(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)
The Profolio Oasis Notebooks are fantastic in their most basic form, and this National Parks series elevates them even above that high mark. The combination grid-dot-lined paper is unique to Profolio notebooks, and it works as a lined journal, or a grid notebook, or dotted. Whether you need vertical or horizontal lines, it's got you. But the ink itself is a pale grey, so it isn't too restrictive. It's easy to ignore the lines you don't want. The paper is an 84.3gsm, an improvement over their old paper, which makes it better suited to liquid inks. It has a smooth, coated surface that shows off ink properties nicely.
This notebook has a thin cardstock cover, stitched, lay-flat binding, and 80 sheets (160) pages of paper. Inside the cover are interesting facts and maps of the park that is featured on the front. The artwork for the cover is done by artists from across the USA, this one by Jon Cain, and features six (so far) gorgeous national parks. They are all stunning. There were no Rocky Mountain or Isle Royale (my personal sentimental parks) options, so I chose the Smoky Mountains design. It's a very pretty notebook.
I think these notebooks make excellent commonplace books, and with this A5 size, they'd even be perfect for some class notes or meeting logs. The versatile lines make them perfect for sketch notes, outlines, or even poetry. Lots of folks use them for handwriting practice, as the extra guides can help you know if you're forming your letters consistently.
The Profolio Oasis National Parks Notebook sells for $17.99 at Goldspot Pens, which I think is a very fair price for the quality. Under twenty dollars for a softcover notebook with this many pages, nice paper, and an artist-designed cover is a great deal. They're all so lovely, I'd be tempted by all of them, but I'm really hoping they'll release more park designs in the future. They'd be perfect for a travel journal or adventure log to those very parks. Looks like I need to plan a trip to the Smoky Mountains!
(Goldspot provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.
Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!
