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Giveaway #1: Pen Chalet Gift Card

Posted on 291 Comments

Our first giveaway is a goodie! In honor of our 10th anniversary, our good friends at Pen Chalet are giving away one $50 gift card to help us celebrate. This gift certificate is good wherever Pen Chalet ships (which is most countries). Check their web site or email Pen Chalet if you leave in Bora Bora or somewhere else particularly remote to verify if  you are unsure if they ship to your region before entering the drawing.

penchalet gift card
This is not a real gift card. The real one will have a secret code on it to activate it. This is just an enticing image to get you excited to enter the giveaway.

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell me where in the world you’d like to take your pens when we can finally travel freely again. Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay? 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 Thursday, June 4, 2020. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Friday. 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. If winner does not respond within 5 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. We will forward your email address to Pen Chalet and gift card will be sent digitally. Capiche?

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291 comments

  1. I’ve been wanting to go to Italy since I was a little girl!!
    More recently I’ve been wanting to see New Zealand and Australia too… I hope someday to be able to see them all!

  3. If I could, I’d like to take my pens (and pencils!) to a little island in Brittany called Molène. Tiny, windy, surrounded by the smell of sea and the small fisherman’s boats, and sometimes the screams of the seals.
    Perfect to take long walks on the seaside or sit by the sea for hours, day dreaming or writing.

  4. Congratulations on 10 years of stationery gospel. I would take a new pen and journal on a bucket list trip to Rome, Paris and London.

  5. A friend and I are planning to visit the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, MA once it re-opens and we can travel again. What an inspiring place to journal, sketch, and write poetry. I can’t wait!

  8. Congratulations on 10 years, Ana! I’d like to get back to my favorite beach in the world..Jones Beach, on the south shore of Long Island. I’d like to sit and write under my big umbrella on that amazing stretch of sand as the waves of the Atlantic crash against the shore. I miss the smell of the ocean (and the french fries from the boardwalk : ) )..problem is, its 2,400 miles away.. oh well. it will have to wait a little while…

  9. Japan. Yes, Japan! My pens (many of them) want to head home and check things out. It’s also on my bucket list and has been for too long. Anyone else up for the trip? And…thanks Anna and …the monkeys of course, for all your crazy work on the Well Appointed Desk. It’s been fun following. Congratulations on 10!

  10. I would love to take my pens on a tour of Europe where I could use them to fill out postcards to family & friends at each place we visit.

  11. I would love to travel to mountains (somewhere, anywhere) to sketch and paint. Just a change of scenery would be nice.

  12. Well, I got back from New Zealand on Feb.1, having taken half a dozen fountain pens with me. My sketching/watercolor workshop to France has been rescheduled for next year, and I will undoubtedly take at least 4 pens.

  13. I would love to be able to take my pens and visit my family again — I miss them!

  14. My notebook, pens and I would travel back to Newfoundland, Canada. Cool breezes, icebergs, salty air and a chance to spend some time with my daughters whom I haven’t seen in a year. Right now, I am temporarily in Spain and unable to get back for a while. I’d stay in a cottage close to the sea, invite to visit only those people whose voices and presence I miss dearly. And late at night or early in the morning when the world is still asleep, I’d write my joy of being back home.

  15. I’d love to take another trip to Scotland, and bring a travel journal to do with my kids!

  16. I’m looking forward to going to the Santa Rosa and Mt San Jacinto National Monument.

  17. I would love to take my pens to Chicago, particularly if there’s a pen show to visit.

  18. Once I can pack up some pens in my trusty pen roll, and strap together my journal with a couple of books, I will head to my favorite Starbucks for something good to drink and some journaling/research in the company of my fellow creatures.

  20. I would love to sit by a river, in the sun, with a pen and journal, and listen and look at all the beauty!

  22. It will be a while before I can do much leisure travel, but hopefully I’ll be able to go to Nashville, TN, to visit family.

  23. I’d take my pens on a Mediterranean cruise—so many beautiful places to journal!

  24. I would love to take my pens to Algiers, to sit and write and look down at the sea for hours every day.

  25. I’d like to take my pens to ANY pen show that will be opening up! I miss browsing through all the goodies and talking with new people about pens and anything else. I was hoping to save up between the pen shows but it seems like I’ve purchased more online through different channels… ugh… I have an addiction…is that okay to admit? Keep up the great posts!

  27. I’d take my pens to Madagascar so I could sketch the many lemurs in their natural habitat!

  28. I would take my pens to Paris. I can picture going to the Café Jacquemart-André Museum for tea and a pastry. The rose Chantilly cream pie would do nicely. 

  29. I would love to take my pens to the Santa Cruz area and enjoy the beaches and farmers markets. Of course I would indulge in some California wines too!!

    Thank you!

  30. I would take them to the moon when Mr. Musk’s astronauts set up a nice chill zone out of the ozone.

  31. I’m boring. I would take my pens where I always take them–when I can travel: to my home monastery in the Kathmandu valley in Nepal (I am a Tibetan Buddhist teacher and translator). Oh, followed by my customary vacation in Phuket, Thailand on the way home. Way to get austerity and abundance into one trip! Thanks for the giveaway and your consistency, and CONGRATULATIONS!

