Last pens you traveled with.

[Kaputnik]

What pens and other writing stuff did you take on your last "trip"? Of course, technically, going to and from work every day is a trip, or running errands, or going for your morning walk, but I trust it's clear that I don't mean that.:) When you last traveled, for business or personal reasons, by plane, train, boat, or trudging through the wilderness, what did you bring with you?

I just returned from a two week trip to take care of family matters, not exactly a vacation. I took commercial airlines, with a small carry-on plus a tablet PC in a small extra case, so there was no question of bringing all my stuff. I restricted myself to two fountain pens, a Pilot Vanishing Point and a Junior K, both with replacement cartridges. The Pilot Cartridges are easy to refill and then reseal, so I wasn't restricted to their standard inks. Also brought an old Wearever 1.1 mm mechanical pencil and a Parker Jotter ballpoint. And I found room for three notebooks, a Tomoe River journal, a 4x6 Clairefontaine that I use for certain records, and a hip pocket sized Rhodia.

Who pares things down to a single pen and notebook? Who takes a portable office with them?

[Jeph]

On my last international trip (Las Vegas) I took my Lamy 2000 filled with Aurora Black, a Rhodia #12 dot pad and a Rhodia #16 graph steno and that was all.
My next scheduled international trip (London) will be an entirely different story and I am still struggling to try to get down to only 24 pens for that one.
I carry around a dozen for normal daily carry but have only 8 today.
So, my answer is: It depends.

[RuiFromUK]

On my last holiday we went to Hay on Wye in Wales and I took 2 pens:

1. Montblanc 90th anniversary edition with O2B nib + 90th anniversary permanent grey ink
2. Pelikan 200 Cognac with M400 O2B nib + Montblanc Honore Balzac blue ink

While there I bought a Rhodia notepad.

[KBeezie]

I haven't 'traveled' with the pens anywhere yet, but I will be going to Missouri soon, and planning on taking at the very least:
My Montblanc 225 and Eversharp Skyline Demi (it's a family reunion, would be nice to show off).

And possibly one of the following to fill my third slot in the pen case (still deciding).
- Pilot Falcon with Soft Fine (mainly to show off the Apache Sunset... but not too practical)
- Platinum Century 3776 w/ Soft Fine (It's reliable, doesn't dry out, and has some flex, but it's got Akkerman shocking blue in it, which I don't have much left of)
- Lamy Safari (F), Pilot Metropolitan (M or F), or Pilot Elite Mini (18K Soft Fine) as the pens I could keep in a shirt pocket that doesn't need to be in the case
- Or maybe even my Nemosine Singularity with a Goulet 1.5 and R&K Salix if I need something bold to make a statement.

Ideally whichever ones I end up going with, at least two of them are coming with a full sample vial for refill, which makes the MB225 and Eversharp a pretty definite since I already got a vial of Noodler's Black Eel and Noodler's Liberty's Elysium filled up and in a little plastic baggie, with a small napkin folded up next to it. As a bonus though, both inks are waterproof... hey, it may become relevant lol.

But I will have with me my Rhodia No.14 pad in a orange pad holder as well as some cheap notepads in the top of my camera bag (CPP University ruled notebooks, a dollar fifty and behaves rather well with fountain pens). My camera and lens are likely to take up the most space in my bag on the trip, but there's room right in the front for me to fit my 3Wunder Leather Case (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L81_5HeKTg0) pretty securely. I don't want to take more than 3 to 4 pens with me on the trip. (though I may take some of my cheap Jinhaos that I can gift to anyone interested).

[gregamckinney]

My last trip was a drive from the Seattle area to Sacramento, CA and back a couple days later.
I have a tendency to take MANY more pens on trips than I could ever use, so lately I've been trying to be very strict about what I take.
I brought the following:

Black translucent Pilot Custom 823 (factory B nib reground to a CI) with Iroshizuku Yu-Yake ink
Black Sheaffer PFM-III (factory italic nib) with Aurora Blue ink
Blue/ "circuit board" Pelikan Expo 2000 LE (F nib ground to very narrow CI) with Kobe Brick Red ink


Best Regards, greg

[Waski_the_Squirrel]

I like to travel light. I'll carry a pen, maybe two if I think I'll need extra colors. I also carry ink.

