a PDF file.


I'm sure you can find hundreds of uses for each of these.

Print them double-sided. If you have a duplex printer, set it to flip on the short edge. If you don't then you'll have to print odd-numbered pages and then refeed to print the even-numbered pages on the reverse. You might have to experiment to find out how to refeed the paper.

On one side of each sheet you'll find crop marks. Use a craft knife and a steel ruler to release the Personal pages and punch them. The templates are set up with mirrored gutters to accommodate the holes.

If using the PDF be sure to set it to print at full size as explained here.

Ideas for your Personal Filofax page template

So you've downloaded your Filofax Personal page template for Word. You probably have ideas of your own for how you might use it, but here are a couple I had.

I'm always using websites to find recipes for food I'd like to make, but when I'm ready to make something I often decide just to make something familiar because I can't be bothered going to find the recipe again. Well, with a little cut-and-paste action, I can have that recipe in my Filofax ready for use next time:

Do you have an email inbox full of emails that contain information you don't need right now, but don't want to forget? Again, a little cut-and-paste into the template and you can happily file or delete the mail, knowing that you have its information accessible and ready for use:

What ideas have you had for using the template?

Template for printing directly on Filofax Personal paper

I've had a few requests for a Word template that will let you print directly onto plain Filofax paper and today I am making one available for download. Not all printers will handle this size of paper and very few will be able to use their duplex function with it. But if you're happy to print a side at a time, this is what you need.

It comes with some placeholder text so you can see where the margins are. It is set up with mirror margins, so odd-numbered pages have their margin for the holes on the left, while even-numbered pages expect the holes to be on the right.

This might be handy for information you need to have to hand. I have a sheet, for instance, with all the phone numbers to report the loss of different credit and membership cards (which I don't carry in my Filofax or the list might be pointless!)

Anyway, whatever your use, you can download the file by clicking here: Filofax Personal Microsoft Word template 

Making your own Midori-style Traveler's Notebook - video tutorial

I've been meaning to get around to this for a long time. Here is a video that shows every stage of making your own Traveler's Notebook. It includes some optional steps, like rounding off the corners and adding a bookmark.

I hope you enjoy watching, and perhaps making your own Traveler's Notebook.