  32. I want to take my Pelikan pens to Hannover (Hanover), Germany with me to to see where they were born!

  33. I would love to my pens to the Lake District in Italy to see the gorgeous scenery that attracted numerous writers.

  34. I have never been to the Cotswolds rolling countryside region of England. But I understand many fine English writers were inspired to write when they lived there. A nice, long visit in a cottage might be inspiring for me.

  35. I would love to take my pens on a tour of a place that’s not on the map. That way I can spend time writing in an environment that nobody knows about. I would not reveal where I went.

  36. Congrats on 10 years! One of my favorite times spent writing was on the rooftop of a hotel in the medieval quarter of Barcelona. Time to go back and write some more.

  38. I’d love to take it to Japan again! Maybe do some trades, attempt to draw the scenery, and write about my daily events.

  39. I would just like to take my pens and go to visit my family in St. Louis! I haven’t seen them since Christmas. I wanted to go in April, but with the coronavirus, I cancelled my trip. I miss my mom!

  46. Where to take my fountain pens? To the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico! We should probably go visit family, but I’d rather be sitting on the beach journalling and soaking in the sun.

  49. Anywhere in the world? It would have to be Japan, the home of my favourite pen brand or Hawaii so I could see the inspiration for Kanilea pens and my family might come with me…

  50. I’d like to take my pens and several notebooks to the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, KS. I’ve been there before, but next time I would skip the beginning and head straight to the Space section. I’m usually tired by then from the reading and visual treat.

    Thank you for the blog and giveaways.

  51. Congratulations and happy 10th anniversary!

    If I can take my pens anywhere, I’d like to go to San Francisco for the pen show and enjoy the beautiful outdoor areas in the city. Sketching, drawing, writing and chatting up with pen friends in person!

    Thanks again for the awesome giveaway!

  52. I’d love to go to Dublin, Ireland – so I see the Book of Kells and see that awesome library!!!

  53. I have a long solo backpacking trip in the planning stages and would love to have a new pen to take with me. Not quite the John Muir Trail, but over in that neighborhood.

  54. I’d love to take my pens and notebooks with me to Scotland and Wales one day, but right now I’d settle for packing them up for a shorter trip and visiting my family a state away.

  55. Congratulations!!! I’ll miss you in Chicago

    I’ll take my pens to New Zealand and explore the back forty and fill a sketchbook.

  56. Cabin fever sufferer here, so thanks for suggesting we think about trip ideas! I usually travel with a fountain pen and notebook, which is what I will to take on my dream trip to Spain, especially Barcelona. I’ll find a shady spot to record my adventures and impressions each day. (I’ll look for paper and pen shops, too.) What souvenir would you like me to bring you?

    Signed,
    Certifiably obsessed with fountain pens, ink, and lovely paper

  57. I had planned on traveling to California to visit family before all this stuff went down, so that’s where I’d still like to get to.

  58. Congratulations, and many more anniversaries to come!

    I would take my pens on a trip up Highway 1, along the California coastline. We might stop by Disneyland. But I would go journalling and sketching through the towns and beaches, and eventually stop for a long stay in Yosemite. I'll have to get one of my pens to learn to drive so I can look out the window and enjoy the scenery.

    And if they all behave, I might take them to Italy next…

    I hope everyone is safe and well.
    Ruth

  59. I would like to take my pen and other stationery goodies to Japan. I was fortunate to spend a week there twenty years ago, but I want to see so much more.

  61. We were planning on going to Italy for our 10 year anniversary in October. Obviously that has been scrapped, but that will be a trip we will do when it is safe!

  62. First, I would take my pens to visit my fellow pen lover Bob. Then a heritage trip: I would take them to museums where there are famous manuscripts so they could see what their forebears produced. Then we would visit their birthplaces where their nubs were tuned. A final stop to visit some places where their friend ink is made.

  63. I’d like to go to a pen show! I was hoping to go to my first one this year, but no luck. I’m hoping to make the trip as soon as it’s safe.

    Congratulations on 10 years, Ana!

  65. Thanks for the generous giveaway! I would love to go to Asheville, NC or somewhere fun abroad like Denmark or the Netherlands 🙂

  67. It’s not terribly exciting and definitely not a vacation, but I’d really really like to get back to Oklahoma to see my parents again & my nephew is growing up so fast I’ve missed a lot! I’ve not been back to see family since 2013! My pens of COURSE would go with me. I share my supply obsession with my father ^_^

  68. I was really looking forward to the ATL pen show this year, so if I had a choice I’d like to travel to another show (though I doubt I’ll get the chance, COVID or not). Thanks for the giveaway and congrats on ten years!

  69. I’d be perfectly content to be bale to take my pens to a pen show and have a drink or two with all the people I’m going to miss during the shutdown.