[lisantica]

On my trip to Tucson, AZ I brought my M600 Pelikan and a Tomoe River Journal. I didn't take ink as it was a weekend trip.

[reprieve]

If I'm traveling light, I'll carry my regular daily three-pen case. Sometimes I carry either my five-pen pen roll or my Franklin Christoph six-pen Penvelope. I've traveled with the Lucky 13 Penvelope before, but now I save the dozen-pen and larger cases for pen show weekends only.

Lately I've been trying to travel light. On my last trip, I carried the three-pen case with:
Lamy 2000, XF nib, Sailor Fuji-musume
TWSBI Mini, medium nib, Sailor Sei-boku Blue-black
Nakaya Piccolo, soft medium nib, Graf von Faber Castell Moss Green

I also usually have a Retro 51 rollerball and a mechanical pencil or two floating around at the bottom of my bag.

[velo]

I travel light. My last international trip I took a Parker rollerball with a 0.6 gel refill. It's just the most convenient for me for filling out immigration/customs forms, singing hotel bills etc. For paper my trusty Midori Traveler passport and an A5 Whitelines notebook which is hopeless with fountain pens but with a rollerball is fine. A perfect chance to use it.

On a longer trip I'd take the Parker, my Lamy Al-Star with cartridge and my Pilot VP which I've just bought cartridges for. I don't really want to deal with a bottle of ink when I'm away.

[scrivelry]

I have a case I got for six dollars at Staples. It fits an absurd number of pens, although I always worry about tough cloth scratching pens and don't put my best pens in there. It even has a cute little pocket I can throw some carts in... I may take that one, with, since if I'm taking that one already no matter how many pens I put in it it will not get any bigger, a few pens.

If I decide to bring bottled ink, it won't be more than one bottle. I can live with blue ink for a week...

[dragonfly7]

I just returned from an international trip, US to Zambia. I took my Kaweco classic with J.Herbin short carts in Lie De The~.
My journal was a Moleskine. No problems with any leaks but upon arriving home, the Kaweco had a good "burp" of inky spill after it's plane ride! I took several cartridges for refilling but never needed them, the pen had good mileage in writing daily adventures for 14 days there.

[KBeezie]

Getting ready for my trip to Missouri tonight, and I gotta tell you... I cannot seem to narrow it down to which three pens I want to take, especially since I'll be receiving a vintage Kaweco AL Sport in the mail today (and traveling with untried pens is well... iffy).

I don't know how some of you guys do it. :P

[rgperedo]

I'm in Florida now. I drove down making a few stops. I have my TWSBI 580 filled with Upper Ganges Blue and my TWSBI Classic with a 1.1 stub filled with Noodler's black. I use the 580 for my journal which is a Rhodia webnotebook and I use the Classic for drawing. I brought a TSWBI Vac ink well filled with Kung Te-Cheng just in case I run out of ink in my 580 which is gonna happen today or tomorrow. I would have wanted to bring more pens but these two are reliable and comfortable to use and manage. I also carry art supplies so more pens would be overkill for me. When you're not at home and you're constantly going places it's hard to keep track of everything. The less the better for me.

[KrazyIvan]

My last trip was to San Francisco. Did not have time to plan and it was a very short trip. I took two pens. Karas Kustoms Frankenpen and an Ohto Rook.

[tandaina]

Currently traveling. I have a three pen leather holder with a Montblanc 146, Pelikan P1, and a Pelikan M400. None leaked a bit.

[Duke of Buckingham]

If I'm flying, I always take a Parker 51 in my jacket pocket. I've always got a couple of jotters in my carry-on bag.

It's not that I only use Parkers, although if I could only use one pen for the rest of my life it would be a 51.

[johniem]

I just returned from Louisiana (road trip). I carried a new Violet Pilot Metropolitan, filled with Diamine Midnight, and a hip-pocket notebook from Walmart. The notebook gets along well with all the fountain pens I've used in it so far, regardless of nib width.

