Journal · Notes & essays

Field notes on technology, travel and the running of a hands-on service business — written from Dubai.

A set of keys and a signed condition report on a marble countertop — Handover day

6 Sep 2026 · 5 min read

What 39 handovers taught me about deposits, check-outs and the argument you never have

Every deposit dispute is really about the first day of the tenancy. Condition reports that hold, wear-and-tear arithmetic that stands up, and the five-minute video that settles everything else.

property management

A construction site payment application on a desk — Payment application review

26 Aug 2026 · 5 min read

Nobody verifies your money for you: contractor payment applications, read properly

Percentage-fee project managers are paid when your project costs more. Here is what I check on every payment application, from recalculated line items to the site walk that reveals real progress.

construction

A laptop on a minimal desk at morning showing a single soft rising line on a dark screen

16 Aug 2026 · 6 min read

Tracking performance in a service business: the five numbers I actually watch

You do not need fifty metrics and a dashboard the size of a cockpit. You need a handful of numbers you act on every week, each with an owner, a threshold and a partner that keeps it honest.

service-business

A tradesman's toolbag and cordless drill at the door of a contemporary Dubai villa at golden hour

9 Aug 2026 · 7 min read

What owning a handyman-to-your-door service actually looks like

Everyone imagines the trade skills are the hard part. They are not. The hard part is everything that has to go right before a competent person with the correct washer knocks on the correct door.

service-business

An aircraft wing above layered clouds at sunset, a river city visible far below

2 Aug 2026 · 7 min read

The second-destination trick: how adding a city you'll never see makes flying cheaper

Airline fares are priced by competition, not distance — which produces the strange result that flying further can cost less. Here's how the trick works, and why I treat it as a curiosity rather than a strategy.

travel

A contemporary Dubai villa with pool and mature palms

29 Jul 2026 · 2 min read

Why I built European Technical — one accountable provider for Dubai property

After years of managing a private residential portfolio across Palm Jumeirah, Bluewaters and JVC, I kept hitting the same wall: there was no single accountable maintenance provider in Dubai. So I built one.

dubai

Five small wooden stars lined up on a desk beside a closed laptop and a cup of coffee

26 Jul 2026 · 6 min read

Reviews are your P&L in disguise: how I actually monitor them

A review is a customer doing your quality-assurance department's job for free, in public. The least you can do is read it properly — and the most you can do is run the business off it.

service-business

Premium over-ear headphones resting on a leather weekend bag beside a lounge window at dusk

19 Jul 2026 · 6 min read

AirPods Max or Bang & Olufsen: what the money actually buys in an over-ear headphone

Past a certain price, headphones stop competing on silence and start competing on what kind of object you want in your life. That changes the question entirely.

technology

A matte black laptop open in an airport lounge at dusk, apron lights blurred through the glass

5 Jul 2026 · 7 min read

Why the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is the ultimate travel laptop (if you don't like the Air)

For the traveller who will not or cannot run macOS, one laptop keeps answering the brief — and its best feature is the one almost nobody configures.

technology

A smartphone beside a passport and an espresso on a marble cafe table abroad

28 Jun 2026 · 6 min read

The eSIM shop I actually trust: how to choose a provider before you fly

The travel eSIM market is crowded, loud, and priced to distract you. The questions that actually matter are the ones no banner ad mentions.

technology

Folded merino wool garments in muted tones stacked on linen, the weave visible in soft daylight

7 Jun 2026 · 6 min read

The best material for travel clothes is still a sheep's

After years of trying to solve packing with cleverer bags, I eventually accepted that the real problem was the fabric — and that the fabric had been solved centuries before anyone invented the packing cube.

travel

A structured black backpack standing on a railway platform, a train passing in motion blur behind

24 May 2026 · 5 min read

Samsonite backpacks: not the most beautiful, the ultimate

Luggage is infrastructure, not fashion. After a parade of handsome bags and crowdfunded miracles failed me in interesting ways, I settled on the unglamorous incumbent — and I am here to defend it.

travel

A single compact charger and one neatly coiled cable on a pale wooden desk

10 May 2026 · 5 min read

One charger for the whole bag: the GaN brick that retired my cable pouch

A charger the size of a plum now powers everything I carry. The pouch it replaced deserved a small funeral, and this is the eulogy.

technology

A quiet airport terminal at dawn, a lone traveller with a carry-on silhouetted against the glass

26 Apr 2026 · 6 min read

Airport hacks that actually work (and the ones that don't)

After enough departures, you develop opinions about airport advice. Most of it is folklore. A little of it works. Here is my attempt to separate the two before your next early start.

travel

A coin-sized tracker tucked into the lining pocket of an open suitcase

12 Apr 2026 · 5 min read

Put a tracker in everything

For roughly the price of a bad airport sandwich a year, you can know where your bag is when the airline doesn’t. I struggle to name another purchase with that ratio.

technology

An open carry-on packed with cubes and rolled clothes in a precise grid, seen from above

29 Mar 2026 · 6 min read

Carry-on only: a packing system, not a sacrifice

Travelling with only a carry-on is usually presented as an act of self-denial. It is nothing of the sort — it is a system, and like most good systems it is four or five small disciplines that compound.

travel

15 Mar 2026 · 6 min read

Hotel Wi-Fi is the worst part of the trip. A pocket router fixes it

Every hotel room comes with the same broken ritual: log in, again, on every device, every stay. A router the size of a deck of cards ends it for good.

technology

A smartphone face-down on an aircraft tray table beside a window, the wing golden outside

22 Feb 2026 · 5 min read

The pre-flight phone ritual: setting up a phone that lands well

The worst place to set up a phone for a country is standing in that country's arrivals hall. A short ritual on the sofa the night before does the job better, and it never varies.

technology