  70. My daughter is desperately sad we haven’t made it to Barcelona yet. So maybe there. But really planning to stay local to us in the meantime.

  71. I can’t wait to go back to Montreal!

    Easily one of the coolest cities I have ever been to with a great music and coffee scene.

  73. I would take my pens to Paris, where, as a student, I first learned how wonderful it is to write with fountain pens!

    I’m also hoping it isn’t too long before I can bring them to a pen show or even a local meetup.

  74. The pressure is on to be poetic! I want to bring a new pen to -drumroll- New Jersey. My nephew returned to the US with four children I haven’t met yet. The eldest is five and she can receive her first exposure to her eccentric aunt with pens.

  75. My dream trip is to Rajasthan. I hope to go there within 5 years. There, I said it.

  76. My friend and I had planned a quick trip to Florida for a beach weekend, but had to postpone our plans until the fall. So that will likely be the first trip I make, and I’ll definitely take a pen or two with me.

  80. Hubbie does the planning – I do the packing.
    But I know I want to go somewhere new. See something I have not seen before and be reminded of how much we all have in common.

  81. If like to take my new pen bought from my winning the Pen Chalet gift card to the Black Hills with a side trip to Mt. Rushmore. Never been in that area and have always wanted to see it. Thanks so much for your ten years of blogging.

  82. Man. I had to cancel trips to Miami, Atlanta, and LA to visit family and friends, and had been dreaming of a trip to Japan…

  83. Where I really want to go is to my mother’s. I leave 300km away from my home town, but I used to visit her every two or three weeks. Now it is almost 4 months since I last saw her. We speak over the phone twice a day (once in video and once by audio), but I still wait eagerly for the day I can travel over to her place.
    I always take my journal with me, she sees me writing and she thinks I am working. Every time she says: “you come here because you have to deliver some work around here”, and I have to convince her that I only go there to see her.

  84. Every other year my brother and I meet up in Morristown, New Jersey and walk the old haunts of our childhood. Not a very glamorous destination but we love the weekend together, just the two of us. My pens go along as it was in the house there that I received my first fountain pen, 1964, freshman year high school. Probably will have to skip this year. Thanks to you and Pen Chalet for this generous opportunity !

  85. I just want to take my pens cross-country to visit my 91 year old father again. We’re running out of time.

  86. Happy 10th Anniversary!

    Fantasy: take a leisurely sketching trip to Japan or Italy.

    Reality: maybe a long weekend or a week in New England. The budget has its limits.

    Either way, I’d use Platinum Carbon Black in my TWSBI Eco or Platinum Cool for sketching, and then watercolor over the ink drawings. I’d also bring some Pelikans for my journal or for writing stories.

  87. I really just want to be able to see and hug my friends again. And go to LEGO conventions. In the meantime I am planning some snail mail cards, playing with some ink samples and a dip pen!

  89. I’d take all those convention trips I was going to do this year. I like to do a little travel journal for those.

  91. I think I’d like to challenge myself to a Solo Motorcycle roadtrip through the Rocky MTS of Colorado into Idaho & Utah… Travel Journaling along the way! It’s always fun to bust out a fountain pen just after taking off my helmet!

  92. I have always wanted to travel the national parks. I dream of camping under the stars in every state while driving around. No more putting it off…

  93. I’d really like to take my pens (and my daughters) to Italy, but common sense dictates that trip should wait. So the first outing will likely be Ventura, Solvang, Morro Bay, and Monterey. Familiar stomping grounds and close to home. But Italy someday!!

  95. Your blog has gotten me through many a long day these last few months, always interesting, fun, and informative to read. Still going back and forth between teal and red inks, thinking about mixing them to see whether I get something wonderful or not.

  96. I’d love to take few of my trusty pens to Japan… I’ve been there few years ago and just need to go back for two reasons: delicious food and crazy pen shops 🙂 (Itoya at Ginza… oh boy, I thought I’ll never leave the place!)

  97. I’d like to take my pens to Spain – a trip that was supposed to later this month and now rescheduled for 2021 (hopefully).

  98. I would love to take my pen roll with me to the Shetland Islands. Magically, the pens would not suffer any mishaps on the flight over. I could sit on a tuft of grass or a rock, ponder life after the pandemic, have hopefully meet some celebrities (aka those Shetland ponies in Shetland sweaters). From there, when I was chilly enough, I would wander into a local pub for a pint and a warm up.

  99. I’m going to Walt Disney World! No, seriously, I’m taking my eight year old son there. Can’t wait!

  100. I am looking forward to just going across town on a date with my wife. Nothing beats some good food, time without the kids, and signing a bill with a fountain pen. Haven’t gotten a chance to do use by Pilot Knight in public since I’ve gotten it.

  101. I’d like to take my pens camping! Obviously I can’t take all of them, but I want to go camping so bad!

  102. Of course, I’d take the pens to meet their other half in Japan, the land of gorgeous paper. A pen needs paper like a duck needs water. What fun we’ll have skating through the world’s largest art supply stores, testing oceans of inks and stroking silky paper. The pens and I will revive at day’s end, sampling shopping bags full of paper pads. I hope I don’t wear their little nibs out!

