Hey now! The Contender is one year old today. Did anything important happen recently? Something big? Any world altering events? Of course everything happened in the last six months and it happened to everybody. The world feels a lot bigger (in the sense we can’t go where we want to) and at the same time more connected (well, you know why). 

The idea here was always to celebrate good places and good companies, not mourn the fact that they’re closing. But that’s the world we live in now, and we’re all adapting. I like small businesses with a point of view, whether they make suits, serve wine or build bamboo fly rods. These are places run by good people with singular ideas and an independent streak. That’s hard territory to navigate right now. But one of the things we’ve learned over the last year is that these impractical, idiosyncratic visionaries are more important, not less. I think we all want to connect with people who spend their lives working on a human scale for likeminded people, not corporations driven by shareholders. 

We used to move through the world seamlessly. I’m humbled that I took that luxury for granted, blithely coasting along until March. If I wanted to get somewhere I went there without thinking much about it. That’s no longer the case. It’s useless to bemoan the cancelled trips whether for pleasure or work, it’s happened to all of us. In a strange way, I think we’re coming to terms with the importance of pleasure. It feels silly to worry about a cancelled art exhibition or tennis tournament, but, in fact, it’s natural to miss the things we love, whether it’s the opera, a weekly dinner out or an annual trip. The fact that those things aren’t as seismic as a pandemic does not lessen their meaning. I think it’s right to care about things that don’t rise to the level of political dialogue. They’re part of the human experience too.

So where does that leave The Contender? Reviewing a lot less hotels, that’s for sure. But that’s all right. There will be time for that. I started this site as an outlet for certain things I’ve always cared about, but also as a space for things I discover or want to react to. That’s still the case. I’ve been working on a book and in the next six months there will be news and details about that here. It’s been a major part of my life and, by my standards, a serious endeavor. I’m in England reporting on it now (well not reporting, more like experiencing with wide eyes). I’m very excited about it and a little nervous (like anything worth doing). I’m also working on some other projects—more editorial work, more clothing and some other media endeavors—that I’m excited to share and that I hope you like. 

So thanks for reading, thanks for the comments, questions, thinly veiled or not at all veiled criticism. It’s all very appreciated and helpful. Have you been receiving The Contender newsletter? Oh wait, I’ve never sent it out! One of these days I’ll get my act together and get that going and, if the dreaded “current situation” changes then hopefully a podcast. I know the world doesn’t need another podcast, but I still want to do face-to-face interviews with interesting people (not over the phone as everybody who knows me will confirm that I am the world’s worst phone person). 

We wanted to live in interesting times. Now it’s too interesting by a degree of magnitude. But hopefully we’ll make it to the other side with our dignity intact. Well maybe not our dignity, but definitely a hell of a lot wiser. 

And that wisdom is worth something too.

God knows we’ve earned it,

David