Travel
The cheapest upgrade in travel is the calendar
Moving a trip by three weeks changes the price more than moving it three categories up the hotel list, and usually improves the week.
2 min read · 11 September 2026
Travel · Air, sea and the crowd
Season compass
Sixteen coasts and cities across twelve months, with air and sea temperatures, the price index and an honest verdict for each month.
Loading the instrument
Sea temperatures are monthly averages and they lag the air by about six weeks, which is the whole reason this instrument exists.
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The reading behind it
Travel
What a hotel is actually selling
Stars measure the bed and the bathroom. What decides how a stay feels is the third thing, and it is visible within ten minutes.
3 min read · 10 September 2026
Travel
Why September swims better than June
Water has an enormous heat capacity, so the sea runs about six weeks behind the air. Almost every swimming decision follows from that one fact.
2 min read · 9 September 2026
The Friday file
One material, one number, one thing worth knowing
A short letter on Fridays: a single material examined, the arithmetic behind a purchase people get wrong, and the one line from the week worth keeping. No offers, because there is nothing to sell.