Leaning into the end-of-year lull gives us a chance to relax and reflect

I like it here, this island of time between Christmas and New Year. While it might not be a tropical paradise, it is somewhere that you can regroup, shrug off the excesses of Christmas and prepare for the new year. It’s a good spot for long walks, for reading, for making lists, for setting out your ambitions for the year ahead. (Hold on, aren’t these the same as last year’s?)

While Monocle never sleeps – for starters, there are newsletters and radio shows that require our writers, editors and producers to be on duty – it does go a little quieter here. You check your email inbox and wonder if there’s something wrong with the server as the usual deluge of messages is now a trickle.

This island also offers a vantage point from where you can look back across the year and commit to memory the moments that mattered.

So, from a year of Monocle travels and escapades, here are a few Tuck high points. I hope you have a good list to reflect on, too.

1.
Paris. In February, we opened our café-shop-radio studio setup on Rue Bachaumont (with a separate bureau just a hundred metres away) and it was love at first sight. People often ask me what Monocle stands for, what makes us who we are. Now I can reply, “Go and have a coffee at the Monocle Café in Paris and all will become clear.” That’s because it’s cosy, cool without straining, welcoming and part of the neighbourhood. It’s us.

2.
Throughout 2025 I went to trade events in Cannes, Abu Dhabi and Milan and more, and loved them all. OK, Mipim in Cannes in March was a little wet (I was dreaming of opening my first rosé of the year but ended up on a terrace wrapped in a blanket with rain-soaked shoes). But we met so many good people – those who build and transform our cities with care – that the monsoon almost didn’t matter. On the other hand, Milan for Salone in April was perfect. The sun shone, the design world gathered and there was a joyful generosity at play. Trade shows rock. Well, the ones I get myself invited to.

3.
Jakarta for Monocle’s The Chiefs Conference was fun and revelatory. I had never been to the Indonesian capital before and neither had many of our delegates. Even those who lived a few hours away in Singapore and Vietnam also turned out to be Jakarta virgins. The talks were perfect but the afterparty was insane – everybody dancing in a tiny bar with the best DJ. It’s a good lesson: go to new places with an open mind. Pack your dancing shoes. Get a ticket to a Monocle event in 2026.

4.
Speaking of which, The Quality of Life Conference in Barcelona. This was next level in a very real way. We arranged a surprise to close the conference with a troupe of castellers entering the auditorium to build a human tower, or castell. In fact, they created two towers in quick succession, tiny children clambering to the pinnacle each time. There was something about this literal example of having each other’s backs, of supporting one another, of taking the weight on your shoulders to let the young soar, that just got to people. There was cheering and there were tears.

5.
Palma. I am there every chance I get and, after Barcelona, we took a team of Monocle Patrons to the island to show them some of the places that have hooked me and the rest of Monocle. So to the folks at Cap Rocat, Ohlab (that’s you, Jaime and Paloma), Hotel de Mar, Arquinesia, La Pecera, Can Vivot, Can Bordoy – thank you.

6.
There’s been a lot of trips to the Gulf this year – the Monocle Weekender in Abu Dhabi, the World Governments Summit in Dubai and, along with my colleague Luke, we also made it to Sharjah. One night we were taken around the city by our hosts – on foot – and as the dhows bobbed on the creek and the light flicked to gold, I thought: I will add this day to my list of 2025 highlights. And I have.

If we don’t speak before we leave, enjoy your time on this island and see you back on the mainland in 2026.

To read more columns by Andrew Tuck, click here.