Notebook Review: Compoco Airplane View Journal

Review by Laura Cameron

A few weeks ago the lovely people at Compoco asked us if we’d like to sample their newest offering, the Airplane View A5 Journal ($21.00). A travel-themed journal with dot grid? You bet I said yes!

The Airplane View Journal is a bit tricky to photograph because the cover is an embossed faux leather in white. I’ve added my pictures in below, but I’m also including a better one from Compoco.

The thing I love about this journal is all the lovely touches they added to make this special. From the outside, there’s the beautiful cover, but the edges of the paper are also holographic!

When you open the book you’re treated to the lovely front and end pages which are blue sky and clouds. The back of the book also includes Compoco’s signature pocket, perfect to hold ticket stubs, stickers, receipts or other mementos of your journey!

Just beyond that is a cute title page, where you can indicate who the journal belongs to.

The remainder of the book is filled with lovely dot grid paper. The pages are white, and the dot grid is a pale grey. The pages are unnumbered but there are 192 of them; 184 of dot grid plus 8 perforated blank pages in case you need some paper to go.

Finally, the journal includes two, satin bookmarks (one pale blue, one white) and an elastic band to hold the book closed once you’ve stuffed it with your travel mementos! Any specs I may have missed are below:

So now let’s talk paper! The paper is great. It’s 100gsm and quite smooth. It takes ink beautifully, without bleeding or feathering. I tried everything at my desk, save the Sharpie, and while there’s a bit of ghosting, no bleed through!

I’m heading to Ireland in June, and I think I’ve just found my travel journal!


BONUS: Compoco is offering a discount to Well-Appointed Desk readers. Receive 15% off your order through the month of April with the coupon code 15well.


The Giveaway

But wait, there’s more. The lovely people at Compoco sent a box of swag for you!

Items in the giveaway package are:


TO ENTER: Leave a comment ON THIS POST ON THE BLOG and tell us where you would take your Airplane View Journal! One entry per person.

If you have never entered a giveaway or commented on the site before, your comment must be manually approved by our highly-trained staff of monkeys before it will appear on the site. Our monkeys are underpaid and under-caffeinated so don’t stress if your comment does not appear right away. Give the monkeys some time.

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Friday, April 12, 2019. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Saturday, April 13. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear – just email you if you win. If winner does not respond within 7 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US residents and APO/FPO only please.


DISCLAIMER: The items included in giveaway were provided free of charge by Compoco. Please see the About page for more details.

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86 comments

  1. What a beautiful notebook! I used to fly a lot, rarely leave my farm anymore. I would like this journal to first take with me to a pastel workshop in September so I can record ideas, concepts, and advice that I learn while I’m there. Thanks for the giveaway!

  2. This is such a beautiful notebook! I’m planning a trip to Sweden and Norway later this year, I’d take it with me there 🙂

  3. I’ve been saving for a return to Scotland… the ancient land of my father’s family… this would make the perfect companion!

  4. I would love to give this travel journal to my wife and have her bring it with me to St. Augustine, FL for a get-away weekend!

  5. The bucket list destination is Japan. I would easily fill up one of those notebooks on that trip.

  6. I have a Compoco journal and can attest to how wonderful the paper is. I would love to win a second one as well as the other great items that you’ve included. Thanks so much for hosting this giveaway. If I win, I’d take this airplane journal to my local coffee shop and start using it as a poetry journal. Not too exotic of a travel but it is still leaving home!

  7. I’d take it to New Orleans and Mississippi to visit family – journaling the trip is one of the part of traveling I enjoy.

  8. I’m hoping to go hiking in Utah this summer, I would take that with me to journal it in at the end of the day

  9. Cool notebook! I travel a lot for work, so who knows where it would end up! Definitely a trip to Italy later this year.

  10. I would take it with me for journaling at my upcoming family reunion this summer. Thanks for the giveaway!

  11. There was a time when I was financially free enough to travel – not so now. Rather than sit this one out, I’d like to take this book on creative journeys in illustration and reviving some time to write for myself. And perhaps eventually (or soon enough) travel will be an option again 🙂

  12. Beautiful! I would take this notebook with me on my breast cancer survivorship journey!

  13. I don’t fly much these days due to a health issue. ( I hope to get back to long-distance traveling after all the doctors have emptied my pockets.) So instead of flying, I would take a journal on a hike!
    Fred

  14. I’d love to take it to the Netherlands, though I’m just as likely to give it to my daughter as a graduation/travel gift for when she goes to England later this year.

  15. What a lovey giveaway!. I would love to take this travel journal on a trip to Barcelona Spain.

  16. Lovely! I would take this journal whenever I finally go to Mankato, Minnesota to see the Betsy-Tacy House.

  17. Thank you for the giveaway.

    I would take it to Chicago when hopefully I’ll be going to see the Ring Cycle. The clouds would be symbolic of the lofty heights of Valhalla.