  103. LONDON. I want to travel all over the U.K., get Afternoon Tea in London, see castles and beautiful landscapes and go north into the hills. I’ve already began scouting places to stay, just need them to open up.

  104. Last year, at this time, I was in Taormina. It’s a beautiful 3000 year old town on the coast of Sicily, at the foot of Mount Etna. I saw where Visconti get’s it’s volcanic resin for their Homo Sapiens 😉 My trip included stops in Amalfi, Capri, Naples, and finally to visit my cousin in Rome. My favorite part of the trip was breakfast on our terrace overlooking the Mediterranean and writing with coffee, wild strawberries, and Nutella on freshly baked bread. I planned to do the northern half of Italy but that will have to wait. That is where my pens and I will go next time 🙂

  105. This may sound trite, but I’d like to take a couple of good pens to a baseball game, sit in the sun, and keep score the old-fashioned way with a scorebook and pens or pencils. It may be a long time before that happens, but a guy can dream…

  107. At this point, I am desiring the opportunity to keep an open journal on a secluded beach somewhere . . . I keep seeing some good sites in Fiji. But, at this point in my life I really want to travel the Mediterranean (specifically Italy, Greece, and Spain).

  108. There’s a family summer house in Vermont where I would love to go and feel the annus horibilis roll off of my shoulders like water.

  109. I would take my pens to Sydney, Australia to see friends and relatives who I currently unable to visit due to the travel restrictions. It’s a long way to go, and would definitely be interesting on the plane flight over, but being able to just get there and see people who live on the other side of the world from me would be great.

  110. Where would I go?

    I’d go to Paris! I’d wander the Left Bank/Latin Quarter, find a cafe, and sit outside to people watch, sketch, and journal what I saw.

    And probably eat too much wonderful French cafe food with my coffee. 😉

  112. Italy. Then Italy. Then maybe after that, Italy. I had to cancel what was going to be a homecoming with old friends near Florence, with a quick trip to find some cousins outside of Venice in April. So someday, Italy…

  113. I am a regular international traveler for work and I am really missing my friends and colleagues is Romania.

  114. Back to Aruba to sit and relax on the beach and forget all of this craziness! At least for a bit.

  115. I would like to take my new Lamy 2000 to New Brunswick to show it off to the very good family friend who introduced me to modern fountain pens.

  116. My trip to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick got cancelled due to Covid, so that’s where I’ll take my pens when I can travel again.

  117. Man I would love to take my pens and myself to Japan. This Covid thing has really driven home that I should get out and live life not wait.

  118. A streetside table outside a coffee house somewhere in Turkey. Coffee, pastry, camera, journal and pen, loaded daypack nearby. Make that 2 patries.

  119. I would like to take my pens to my kids grandparents house! My family and I had plans to visit however the virus thing started a week or so before we were to leave. Thank God news of the virus broke before we went. We obviously don’t want to endanger our family members who are older and have a predisposition to a viscous attack from the virus due to underlying medical conditions. My kids want to see there grandparents something fierce(as do my wife and I) but unfortunately we just don’t feel comfortable taking the risk right now. I hope everyone is staying safe out there!

  120. Happy 10 years!! I love your blog!

    I would love to take my pens to Hilton Head, South Carolina. Such a beautiful place!

  121. I would like to take my pens to Hawaii. I was planning on going in May but…

  122. So the concept of cruises doesn’t do much for me, but for several years I have been enamored of this itinerary: Orkneys, Shetland, Faroe Islands and Iceland. Wild northern landscapes and sheepy, wooly goodness. Sounds like an amazing adventure <3

  123. If love to be half as good an artist as those in Japan. Is go there to at least practice….

  125. When we can travel again I would love to take my family and my pens to the beach-Dolphin Island in the Golf Coast to be exact. It’s beautiful, secluded, quiet and has the most extraordinary sunsets I’ve ever seen.

  127. Happy Anniversary!

    I do want to travel, but all I really want is to take my notebook and pens to knit night. I miss that slice of normal the most.

  128. Thanks for the 10 years of information and inspiration.

    I can’t wait to go back to London, my favorite city in the world and taking a lovely pen with me would be the icing on the cake. Thanks for the opportunity.

  129. I need to spend more time in New Mexico. We were there in the fall of 2018, and I didn’t get enough time in Santa Fe. Nor did we make it up to Taos, so another trip is in order!

  130. Happy anniversary!

    I’d like to take my pens to whatever pen show ends up happening. I miss pen shows – all the friends and laughter and good times – not to mention all of the beautiful pens and inks!

  131. I would like to get to Mittle Europe with a pen and a sketchbook. We were planning on a Danube River cruise from Budapest to Prague this year but have cancelled. Hopefully next year.

