It has been fourteen months since I bought Freewrite Traveler, an e-Ink device with a sole purpose of writing text and with limited editing capacity. Did it really change how often and how much I write?

Well, it did, but not in a way I expected. After an initial honeymoon phase, which lasted for a couple of months, I ended up writing less while owning Freewrite Traveler than I did before. From the end of August 2024 to February 2025 Traveler collected dust on my shelf. Was it Traveler’s fault? No. Maybe. I don’t know.

The first thing I need to state, is that Freewrite Traveler works as well as it did at the very beginning. I really cannot complain about the device. It worked as advertised and I was happy with the way it worked. So, in some way, me writing less is not Traveler’s fault. However, I noticed that ever since I got it, even if I had brief moments when I wanted to write something down, and I did not have Traveler with me, I postponed writing session till the time I get my hands on the device. When I finally got home, I was tired or occupied with other things, and ended up not writing at all. Previously, in situations like this I would probably use my iPad to type down a few paragraphs, so in a way it was indeed Traveler’s fault, me writing less.

One of the most important realisations I had after owning Freewrite Traveler for a couple of months was, it does NOT make you write more. I cannot stress that enough: if you want to buy a Freewrite device hoping that somehow it would allow you to write more, you will fail. No Freewrite, be it Smart Typewriter, Traveler of their newest product, Alpha, magically creates more writing opportunities or gives you more time to write. All those devices serve their intended purpose only when you are actively seeking more opportunities to write. And if you do, it does not matter what are you writing on: an e-Ink device, an iPad, a laptop, or in a paper notebook. If you have a solid writing routine or are self-disciplined enough to always find some time to write, then you will write thousands of words on a Freewrite. Otherwise, you will fail to exact the same excuses as you did when writing on any other device. That is what happened to me: I did not have time to write, and I was not motivated enough to create more time to write, so my Traveler ended up collecting dust for five months. Am I happy because of that? Of course not. But I need to be honest with myself, and with you. If you are not rigorous enough, Freewrite might not make big difference in your writing habits after all.

One thing to consider: although Freewrite Traveler is smaller than most of laptops, it still has a considerable weight. That is why I was not bringing it with me when leaving home, unless I was absolutely sure I would be writing something down on it. I always need to bring with me several things, including a notebook, calendar, phone, powerbank and pen case. None of those items has zero weight or volume, so the space in my bag is more limited (and more valuable) than I had initially thought when considering the purchase of Traveler. Unless something changes, I do not picture myself bringing Traveler with me every time I leave the house, or even half the time. It is a good device, it serves its intended purpose. But it still needs to compete for my attention and for space in my bag, and it usually loses on both fronts.

This article is no. 14 from the 100 Days To Offload series.