TRAVELER’S BOOKS Reading Month is a special season celebrated at TRAVELER’S FACTORY. As the leaves start turning color and the late summer heat slowly subsides, we’re embracing the coming cozy evenings and retreating to our books to transport us to new locales or worlds. The TRAVELER’S notebook continues to be an essential companion for today’s readers, offering a tactile experience for keeping reading notes and journaling thoughts in our increasingly digital world.
TRAVELER’S notebook OFFICIAL GUIDE
To commemorate this season, the TRAVELER’S notebook OFFICIAL GUIDE is back in stock. TRAVELER’S notebook OFFICIAL GUIDE is the first official guidebook about TRAVELER’S notebook, created to celebrate its 15th anniversary. It includes an introduction to how to use TRAVELER’S notebook, customization ideas, and interviews with 20 TRAVELER’S notebook users and their lives with their notebooks, from musicians and broadcasters to people from all walks of life. We believe that this book is also filled with the likes of many users and that it has become a book that is representative of TRAVELER’S COMPANY.
TRAVELER’S notebook OFFICIAL GUIDE is only available in Japanese, but we hope you can still find inspiration through demonstrative photos, illustrations, and content about how people use TRAVELER’S notebook!
Inside each book is a special set of stickers that you can use to customize your TRAVELER’S notebook!
TRAVELER’S BOOKS Pop-up at Bel Canto Books
Date: 9/20, 2025 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Location: 3976 Atlantic Ave, Long Beach, CA 90807
This year, TRAVELER’S COMPANY USA returns for our second event with Bel Canto Books, a Filipinx-owned bookstore based in Long Beach, California. Following the success of our first collaboration in 2024, the TRC USA team will once again host a pop-up event inside Bel Canto Books at their KUBO LB location in Bixby Knolls on September 20th.
Bel Canto Books owner, Jhoanna Belfer, has curated a new list of books centered around creativity, memory-keeping and travel, which you can shop at the event. At the Pop-Up, the TRC USA team will have the TRAVELER’S COMPANY regular line-up, TRC USA Limited items, and other TRAVELER’S FACTORY Original Items. TF Original Stamps will also be available for fans to customize their notebooks.
At the event, if you make a purchase from both Bel Canto and TRAVELER’S COMPANY USA Pop-up, we will give away an original letterpress bookmark designed exclusively for this TRAVELER’S BOOKS Reading Month Event, while supplies last.
*The original bookmark will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis, while supplies last.
At the pop-up event, we will also have a limited quantity of A6 leather book cover for a made of TRAVELER’S notebook leather. It is designed to be simple and easy to use, just like TRAVELER’S notebook. The more you use it, the more the leather will change and become more durable. These are available in black, brown, and camel leather.
The TF Leather Case for Reading Glasses is designed to hold slim glasses, such as reading glasses. The leather of TRAVELER’S notebook is die-cut to fit the shape of glasses and hand-stitched. There are no hooks or lids, so it is easy to take them out quickly and compact. It is recommended for reading glasses, which are often worn on and off. It also has a convenient string for attaching to a neck strap or key chain.
About Bel Canto Books
Bel Canto Books is a woman-owned, BIPOC-owned independent bookstore based in Long Beach, California. Founded by Jhoanna Belfer, a Filipinx American poet and former hospitality executive, Bel Canto Books offers a curated selection of fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books. The concept of the store started in 2018 as a traveling monthly book club pop-up at various street fairs and local businesses. Today, it has grown to two physical locations and one mini-bookstore pop-up in the neighborhoods of Long Beach.
Jhoanna’s mission with Bel Canto Books is to foster joy, creativity and curiosity, one book, one connection at a time.
TRAVELER’S BOOKS with Jhoanna
We recently caught up with Jhoanna to learn more about her journaling practices and how TRAVELER’S notebook fits into her creative life.
How are you currently using your TRAVELER’S notebook?
“I switched from a regular-sized Traveler’s notebook to the passport one for #OneBookJuly, and I’m really loving the more compact size. It’s so much easier to carry all the time, so it functions as an all-in-one bullet journal, notebook, and travel journal for my day-to-day adventures. For longer trips, I use a regular-sized Travelers notebook to plan out my itinerary, jot down notes, and journal about what I do/see/eat each day.”
How has memory-keeping and journaling changed for you since using a TRAVELER’S notebook?
“I really love the versatility of the different types of notebook sizes and papers and how lightweight they are. It’s made it more fun to try out different notebooks and see what works best for me and my needs that day or that trip. I’ve noticed that I prefer grid or dotted paper for my day-to-day notebook since I keep a habit tracker/schedule and write down a lot of notes and to-do lists. When I travel, I can be freer with my journaling, often including photos and ephemera, so I prefer a plain notebook for trips.”
Does your reading habit connect with your journaling/creative paper crafting habits?
“Yes! I love to keep track of my reading time and what books I’ve finished using a simple monthly habit tracker in my notebook. I also keep a separate multi-year reading journal with short book reviews, ratings, and stats on what kinds of books I’m reading each year.”
Jhoanna’s Recommended Books
CREATIVITY & INSPIRATION
Making Comics by Lynda Barry
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
The Book of Delights by Ross Gay
MEMORY-KEEPING & JOURNALING
Dot Journaling by Rachel Wilkerson Miller
The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll
The Art of the Travel Journal by Abbey Sy
Memory Piece by Lisa Ko
TRAVEL
Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr
What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding by Kristin Newman
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Belonging by Nora Krug
Jhoanna’s Long Beach Recommendations
As a Long Beach resident and store owner, Jhoanna shared her favorite spots for travelers visiting the city:
SHOPPING
The main Bel Canto bookstore is on 4th Street in Long Beach in the heart of Retro Row, a neighborhood with vintage and indie shops. Jhoanna recommends visiting the Assistance League Thrift Shop, Alder & Sage, Oh La Vache cheese shop, and Native Sol.
FOR PAPER LOVERS
Page Against The Machine, Kitchen Lingo, Casita Bookstore, Songbird Boutique, Cool Cat Collective, and Blue Windows.
FOOD
San & Wolves (a Filipinx-owned bake shop), Colossus Bread, and Gusto Bread.
SIGHTSEEING
Long Beach Aquarium, Rosie’s Dog Beach, and Hilltop Park in nearby Signal Hill for the best views.
Have a nice trip!
