Review of the Quo Vadis Habana Notebook

Oh boy, do I ever know what I’m going to be passing out to everyone this year.

The wonderful Karen Doherty from Exaclair, Inc., the exclusive U.S. distributor of Clairefontaine, Exacompta, Rhodia, Quo Vadis, and a bunch of other really fine paper products, sent me a Quo Vadis Habana notebook to test run.

As you all know, I am a paper freak. I covet nice paper, and pristine notebooks to capture my thoughts. Earlier this year I bought myself a Moleskine and started keeping all my thought in one place in an attempt to work in a more streamlined, GTD life style. I like the Moleskine, but the paper is yellowish, and I can see the notes from the previous page, which means I end up starting a new page every time I have a thought. 

My friend and fellow author Jeff Abbott turned me on to Clairefontaine notebooks and their lovely, clean white paper. I’ve become a bit of a convert, and this revelation has sparked an extensive search for the perfect notebook.

Clairefontaine makes the nicest paper in the world – heavy, very white and no bleed regardless of the pens I use. There’s nothing better than the heavy, steady feel when turning the pages. So you can imagine how excited I was to get the Habana, loaded with it's yummy Clairefontaine 90g paper.

The Quo Vadis Habana notebook is a great size too, 6” x 9”, bigger than my Moleskine by just the right amount. (Sadly, my Levenger pen keeper is too small to fit around the edge, so I’ll have to order a new one.) The notebook opens and lies almost flat, and has a solid backing that isn’t too stiff. The pen slips along the page, allowing notes and thoughts to flow unhindered. And the extra inch of space means I rarely have to stop and flip a page in the middle of a thought. For folks like me who hate to waste paper but don’t like to have multiple thoughts on the same page, this is perfect.

All in all, I have to give this notebook 5 stars. And I’m going to be passing them out as Christmas presents to all my friends and family who love the feel of an elegant notebook, and I’m going to the store to take a gander at their highly-rated planners.

Check out the excellent Quo Vadis blog here for lots of great info, reviews, and random musings.