Review: Quo Vadis Monthly 4 Planner

I finally found a Quo Vadis planner that is perfect for me! It's called a Monthly 4 and it's shown here with a lilac "Club" cover which is textured vinyl. Karen (at Exaclair) had asked me a while back if I would like to pick a new journal for the year and though I'm not typically a planner person, I absolutely *love* "month at a glance" styled planners. Thanks Karen!



Details on the inside wrap band state that the 90g Clairefontaine paper is ink friendly, with no bleed-through or smudging - 



This should actually say no bleed-through or feathering, as Clairefontaine paper is superb with water based fountain pen inks, but inks in general do take a little bit longer to dry on this super smooth high-quality paper. If you don't allow a moment for the ink to dry, it could smudge. The dry time will of course vary depending on what kind of ink is used, what size nib, relative humidity... etc.



The Club cover is refillable, and the cover itself can act as front and back pockets to the planner.



More than just a planner, the Monthly 4 contains extras such as world maps, an address book and blank note pages.It also comes with a complementary elastic bookmark which I forgot to include in the photos. It's one just like this. The inclusion of the bookmark is not a deal breaker for me with a planner of this size. I would probably want one of I was using a thicker daily planner - one similar to a diary.



The paper used in this planner is made from sustainable resources in the USA at the factory in Hamburg, NY.



The planner starts off with the last 6 months of 2010 -



and then the full 2011 at a glance. I know this is an 18 month planner, but I wish they would include the full previous year instead of just the 6 months shown in the above image. I like comparing details from one year to the next.



I've never loved this feature- the ability to tear off the corners so you know where you left off. I'm impatient to tear them off cleanly and I end up making a mess. I'll just leave them be...



Ahhhhhh. My *preferred* planner format: month at a glance. Quo Vadis makes a smaller version of a monthly planner called an Exaplan which I tried one year... it was just too small, The Monthly 4 at 7 x 9 1/2 " is perfect. Enough room for exactly what I want to use it for - which is typically to block out dates for specific events, and also to note which days I have blog posts scheduled to run on each blog.

I am happy that they thought to include the phases of the moon. I tend to get a bit wonky (headaches &  vertigo/sinus issues) around a full moon and knowing when they are when making plans is a big help.



And I just love that Quo Vadis has included some additional note space on the side of each monthly layout. It is not important to me what each is supposed to be used for, I just like that there is space to take notes.

Other than wishing that I could get the full previous year at a glance, I'm really happy with the way this planner is laid out and I'm already expecting that I would use one again in the future. You can buy this planner with a Club cover for $21 at Alko Business Supply . Many more cover options are available and the planner is refillable.

See Laurie at Plannerisms review of the Monthly 4.