Background
I know that it might seem a little strange to start writing online about that most analogue of platforms, fountain pens and paper, but if 2020 has taught us anything it is that there is no longer anything strange about the world.
Fountain pens have grown in popularity in recent years, after may years in the wilderness due to the prevalence of ballpoint pens. Although not mainstream as such, fountain pens are an increasingly common sight in offices, schools and universities. Many famous celebrities and authors are known to use fountain pens, too.
There are, of course, people for whom fountain pens never “went away”, they wrote and continue to write with fountain pens. However, as someone born in the UK in the 1980s, I know few friends and contemporaries who still use fountain pens on a regular basis, in spite of them being encouraged at school. I was one of these people, I cannot claim to be someone who has always held the true chirographic faith.
My own fountain pen journey initially began with a supermarket bought blister pack Parker, most likely a Vector. My journey began its long sabbatical about 6 months later, with a Vector fountain pen being substituted for a Vector roller-ball. In my mother’s defence, I think she was tired of washing ink out of my shirts and of the letters of complaint from my teachers regarding the state of my exercise books. I mean they were covered in ink, just in the wrong way! And so, like many people, I suppose I gradually moved away from fountain pens and moved into a world of ballpoints, roller-balls, gel pens, computers and tablets.
Then it all changed. My wife and I were getting married, as part of our ceremony, we included a wine box ritual. I shan’t go into too many details as to what the ritual entails, but suffice to say it required a nice bottle of wine, a box and hand-written letters. If I was going to write a letter I reasoned, I would need a nice pen, perhaps a fountain pen.
And so, after lots of research online and a couple of visits to a few stationery shops, my fountain pen journey re-started.
So why now? Why start writing a blog about fountain pens now?
Well, for a few reasons actually.
First of all, I find fountain pens to be interesting and, as my wife and wallet will attest, addictive. I am enthusiastic about them because there is nothing that quite compares to using a fountain pen. Writing with a fountain pen allows one to experience an immediate, tactile connection to one’s words. At the same time, it requires thought and concentration. It is rewarding.
Secondly, fountain pens, on the whole, eschew the disposable culture many of us were raised in. A well looked after pen can last a lifetime, and all a change of colour requires is a new ink cartridge or a new fill from a bottle. And there are so many colours available! Multiple, myriad rainbows of colour for you to chose from. There is no need to buy a new pen solely to change colour (although I am sure you can think of many other justifications to buy a new pen!)
And finally, because I think that I have followed a typical progression route in my purchase of pens. I hope that I had (and have) the same questions and queries that many other would be pen enthusiasts have.
This blog doesn’t claim to be unique, there are many more blogs out there – the writers of which are far more talented and / or succinct than I.
What’s with the name?
I wanted the name to reflect both the content and my journey into the world of fountain pens, hence Fountain Pen Writitinerary – a portmanteau of ‘writing’ and ‘itinerary’.
Pens aside
I have a wife, two children and a dog. I have a job. And I have hobbies outside of fountain pens (I promise).
Fountain Pen Writinerary 