I've been journaling since 1992. I began during the summer between my 7th or 8th grade year. I remember that I had a diary even before that, but it was the kind little girls have, with a lock and keepsake box. Someone read it and that was the end of that diary. I think I threw it away or it is in my mom's basement. Either way, it isn't included in my collection. In junior high, I also changed my outlook on keeping a record of my days. Instead of a thinking of it as keeping a diary, I called it journaling and didn't feel as bad when I didn't do write daily.

So here are my journals that I have been keeping since 1992. They are in order by date, from left to right.
Sadly, I don't know much about each type of journal. Most are obviously the ones you buy in the stationary section of a mass retailer. In the second row, I have two of the same books, used several years apart. I really liked that journal and I had received the first one as a gift. Once I saw it again a few years later, I knew I had to buy it.

The first five books in the top row are cloth cover books that you would find at Barnes and Noble or Borders. I had tired of the off the shelf look so I decided to make each journal more unique. I used things I printed from the web, magazines, scrapbook/altered book papers, and modge podge. A lot of those journals have some extensive collages on the inside pages as well.

The last two books in the row are a Miquelrius and a Quo Vadis with the Robert Le Heros cover. Paper wise, I find the Quo Vadis to be superior, especially with the 0.3 pens available from jetpens.

The journals and notebooks below are the ones I have on deck. But don't let the small selection fool you. These are just the ones I pulled off of the living room book shelf.

There is a large plain Moleskine and a large lined Piccadilly. The blue one is from Barnes and Noble. The two Jem journals are ones I will never write in, I just keep them because they remind me of my childhood. I am excited to use the two Apica brand books for something, but I don't know what yet. The Clairefontaine in the bottom right is a notebook I bought specifically because it was labeled as "French Rule." I haven't learned to write on that type of rule yet, but I plan to.

This last group was also on the bookshelf and as I was sorting journals to post, I realized I will never use these. I gave a few away to my cousin but got rid of the rest. I have had some of the books for over 6 or 7 years so it was difficult to part with them, but it needed to be done.