Review: ZLYC Traveler's Notebooks

ZLYC traveler's notebooks in dark coffee, compared to Midori traveler's notebooks in black.

Today I will be reviewing for ZLYC, a company whose original aim has been to provide handmade items for their customers. Their main products are handmade leather journals, wallets, purses, and wooden watches. They state that in their brand, one can "find the charm of handmade crafts." 

I was kindly sent the ZLYC Traveler's Notebook set of three in dark coffee to review for you all. The set is usually around $40 on Amazon, but you can buy the passport or standard size individually as well.

My notebooks came packaged inside of a box with the ZLYC logo.

Inside, both notebooks were wrapped in plastic bags. Under them was a canvas bag and card.

Both the passport and standard size covers came with extra black elastic, as well as three inserts: lined, blank, and calendar. These inserts were held by orange elastics, which contrasted really well with the dark brown leather.

The leather itself is buttery smooth to touch.

Among the aspects I want to point out about ZLYC, I especially like how the notebooks are sewn, rather than stapled. It makes them feel much more secure.

Both ZLYC and Midori have tin clasps, although they differ in color and shape. The ZLYC elastic is also thicker than Midori's.

I know that some people don't like how Midori covers have the elastic knot on the back cover, which can interfere with writing. They might appreciate the fact that the ZLYC elastic starts at the spine.

I'll start with the standard cover.

The standard cover came wrapped with the leather pen holder. I tried housing one of my Pilot G2s in the case, but it was a tight fit. Realistically, I don't see myself using it.

The blank insert has off-white, creamy paper. I noted that the ZLYC paper felt slightly thicker than Midori's.

The PVC insert has a zipper pouch and card slots. The plastic feels fairly durable. If desired, you could turn your notebook into a wallet.

This calendar insert has a strange format, with every two pages containing squares numbered 1-31. It's not something I'm accustomed to, so I don't think I'll be using the passport or standard calendar inserts.

I liked the lined insert, especially because I enjoy writing. The grey dashed lines are inconspicuous and easy on the eyes.

It would be rather redundant to show photos of the passport inserts, as they are virtually the same as the standard's--apart from the smaller size. I thought it would be helpful to take out my inserts and compare the ZLYC passport cover to Midori's.

I didn't enjoy how tight the elastics were. As you can tell from the photo above, the Midori cover lays pretty flat, whereas the ZLYC passport curls inwards--a sure sign of tight elastics. This made removing inserts a hassle. I didn't have this issue with the standard notebook cover, though.

Something I also noticed was how the ZLYC cover was slightly wider than Midori's. Often, when using three paper inserts or so in a Midori notebook, there's a bit of "overhang." Due to ZLYC's larger cover, one doesn't face the same problem. 

Because I wanted to show how the ZLYC notebook looked after a week of use, I decided that I would take the passport size out everyday.

This is my ZLYC after a week of use. I was pleasantly surprised at how easily the leather was scratched and scuffed up, but I guess that's the "vintage" aspect of it. The dark coffee color is really good for those who want the Indiana Jones look right away.

In addition, I was interested in seeing how the paper would hold up to watercolor and ink. I wasn't expecting professional watercolor paper quality, but I wanted to know if painting was possible.

The paper holds up surprisingly well to watercolor. Warping of the page was expected, but there was no bleed through or damage to the other pages. As you can see from the above photo, I used my Pilot G2 pen and experienced ghosting and what appears to be a dot that bled through. This did not affect future writing.

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The verdict? The ZLYC notebooks are an affordable alternative to Midori. They come with extra inserts, and gain a lot of character in a short amount of time. I'm happy with the feel of the leather and the paper. This set would be a good option for writers and journalers alike.

Disclosure: I was sent this notebook set in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own, and I was not compensated in any other way.