Visiting Oblation In Portland, Oregon: A Traveler's Company Partner Store!

I’ve made it a goal to visit as many Traveler’s Company Partner Stores as I can in my travels, and luckily my short visit to Portland, Oregon meant I could visit Oblation, a small stationery/journal store on 12th Avenue.

Store Info
Accessibility Notes

Address

516 NW 12th Ave, Portland, OR 97209

Plus code: G8G8+PQ Portland, Oregon

Hours

Open Monday-Saturday 11:00am-6:00pm, Sunday 12:00pm-5:00pm

Phone Number

+15032231093

Website

https://oblationpapers.com

One step at the front entrance. Relatively open space but some corners are tight and if you have a larger wheelchair or walker you might have some trouble getting into the nooks and crannies. Some tables/chairs in the back but I think they’re part of a class area; otherwise no sitting inside the store. Most things displayed at eye height or hip height, so you shouldn’t have to bend too much to look at things on the floor.

My Experience

I visited soon after opening on a weekday, and the store was actually fairly busy! Besides myself, there were maybe 5 or 6 other people shopping. I made one loop around the store to see what the sections were, and then did a second loop to focus in on specific things I was interested in. I took some photos to share with you all, though not as many as I would’ve liked!

One thing I loved was the prominent sections for local artists and products, and also how high-quality their product displays were.

You know how sometimes stationery stores kind of look the same, because they all order the same few products? Oblation has a more unique selection, including a huge amount of fountain pens, inks, even handmade paper!

It was really fun wandering around looking at everything; I had a hard time keeping myself from just buying one of everything.

I loved that they had a section for vintage typewriters (for sale!) and even a French vintage goodies display from one of their friends in France! And of course they had a small section for Portland and Oregon souvenir kinda things, like stickers and postcards.

Read more: How to Make a Travel Junk Journal

The Traveler’s Notebook Section

Oblation’s TN section was on this cute cute just in front of the register area. They had a decent selection, though obviously not as much as you’d see in the Traveler’s Factory stores themselves.

You can see which items they have available on their website here. They have a good range of inserts and covers, but obviously the special edition things sell out quickly. I did notice a few inserts I hadn’t seen stocked at the Japanese stores, like some sticker pockets and a watercolor paper insert. They also had a bunch of the little charms and accessories you can put on your journal, too!

They also had a small Midori notebook section near the TN section, with a nice selection of Midori notebooks and journals.

Traveler’s Company Partner Store Stamps!

One of the most fun reasons to visit a partner store, besides seeing all the amazing products for sale, is that they each have their own custom store stamp! You have to ask for it at the counter at Oblation, and the staff happily got it out for me and even provided some nice blank paper to use (a bonus for me because I’d only brought lined paper with me that day!).

Here’s the stamps I got:

Store Stamp

Super cute stamp featuring the store name and location, plus Mt. Hood in the background. The right side has the “visit pass” section where you can write the date that you visit the store. Each partner store has a stamp like this and it’s definitely worth stopping by to collect them!

Sister City Stamp

This one is a special edition stamp from (I think?) last year and features Portland and their sister city, Sapporo, Japan.

Diner Stamp

And this one is a Traveler’s Diner promo stamp for one of their special editions from a few years back. I actually got this same stamp in Japan!

TRC Stamp Caravan 2025

Oblation is one of the stores on the 2025 Traveler’s Company Stamp Caravan tour! More info about Oblations’ event here, and if you want to see all the tour stops, click here.

Final Impressions

Oblation is a very nice store, and the staff are terrific. I highly recommend stopping by, especially if you’re looking for a new pen or ink to write with! At the very least, if you’re a Traveler’s Company fan you’ll want to come and get the store stamp– and maybe pick up some inserts while you’re there.