I really like Holland, and I think I could live here were I given the choice. Tilburg, like the rest of Holland, is beautiful. There’s a slight chill in the air making things just crisp enough but not too cold.

I only wish I had some more time to walk around the city.

Choosing a sharpener for traveling can be difficult: you want one that doesn’t take up much space, but the smaller something is the more likely it is to get lost, left behind, or even stolen. Plus, you want something that works well too.

I brought my handheld Graf von Faber-Castell sharpener, which fits in my pencil case so as long as I’m vigilant I’m not likely to lose it. It’s interesting too how you sometimes write differently depending on the type of point — I’m so used to the long cones that the Carl sharpeners make that using a handheld sharpener is a different experience altogether.