  133. I’d love to visit norht central Europe. The Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Scandinavia, British Isles…

  134. I’d love to visit Germany, specifically Frankfurt! The last time I was there I found a lovely little stationary place that sold really nice fountain pens…

    Congratulations on 10 years!!

  136. Hello! I’ll hope five taking our school’s eighth grade class to France (their trip was cancelled for this summer, but next year!) ideally with an extra stop in Italy. I’ll be journaling it all the way! Very excited to be able to travel again! Hope you and yours are safe and doing well.

  137. I’d pack up my pens, with all the ink I could fit into my bag, and head up to British Columbia for a bit of “writer-in-residence” action along the coast of the stunningly beautiful Salish Sea. I’m keen to work on some short stories that have been rattling around in my head these past thousands of days since we’ve been in quarantine!

  138. I would love to take them to Australia. Had Aussie neighbors growing up, and have wanted to go my entire life. Besides I could seek out the elusive Robert Oster!

  140. I would love to give these pens to my boyfriend when we can finally meet up and travel across the country! He loves fountain pens and we have been writing to each other during the quarantine to make the days brighter!

  142. I mean really, I’d just like to take my pens to my friendly, neighborhood pen show, and have sensory overload be the worst that could happen there.

  145. I can’t wait to be able to take myself, and my pens, to Grand Marais Minnesota! Congratulations on 10 years!

  146. My first thought was take my pens to London and the English countryside and find places to sit, write and sip warm beer. But I saw someone said go to a pen show and that’s for me.

  147. I really miss the Netherlands. I am using the time I can’t travel to study dutch so I can enjoy it even more. Also, there are a lot of good pen / desk / ink stores there that I would like to give some money to.

  150. I would take my platinum pens on a super long trip to Japan. Sketching the views that the pens were named after with them.

  152. With all the talk lately about commercialized space travel, I think I want a break from humanity, the riots, chaos, and covid 19. I would like to pack a back pack with all my beautimous fountain pens, inks, and tomoe river paper, no clothes. Its space I can run around naked if i want to and not have to worry about gravity. Have my butt strapped to a ton of rocket fuel and blasted out of social distancing range. Spend 2 weeks journaling, planning, playing with my pens and stickers devising a plan to restore the love back into humanity. Someone is gonna have to cough up the cost for the flight though. I spend all my money on fountain pens. 🙂 happy fountain pen day

  153. Happy 10 Years!! When we can travel again, I’m taking my pens back to the east coast to see my family. As much as I would like to fantasize about going some place exotic, I just really want to mess around with inks and pens with my family.

  155. Congratulations on 10 years!
    One of my travel traditions is to go to museums or souvenir shops and get postcards to mail to my friends and family. If I ever go to Singapore, I’ll also use my pens in my travel journal (or, let’s be real, food journal)!

  157. My brother and sister-in-law have a new baby and a new house in Chicago, and I’d really like to go get familiar with both!

  158. A simple one for me – I’d like to go just a few miles up the road to walk the lanes and limestone pavements of Arnside and Silverdale, and to stop to take a note or two on the wildlife I see there.

  159. I would like to take them to my parents’ house in Oklahoma. I started this hobby during the pandemic and we have been writing letters back and forth ever since. I would love to actually get to show them my collection.

  160. Well, my scheduled trip to the UK to help celebrate my father’s 80th was cancelled due to what Sir Terry Pratchett might call “the embuggerance” of COVID-19, so I think I owe him a trip. My recent pen acquisitions could tag along on a quick visit to PENdle Hill too… to check out the witch history.

  161. I wouldn’t want to take them anywhere. I would like baseball to start so I can use them to journal about each game I watch.

  162. I would love to take my pens to the sea. Just a nice little spot near some crashing waves, salty air and something nice to drink. Using the pens more for sketching and fun than for studying… I’ll take any beach or quay as long as it is not raining for the moment. 🙂

    Happy anniversary to you and thanks for lots of great posts!

  163. I’d love to take my pens to the another part of the state! Maybe the central California coast.
    Happy Anniversary!

  164. I would like to take my pens to Kelowna, British Columbia, a place with a climate that shouldn’t exist. Much of BC farther west, right near the Pacific, is damp and chilly. Because of an intervening mountain range, Kelowna is relatively so warm and dry that people with joint diseases go there from all over and get their lives back. It could be in a fantasy novel, but it’s in western Canada.

  165. First congrats on your anniversary 10 years of any business is a huge milestone and lately important.

    If I could take pens anywhere I’d go on a wonderful US roadways road trip. Rte 66, and some of the other old highways. 80 is great for getting places quickly when driving, but you miss so much along the way.

  166. Happy 10th anniversary! And thank you, as this blog has been (and still is!) a wonderful and super helpful resource for me over the last 6 years since diving into this hobby Hmmm, I’d love to go to Scotland.

  167. Congratulations, Ana! I so enjoy the depth, quality, and perspective(s) offered in all you present through this site. I especially look forward to Link Love every week, the plethora of clicked-open tabs to explore, the discoveries that expand my vision (and sometimes end up gracing my desk).

