This week I’m going to tell it by numbers, which is curious because I’m not terribly good with maths – but I am very good at remembering all kinds of passcodes, phone numbers of friends and relatives in far-flung places, and my credit card numbers past and present. I can rattle off our Tokyo bureau chief’s number if you need it. I’m sure she’d love to hear from you. Want to natter with my friend Nancy up at Whale Beach in New South Wales? She’d love a chat for sure. I’m not sure what I can do with this little bit of mental strength but perhaps it will come in handy someday when the global grid collapses or I simply need to call my old Toronto number to hear the gentle, purring ring. On we go.
4.20
This was the record time of just over four hours that we clocked from Merano in Südtirol back to Küsnacht outside Zürich last Sunday. It was super seeing so many of you at our party on Saturday and a shame that some of the regulars weren’t able to make the journey. There’s a bit of good news, however. We’re going to be hosting a special Alpine summer party at our shop and mini-café in St Moritz this coming Saturday. Detailed numbers at the end of this column.
2.45
The flight time from Zürich to Lisbon on Monday. While Swiss is slowly rolling out Wi-Fi on its short-haul fleet, our A321neo did not have connectivity and for a chairman’s flight (takeoffs from 11.00 onwards) this is a “no”. While I’m all for using short hops to read the papers lifted from the lounge, it’s also useful to stay in touch during prime business hours.
0, -1
The floors occupied by the tiny shopping arcade at the bottom of our building in Lisbon. As retail “experiences” go, you would kindly file it under “d” for dopey but in the kindest possible way – because it’s a little bit slow, not at all attractive and yet somehow deeply endearing. This little arcade is also a lesson for developers, leasing companies and landlords about how modern shopping centres might need to be planned and inserted in neighbourhoods going forward. There is a busy café and restaurant that spills out to the street, across the corridor there is a well-stocked newsstand with Monocle and Konfekt front and centre (I don’t even get involved in the merchandising), and then there’s a florist, children’s boutique, travel agent, nail salon, hair salon, print and binding shop and a couple of other spots besides. The shops range in size from 10 sq m to 50 sq m and though it was hardly love at first sight, I now feel that I have the best possible setup a few floors below. The small spaces mean low rents and floor plans too tiny for bigger chains. The result is a collection of owner-operated businesses, a strong sense of community and essential services on tap.
7.35km
My Saturday circuit in Lisbon. I started cooking up this column during my morning walk and I’ve been thinking about all the little extras that we’d like to add to this year’s Quality of Life Conference. Of all the places worth seeing in Lisbon, I keep returning to one exquisitely planned patch of the city, Alvalade, to observe the forces that make it such a workable, desirable neighbourhood. Sign up for this year’s conference and we’ll guide you around one of Europe’s best-planned communities.
80,000
That’s how many people read this newsletter for free, seven days a week. That’s a big number for a family-owned company like ours – particularly when it comes to offering up original reports, opinions, tips and insights. I want to say a huge thanks to the 25,000 who are already print-and-digital subscribers. But I also want to nudge those who aren’t yet part of the club to join us and enjoy the benefits of belonging to our global community.
25/07/2026, 18.00
That’s the date and time for our party in St Moritz. Come up to the Engadine to meet a few of your favourite editors and shop manager Logan while enjoying some wines from the region. Stick around for a special edition of Monocle on Sunday at 10.00 the next morning and be the first to get a copy of our new summer newspaper, Monocle: Med, Mountains and More, which comes complete with its own 50-page magazine. Don’t miss it.
Enjoying life in ‘The Faster Lane’? Click here to browse all of Tyler’s past columns.
