The Tranquilo Traveler
The Tranquilo Traveler is a celebration of voluntourism, slow travel, and other interesting ways to see the world. Travel writer and award- winning Moon Handbooks author Joshua Berman created The Tranquilo Travel as a resource for world trippers and international volunteers, a window to the author’s travels in Nicaragua, Belize, and beyond, and an update of his books and articles.
Moleskine: The Books Behind the Blog
By Joshua | August 24th, 2006 | 
5 Comments » 
The “legendary notebook,” reads the official website, has been “used by European artists and thinkers for the past two centuries. From Van Gogh to Picasso, from Ernest Hemingway to Bruce Chatwin.”
These men used Moleskines, says a card tucked inside each book, making me feel very intellectual chic as I peel a thigh-bent ’skine out of my front pocket. My fingers, on their way to retrieve a fine felt-tip pen, pause to contemplate my new explorer’s ’stache. Because I am in Accra, I ask the waitress for another Castle Milk Stout, and I admire how the setting sun lights up the bottle.
Yes, I filled many-a-Mole during this last year of travel, pouring ink on pages, stuffing its “expandable inner pocket made of cardboard and cloth” with soggy rupee notes, Thai baht and East African shillings; or with heart-shaped Bodhi leaves from sacred sites; or African postage stamps; Indian to-do lists from our three months in Birpara.
From the front of my notebooks, I scribble scene descriptions, overheard dialogue, and idea dumps for blog entries, stories, etc. From the other end, I work backward, coating pages with phone numbers, hotel addresses, calculations, and local language greetings. When the two ends meet, the book full, I store it and immediately crack open a freshie.
At the end of our trek in Pakistan, I asked our guide, Karim, to draw a map of the route we’d just completed.
WITH ITS VARIOUS DIFFERENT PAGE STYLES IT ACCOMPANIES
THE CREATIVE PROFESSIONS AND HAS BECOME
A SYMBOL OF CONTEMPORARY NOMADISM.
Indeed. Indiana Jones carried one, tucked next to his whip. I am the Marlboro Man, a pen instead of a cigarette, scribbling by candlelight in another medieval place. Like Hunza. Or Benares. Or Angkor. Or Kparigu.
One afternon in Casablanca, I dip my fingertip in coffee to color a drawing of hills outside the Dakar airport; then I smear dirt from a potted plant to paint the smoke from burning trash above dusky sillhouettes of mosque towers and blocky homes.
And now there’s this. Here. In America after 15 months abroad, with a stack of books, thousands of photos, and there still are so many empty pages.
* * *
© Images and text by Joshua Berman, All rights reserved.
5 Responses to “Moleskine: The Books Behind the Blog”
I love Moleskine…It is not as much about the notebook per se *though they pride themselves on being very well designed, I find the paper quite poor*…they simply give you a feeling…make you believe in yourself and your abilities…
Man, just to look at your moleskine makes me want to hit the road. These notebooks are pure magic! (and pure magic costs a bit much these days…)
Books are the only friend of Human in state of loneliness.
Hello. My name is Priti Singh and I’m a Research Scholar and Writer from New Delhi. I write to you as the author of the coffee table book “The Islands and Tribes of Andaman and Nicobar.” I happened to learn of your site and thought it appropriate to bring to your notice the publication of such an exquisite, informative and engaging book on a place that you now have an acknowledged affinity with. The book of course is sui generis in the sense that it is the first of its kind on the islands and unlike a regular glossy. It is extremely exhaustive - detailing every aspect of this very unique archipelago which in all probability is the last bastion of primeval mankind and one of the few places left on earth that remain un-spoilt by man’s rapacity.
I’d be extremely grateful if you could encourage and be one of the happy patrons of this book. Such patronage would also be of great service to the people and economy of these idyllic islands as it would help revive tourism there (60% of the island’s population is directly/indirectly dependent on the industry) that has been badly hit post-tsunami.
“The Islands and Tribes of Andaman and Nicobar” illustrates and showcases all the wondrous facets of the archipelago and contains some very rare archival images and documents that give it an engaging edge. The book has been well received and features in the Nov.2006 issue of the Incredible India magazine. The foreword of the book has been written by the world renowned wildlife photographer Mr. Rajesh Bedi (whose brilliant images of the place and its aboriginal tribes form an important part of the book).
If interested, you could contact me or Mr. Gaurav Sabharwal, Director, Sales and Marketing - Prakash Books for further details. Ph. 91-11-23247062-65 Fax. 91-11-23246975
Looking forward to a favourable response.
Thank you and Regards,
Priti Singh
P.S: I’d be grateful if you could check out the book and help spread a good word about it.
My Blog – “Edit Page India”
Link - http://ideas4romindia.blogspot.com
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Goodby Pakistan.