I turn 40 tomorrow – #111

I turn 40 tomorrow.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been writing down things I’ve come to think are true, in the order they surfaced. I stopped at 144 and killed 104 of them. The remaining 40 cover taste, Sina and the kids, work, money, rooms, bad Italian coffee, a pygmy owl outside our window here in Le Marche and the maximum useful height of a drinking straw. One is the cheesiest thing I believe.

The full list is on my blog. I’m not previewing it here. Either you want to read 40 things someone wrote the night before his birthday, or you don’t.

I don’t think I’ve gotten wiser since 30. I’ve just gotten more comfortable saying what I actually think.

But now on to this week’s products.

If you’re new around here: Every week, I share 5 of the nicest products from Europe I’ve discovered in the past 7 days.

I scout, you explore.

With love 🌞
Jakob

P.S.: Missed the last edition? The ceramic cup from Niki Ceramics that I found at a concept coffeeshop in Ostuni was the most-clicked product.

Sukie’s Hiking Adventure Travel Journal contains 160 pages across six different paper types, plus six glassine pockets and six kraft envelopes sewn into the binding. Places for the boarding pass, the receipt you couldn’t bin, the sticker that came off something. Its card cover is silkscreen printed by hand, so each one comes out a little different. Designed in London and entirely plastic-free.

The Shrimp pendant lamp by Odject Studio arrives as a flat pack of polymer pieces. You assemble them yourself, and somewhere in the process a 60-centimeter shrimp takes shape and announces itself on your ceiling. The Amsterdam studio makes it in two logical versions: Cooked, cast in warm orange, and Raw, cool and translucent.

Labo Mono’s Modular Sling Bag arrives as a collection of parts. Choose a medium or large shell, then add either a rope carry system with a carabiner or a flat alpine strap. You can change, repair, and upgrade the individual components later instead of replacing the whole bag. Labo Mono backs the system with a lifetime warranty, which makes the modular promise feel considerably less theoretical.

Absurde Studio makes its leather bag charms in Ubrique, Andalusia, a town with a long history of producing serious leather goods. They turned a strawberry ice cream into a leather charm for your bag. It would also make a very good key ring for our apartment in Merano, ⁠Late Checkout. I may have just found a business expense…

The Amble One is an open-air electric vehicle with four seats, no doors and a cork interior. It is street-legal in the EU, has more than 100 kilometers of range and starts at €20,000 plus VAT. Reservations are now open for delivery in 2028.