[carlos.q]

On my last airplane trip I carried the following in a small leather carry-on bag:

IPad
A5 Leuchtturm1917 notebook
M200 Pelikan
Lamy 2000
30 ml Pelikan 4001 Black bottle in a ziploc bag

Enough for a week!

[LagNut]

Latest trip: Pilot VP, pilot c74, and a Pelikan.

Airplane trip, wrote on the plane with the c74, no issues till all three ran out of +(-&%$## ink on the first day. Reduced to a .5 mech pencil(4B lead). Couldn't believe it.

No way to pick up ink either.

I travel with at least an a4 notebook, along with the memory replacement notepads that inhabit my shirt pocket.

I generally have a messenger bag packed with paper and books.

I'm ticked I messed up with the ink, though. Also found that lie de the (sp?) won't dry on Clairefontain when I'm writing rapidly. Entire page transferred ink to the other side as I went to the next page. Had to have had at least 20 mins to dry...

So, back to the point - a small, though poorly provisioned, office.

Mike

[de_pen_dent]

I am flying to Namibia tomorrow via Johannesburg (I have already started the journey from my Island In the Middle of Nowhere, but am taking a 2 day stopover en route - so i do meet the requirements of the question :) ).

In my pocket while traveling: Parker 51 with Sheaffer Skrip Blue

In my 6-pen case:
Onoto Magna chased blue / M / Tsuki Yo
Sailor Precious Woods Tagayasan / B / Tsu Kushi
Delta Blue Moon Gallery / M / R&K Cassia
Sheaffer Legacy / B / Noodler BSAR
TWSBI 580 / M Pendleton Point / Caran d'Ache Amazon
Platinum President / B / Edelstein Topaz

For the game drives, I will use a couple of Lamy Safaris with EF and F nibs, with the Lamy Blue cartridges installed. If they fall/get lost or whatever, i dont care (in fact, I may give them away if anyone expresses an interest in pens).

[VertOlive]

My pens and I go out on Thursdays.
They must take turns traveling in my recently made 4-pen wrap. Today I brought my Rotring, Reynolds Millenaire, Lamy Vista, and Sheaffer Legacy--and a hardbound Tomoe River journal.

Longer, vacation-y trips would make for tough decisions. I'd either bring 'em all or commute to and from home to switch pens. And that's just sick.

[velo]

I am flying to Namibia tomorrow via Johannesburg (I have already started the journey from my Island In the Middle of Nowhere, but am taking a 2 day stopover en route - so i do meet the requirements of the question :) ).

In my pocket while traveling: Parker 51 with Sheaffer Skrip Blue

In my 6-pen case:
Onoto Magna chased blue / M / Tsuki Yo
Sailor Precious Woods Tagayasan / B / Tsu Kushi
Delta Blue Moon Gallery / M / R&K Cassia
Sheaffer Legacy / B / Noodler BSAR
TWSBI 580 / M Pendleton Point / Caran d'Ache Amazon
Platinum President / B / Edelstein Topaz

For the game drives, I will use a couple of Lamy Safaris with EF and F nibs, with the Lamy Blue cartridges installed. If they fall/get lost or whatever, i dont care (in fact, I may give them away if anyone expresses an interest in pens).

That sounds exciting. The travel bug has been biting me a lot lately.

[bananamoon]

My last trip was a long distance one to South Africa (from the UK). I know what I'm like so I didn't want to take anything too expensive. So I took a Platinum Preppy and a Kaweco Classic Sport, with cartridges so I didn't have to worry about anything unpleasant happening on the plane. I also took a Retro 51. I had some sketchbooks (and pencils) with me and my always present Calepino notebook in a Davis Leatherworks simple cover.

[Newjelan]

Traveled to NZ yesterday (Sunday) with Lamy Vista (filled with MB Carlo Collodi), Pelikan M295 Taupe (filled with MB Einstein), Pelikan Highlighter FP (yellow highlighter ink)"and Kaweco Sport Rollerball with PR Tanzanite.

Realised today that I brought the same pens with me on my previous trip to NZ in June. Next time I need to remember to take different pens.

[Quantum Sailor]

My last trip was a motorcycle ride across a few states and included a TWSBI 580 and an FC Model 29.