    Me, I’d head to the White Mountains of NH– the rocks of Home. More immediately, I just want to see my peoples again, my grown kids who are in reachable distance (all but one, on the far coast) but yet so far through this nutsy season. The Abundance of Caution thing and all….
    Thanks!

  168. I’d love to take my pens on a trip to Prague!

    More likely, though, I would take them to a pen show. 🙂 I missed everyone at Atlanta this year, and would love to see Chicago, DC, or San Francisco.

  170. So many options, so many places I haven’t visited, but I want to take a couple of fountains and revisit India.

    And this time I want to visit Indian pen makers like Fosfor, Ranga and ASA. I know I’ll end up buying more!

  172. I look forward to bringing my pens to a rented housekeeping cottage on the Maine coast where I can write about the day’s biking or kayaking adventure.

  173. I would take my pen collection to the Tuscany region in Italy. Overlooking the hills and being able to draw beautiful scenes with them.

  174. I’m gonna say Berlin, one of my favorite cities. Kudos to Ana and the team for 10 years of great blogging. I hope you all have many more.

  176. I would like to take my pens to Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan, a hot spring hotel in Japan that was founded in the year 705. It seems like a beautiful and peaceful place to journal and create.

  177. Congrats on 10 years hard graft! It’s been fun following along and learning too. I’d like to take my pens to Japan. A cultural trip in so many senses and one every pen nut would enjoy (I reckon)

  178. I’d take my pens to airbnb in St. Germain, Paris that I booked for right now before the pandemic hit and I had to cancel

  183. There are a few places I would bring my pens. First, on my honeymoon to the San Juan Islands in Washington. Second, to visit my parents in Las Vegas. Finally, to Ledbury, Herefordshire, UK to see my grandmother in her amazing little town.

  184. I’d like to take them to Japan. I lived there briefly in the 1980s and bought some of my first fountain pens there. It would be great to go back and to explore stationery culture again.

  186. I’d like to take my pens and my partner on a trans-Canada rail trip. I’ve always wanted to do it, and after a massively delayed wedding, it seems like it would be awesome.

  187. I want to go to a French villa, and write letters to pals by a blue swimming pool, while sunbathing.

  188. Oh, there are so many places I want to take my pens…the park, my in-laws’ house, Ireland, New Zealand. Someday! 🙂

  189. In a perfect world my first “accompanied by fountain pens” trip would be to Portugal. My wife started making wallets and travel notebooks out of cork fabric and we now want to go see Cork trees in real life. Combine that with good food, amazing cities, cliffs, and beaches. A guy can dream ey?

  190. One of the lesser visited national parks – Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. Beautiful open spaces, very few other people. Bison, wild horses, prairie dogs. Incredible sunsets. The very definition of peaceful.

  191. I really want to visit my parents! It’s a 9-hour drive to their place and I haven’t seen them since last August. They are 80 years old and my Mom’s memory isn’t so good. So it’s not exotic, like Japan, but it’s where I want to go.

  192. I would take my pens to Colorado to visit my daughter – the pandemic delayed the visit I had planned for earlier this spring!

  194. Right now… Just my local coffee shop would be enough. Going to the western US would be amazing, but, yeah… about 5 miles would be enough

  195. Happy 10th Anniversary and thankful you for the amazing give-always!

    I’d take a few special pens on my already planned trip to Europe. I hope I still get to go!

  197. I am obsessed with Japan and would love to go there soon! Congratulations on 10 years, Ana!

  198. I’d take my pens to the beach in Aruba – sand, sea, a bevvie with an umbrella in it, my journal and pens with sea-colored ink. . .

  200. I’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii so that’s probably where I would go and take all of my bright and tropical looking pens!

  202. The US military has strictly controlled its members during these COVID times. Because of these control measures, my family and I aren’t allowed to move to our next duty station in Germany. All I want to do when this time has passed is my morning journal time, drinking coffee and enjoy a view of the western German countryside!

  204. When I can finally travel again I am taking my pens to Hawaii! I was supposed to have my first trip there last month and we had to postpone due to the virus.

  205. Happiest of Anniversaries! I actually took my lovely dark green faceted VP to London and Paris with us last year. That said, I think it deserves a trip to Japan.

  206. The Tower of London to see the ravens and maybe meet the Ravenmaster who has what has GOT to be one of the coolest jobs in the world … and then on to Paris to sketch in a sidewalk cafe and go to the Musée d’Orsay.

  207. I will travel back to Hawaii with my pens and paper. When I do make this trip I will not be coming back to the main land.

  208. I know my wife would love to visit the Lake District in England, especially Beatrix Potter’s Hilltop Farm. Fountain pens would be useul for keepin a travel journal, and writing postcards back home!

  210. Spain! I was actually in Spain (first time overseas in my life) when it went into lockdown and let me tell you, I had quite an ordeal trying to get home. All the fun of the early part of the trip was completely overshadowed by the soul-crushing ending. I very much want to return with a sketchbook and a journal. The people and places were amazing and I need some better memories.

