If I was at a loose end in Cambridge, I used to hoof it to the Polar Research Institute. There I could linger over the textile used to cover Scott's diary. Seeing that, maybe I could hear the howling wind. Or feel the chill on my body.
You can see the pages here.
That is a journal beyond all reason. Please don't set out to keep one of those.
Then hopefully, you won't be hoofing it over to some far-off museum to look at the outside of a Knickers-made diary.
But if you are making the worst journey in the world right now, then keep inside your book all the words you want to use. The thoughts, terrors, consolations, fears and dangers. The things you love, the comforts you seek, the decisions to make.
And no museum. You can see these hand-stitched books online, here. (And, if you're passing, have a quiet fondle, in the shops.)