  18. I would take it to Normandy for the 75th Anniversary of troops parachuting onto the beaches.

  19. I’m not usually a fan of travel journals, but this one is gorgeous. I’d take it with me on my next trip to Scotland.

  20. Laura, you opened another world for me when you mentioned on your podcast about helping your friend at the pen show. I never knew such a wonderful thing existed! So then (of course!), I subscribed to The Well-Appointed Desk. Yarn, pens, and paper are such wonderful things! My dream trip would be to Great Britain, but if I won the journal, I’d use it to write about my day-to-day experiences, because life’s a journey, too, isn’t it?

  21. I would take my journal/notebook when I visit the San Francisco International Pen Show this summer! It’s my only pen show this year and I’m already too excited!

  22. I’m planning to be at the History of Science Society meeting in Utrecht later this year. I could take the journal to take notes!

  23. Thank you for such a generous giveaway. I think I would take my journal to Milan, Italy. I have never been out of the USA but would love to go somewhere!

  24. I’d take this journal with me to Spain. I’m sure I could fill it up on the 2 weeks I’ll be in the Andalucian region alone.

  25. This is gorgeous! I don’t have any big trips planned for this year, but if I could take it anywhere, I’d take it to the Dry Tortugas and Florida Keys!

  26. I fly between Boston and St Louis regularly and the flight is a nice 3hr chunk of writing/journaling time, but this specific notebook is so nice that I’d probably save it for my trip to Scotland in August!

  27. I would love to win this beautiful set – and I bet the holographic edges are amazing!

  28. I am doing a research project this summer in D.C. and really need great notebook .

  29. What a beautiful travel journal. My next trip is to Mexico, so that would be the perfect notebook to take along.

  30. Hopefully Oslo, if the stars align. Otherwise, I’d like to get back to Ireland soon!

  31. I always keep a travel journal for all my trips. The next one is scuba diving in Bonaire and I can’t think of a lovelier way to remember this trip than to write down all my thoughts in this journal. It’s beautiful!!

  32. It’s so pretty! I’d take it to Wiscon, a feminist science fiction convention in Madison, Wisconsin next month. There are so many pen/stationary nerds I’ll be seeing there and they’d all love it as much as I do.

  33. this is such a beautiful set. i may be soon traveling to the midwest as my father is ill. this would be such a cheerful distraction. thanks for the chance.

  34. Amazing notebook!!!! I rarely comment on your blog, but usually read it 🙂
    Next year I’m travelling to Vietnam so it would be perfect to record.

  35. I would take it all over! Probably first to Spain to visit my niece. I love working on travel journals – setting them up before we go, planning, then writing and drawing along the way so I don’t forget. Pasting in ticket stubs and other odds and ends.

    This notebook looks completely lovely and I really want one!

  36. I would take this lovely journal to….LONDON! Or, hold onto it for a dear friend’s daughter who is graduating this spring. She might like it.

  37. My husband and I are taking a trip to London, Scotland, and Ireland in the fall. I’ve been dreaming of going to some of the spots on our itinerary since I was about 6. This notebook would be perfect to save memories of a trip 20 years in the making!

  38. If and/or when I go river cruising in Europe, hopefully this journal will be along on that journey!

  39. I would take mine to Ireland and Scotland… if I got a chance to go that is!

  40. Awesome!!! I’d love to take my new journal to Seattle with my kids this summer!! Also… I recognize the FWP Brush Pen…but have no idea what that gorgeous compact translucent gem is beside it. Please let me know! Thanks!

  41. This is so pretty! I’m going to Nepal in June and looking for a notebook to take along – this one is perfect!

  42. This would accompany me to Disney this summer to hold my musings on the trip.

  43. That is a beautiful looking notebook. I’m journaling more of my trainings now, so I’d take it with me on business, but it would remind me of the joy of travelling to new adventures!

  44. I would save this notebook for travel to Japan next year. We will be visiting the area of Kumamoto, where my wife’s family is from. This adds a couple of flights to the trip, a perfect time to journal.

  45. I would take this on my trip to Niagara Falls. It would be the perfect journal for this trip.

  46. I travel quite a bit so I am always on the look out for travel journals that are fountain pen friendly and this one looks awesome! I am planning a trip to Santa Fe and this would definitely be in my bag!

  47. Lovely notebook and cool swag! I would take it with me to writers conferences this spring.

  48. This is super pretty! And I love dot grid. We are talking about Hawaii sometime, but so far it’s all just talk. Maybe this could be impetus to plan. 🙂

  49. That’s a great looking notebook. I would definitely take it while traveling. Perhaps even by a plane but definitely on a train where I can stretch out and do some real journaling.

  50. I would love to take the journal on my dream trip to England. Unfortunately, this won’t be until I retire in 2025.

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