    On a lighter note, happy anniversary!

  213. My wife and I have always wanted to go to Paris together!

    I would love to take my Pens and Paper to a Parisian Café and write down my musings on our romantic getaway… now how to get rid of those pesky kids first…

  215. Congratulations on 10 years! Love your blog and shop–have been happily playing with the Col-o-ring recently.

    I’ve been sheltering in place with two grumpy cats since March 16, so I’d like to take my pens anywhere. But I’d really like to go back to the Kintyre Peninsula in Scotland, to the beach at Saddell Castle with a pocket fountain and a beautiful blue ink and journal/sketch! (Originally planned for this fall.)

  216. I would want to take my pens – and my family! – to visit the US. My wife and son have not been, and only a few of my pens have been there. O would bring my British pens, eg the Conway Stewart and the old Swan.

  217. I would take my pens to Firenze Italy, and go buy another Visconti at their store (as well as take an Italian holiday!)

  219. At this point, I’d be grateful just to take my pens to work (or a pen show!!) but I’d love to visit family in the midwest. Thanks for all the giveaways–this is fun!

  220. Hello!

    If I’m doing this as fantasy, money is no object…. then my pens and I need to go around the world for as long as it takes us. Nova Scotia to begin and with family, the UK and really, most of Europe. I would love to linger around the Mediterranean Sea, then onward and eastward; India, Thailand, Tibet, Nepal, China, Korea, Japan. Another jaunt to Australia and New Zealand, catching some of those other tropical islands and then gradually wending my way homeward once again through the little pockets of family, scattered throughout North America. All the best!

  222. The very first place I’ll travel is Sweet Home Chicago, because I want to hug my family!

  223. I’ve never been to Australia or England, and they are definitely high up on my list, but specifically when I’d like to bring my pens would be to a pen show I’ve never been to. San Francisco and Dallas are both are my “someday” list, but Chicago is a little closer and more doable, so I’ll say the Chicago pen show.

  224. I would take my pens with me to a beach front cabin.The water, sand and warm weather with nice pens and paper would be a great day.

  225. Congratulations on ten years!!

    I’d love to take my pens to the Caribbean – on my own boat. I don’t own that boat yet, but hopefully I will soon! As a bonus, I’m also planning on buying the TWSBI 580 smoke and rose gold if I win!

  226. I want to take my favorite pens to their motherland, Japan. I really hope to make that happen in 2021!

  227. Japan! Something inked with blue or black ink, because the last time I went I filled in my arrival card with a Pelikan M400 white tortoise filled with a matching ink and the immigrant officer wasn’t too pleased.

  228. Lugano, Switzerland combines the best of Italian and Swiss culture and is incredibly beautiful. I spent time there in the 1990s, and have not yet returned. It ends this Fall! I am sure I’ll bring a beloved older Montblanc 221, the perfect “beater” pen to pair with the travel journal I’m going to buy.

  230. While traveling to Europe is generally my jam, the next trip that is still up in limbo is a trip to Niagara Falls and exploring that region of Canada. We were supposed to go with my parents so I’m curious if it will make good sense to go or not (they are high risk).

  231. I would take my pens to visit my grandsons, who live seven minutes from my house. Pre-covid I spent lots of time sitting on the couch in their basement with my journal while the boys played video games or carpet hockey and we talked. I miss them a lot!

  232. Tough question- being in lockdown and having had to cancel two trips, I had plenty of time to dream of travel destinations! But I wouldn’t take my pens just anywhere…so: Copenhagen! The beautiful streets and buildings & the plentiful cozy cafes (to sit in an write or draw) make it a perfect combination
    Thanks for the chance to win!

  233. I’d rent a little secluded cabin in The Smokey Mountains. No TV or internet.

  235. I’d love to go back to the Philippines but I’ll probably just take my pens to my parents’ home since my dad is a pen addict too.

  239. Honestly, I just want to go to the ocean (I’m landlocked in MN…during riots no less), any ocean, and sit on a beach. I’d sink my toes into the sand and squinch them around until they were comfy. I’d have some fruity drink at hand, and an umbrella overhead. And then I’d write postcards to every one I knew in bright cheery gaudy inks about absolutely nothing.

  240. We postponed a trip to Bavaria, so I’m hoping either that or London will be the next big trip for us, and of course, some of my pens will come with us.

  241. I’ve always wanted to visit Iran. It may be after the pandemic is over that geopolitical obstacles could interfere with that goal, but, one day, I will take my pens there. It’s on my bucket list.

  242. I would love to take my pens and myself back to Helsinki. It has been twenty years since I last was there. Can’t imagine how much has changed — and wonder how much Finnish I would remember!

  243. Having heard that flying with fountain pens can end ..funny, I actually haven’t taken them anywhere yet!

  244. Congratulations on 10 years! I was hoping to travel to Amsterdam in July for a scientific conference. Alas, it has moved to a digital platform, so I will not be traveling. I would have liked to visit the Anne Frank house, Rijksmuseum, and, of course, Akkerman.

