On the road across America.

When Field Notes co-founder/storyteller extraordinaire Aaron Draplin talks about the inspiration behind his company, it's easy to get swept up in his passion: collecting vintage farmer pocket memo books.

Now numbering in the “15-20 drawers full of these things", his quest began during an early nineties roadtrip when he would “rescue” books at estate sales and flea markets to record his own thoughts. A fascinating record of America's agricultural past, Draplin especially relishes the “chicken scratch” he finds inside most books: the daily documentation that affords him a deeply personal glimpse into the original writer's life. Shaking his head, he says “The idea that that would go to landfill is incredibly sad to me."

Which is why he collects them, and why his "crop" of farmer memo books will never, ever lie fallow.

"Driving through Iowa, I really stop and think: this field I’m standing in front of, someone toiled over for generations. It really puts things into perspective how lucky and how thankful I should really be… every hour."