  250. I will take my pens to Scotland and happily sign every guest book at every whisky distillery I can make it to. Mmmmmm scotchy scotch scotch scotch.

  251. I’m looking forward to my family traveling back to Charleston, SC, for vacation. Love sitting on the beach, a pier, or at local favorite coffee shops writing and sketching with my favorite notebooks and pens!

  252. Sitting in the old town of Quebec City has a certain appeal to me. I have been to Montreal, but never to QC. My pens and I will get there someday!

  253. I was supposed to go to Toronto for a convention this week, and was looking forward to finally visiting Canada’s favourite pen shop, Wonderpens, while I was there. I’d like to reschedule that visit soon after we start travelling again!

  254. I’d love to take a new blue fountain pen with ocean blue ink to Grand Cayman. I could sit in the shade of a palm tree and capture my thoughts in a blue journal while staring out at the clear blue waters.

  255. I would love to take my pens back to London! We visited for four days summer 2019 (and four days in Paris) and absolutely loved it (and Paris). We’re going back … someday.

  258. I would like to bring my pens to somewhere around Scandinavia. Finland, Sweden, Norway, etc 🙂

  259. Atlanta was going to be my first ever pen show. I was really excited and I was going to bring two friends who were “pen curious”. Sadly, we didn’t get to go, so I am really looking forward to bringing my pens to another pen show in the future.

  260. My wife and I will be heading to London as soon as it’s safe to do so! Not sure she’ll appreciate my wanting to go to stationary shops over there, but looking forward to it

  261. I would love to do a cross Canada road trip and see more of my favourite country.

  262. New Zealand! We have family there that we have yet to visit. They come to the US but would live to see them at their home.

  263. Across Europe by rail, stopping along the way for cafés and obscure stationery stores.

  265. I was supposed to go to Copenhagen, so hopefully that I’ll be able to get there with a great pen!

  267. I want to take my pens to a pen show to get some architect grinds and my pencils out on a hike away from it all.

  268. It would be cool to go to a place in Europe, like Switzerland. Unlikely that we’ll be able to travel this summer but if it was next summer, there would be the bonus of cooler weather than where I live!

  269. I’ve had such fun reading your blog over the years – congrats! I would love to take a trip to Japan – and part of that trip would be buying pens by the dozen! Although given the circumstances of the last few months I imagine my mother would probably want me to make visiting her the priority!

  270. I would love to take my pens on a backpacking tour across Europe and journal all my experiences.

  271. I’d love to be able to see the Northern Lights, so I’d have to say a cruise ship around Iceland or thereabouts. I’d probably also try and take some variety of inks to try and match the colours of the aurora borealis I see.

  272. Back to Germany, where we have discovered some great pen shops (Munich, Leipzig, Hannover) and toured the Pelican factory!

  273. I’m Canadian and I have two more provinces I need to visit (NL and SK) and all three territories to visit before I can saw I’ve seen “all” of my home country. My pens will definitely be coming along!

  274. Hi. I am looking forwarding to when I can go to a cafe, grab a coffee, read, write with my fountain pens while people watching.

  275. I wrote my first book in a cheap rented apartment in Italy, five blocks from the sea. That was with a laptop.

    I’d like to write my second in a cheap apartment in Spain, one block, longhand.

  277. I want to take the Via Rail across Canada and spend a week looking out the windows while the train zooms along. There’s nothing quite like a long train ride with a sleeper car.

  278. I’m dying to be able to take my wife and I to a sandy beach…anywhere~! I would love Hawaii. It would be such a wonderful break to have some quiet time, sitting by the ocean, with just a pen and a notebook to write out some thoughts. This post gives me hope 😀

  279. I just bought my first Pelikan (I’m saying my first because Im certain there will be more to follow). I’ve always had Germany on my Bucket List for a trip during Oktoberfest. Perhaps I’ll be able to take a Pelikan there one day.

  280. I think I would just love to sit down somewhere around the public library with some good books and write down some quotes

  281. I’d take my pens and journal to a burbling brook or a shore with crashing waves!

  283. I’d like to take them out west to some National Parks and Journal about their beauty.

  284. After the travel restrictions lift, my wife and I are finally going to be able to take our honeymoon to Japan. We had originally planned to go see the cherry blossoms in April, but we had to cancel last minute. We’ve been planning this trip for years and there are definitely several fountain pen stops on the list.

  286. I would get Ana to cat-sit then go to Mr. Atlanticus at Myrtle Beach. I would take my pens to keep an accurate score.

  287. I need to go back to Japan. It’s been way too long (2009!) and I need to buy out half the Itoya store and probably a whole lot of dollar stores.

  288. I’d like to take my pens on a camping trip in rural Queensland, Australia, to do research for a novel I want to write.

  289. Anywhere really, but especially to see friends and family in Richmond, VA.

  290. Well, I really can’t wait to take my new pens to the beach in SC— to see family, to take a walk by the water, and to journal while my toes are in the sand.

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