I recently made a radical change in my grocery shopping: I stopped using the self-checkout scanner. No Luddite, I had initially embraced the technology as it trickled into shops. Shorter queues, no waiting behind other customers as they fumble for their payment. But I have soured. On a purely functional level, self-checkout machines are wanting. There are the hectoring prompts and clamouring warning sounds. There is the routine failure of the scanner to read a bar code (smudged glass, a wrinkled label). The tedious scrolling through menus to identify your purchase as a Bartlett pear or a concord grape. Inevitably, something will go wrong and the whole system will malfunction, requiring the assistance of a human supervisor to whom you sheepishly explain the possible reasons you have failed.  

But there is also something more deeply problematic about them. They represent another erosive step in the gradual withering away of public interaction in favour of a world of “frictionless”, machine-guided transactions. The very fact that I am in the shop rather than ordering from my couch might seem like some archaic ritual; indeed the aisles, where I once might have encountered a neighbour gathering supplies for dinner and had a brief chat, are now besieged by “e-shoppers” doing someone else’s grocery run, identifiable by the badges around their necks and the ruthless way that they move through the shop.

Certainly, a surfeit of small talk can be an annoyance, especially in a city. As the sociologist Erving Goffman famously observed, urbanites tend to live by a strategy of “civil inattention”, whereby we subtly acknowledge each other’s presence but then avert our gaze to preserve a sense of privacy in public. And yet think of how many of these small moments, this social glue, that we are losing. The newsstand where we could communally glance at the headlines and chat with the proprietor is replaced by the private screen; the record shop with the opinionated clerk is replaced by anonymously curated “for you” streams. The entertaining conversation with the quirky cab driver (I once had one tell me about his personal philosophy called “superhumanism”) replaced by an Uber driver who already knows where you are going and who you can request to be silent (then there are the driverless taxis, where the only chat is a recorded safety announcement). Returning to Goffman, we often don’t even have that initial acknowledgement – we’re staring instead at a glowing screen.

The urbanist Greg Lindsay, after stating that Americans now spend an hour and a half more at home (and presumably on screens) than they did in pre-smartphone days, and noting the rise of so-called “ghost kitchens” and “dark stores” – with no footfall, just web traffic – argued that “the physical world has become increasingly vestigial to the digital one”. And in the same way that AI, as studies imply, might impinge upon our cognitive abilities, the technologically mediated urban environment might be weakening our civil muscles: our ability to simply be with other people in public.

It sounds like a small thing but I am here to reclaim the joy of a life with social friction. I have made it a New Year’s resolution to always choose engagement. At the food shop recently, the clerk, noting that I had Scotch bonnet peppers in my cart, queried what I will be making. She was, it turned out, originally from Jamaica and what might have otherwise been a cold exchange of electrons became two strangers finding common ground – in this case, over the delights of jerk chicken.

Tom Vanderbilt is a regular Monocle contributor. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

Encompassing land, air and sea, China’s large-scale war games around Taiwan this week covered the largest area yet and included live ammunition, new amphibious assault ships, troops, fighter jets and bombers (writes Jack Simpson). Dubbed “Justice Mission 2025”, the drills were made to simulate a total blockade of the island’s key ports, establishing control of its airspace and simultaneously striking critical infrastructure. The timing is telling: they follow a record $11bn (€9.4bn) US arms sale to Taiwan in mid-December. Xi Jinping sees these drills as reciprocation rather than escalation – a warning to both Taiwan’s independence supporters and its closest allies.

Since Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in 2022 as the then-speaker of the US House of Representatives, such war gaming has become commonplace. Donald Trump downplayed anxieties over the latest drills during a press conference in Mar-a-Lago, claiming that nothing worries him and referring to his great relationship with Xi. It’s an assuredness that seems to be reflected in Taiwan too. “Coming on the heels of a deadly knife attack at a Taipei metro station earlier this month and another powerful earthquake this week, the latest Chinese military drills have added to a sense of unease in Taiwan over the holiday period,” says Clarissa Wei, a US journalist based in Taiwan. “But for most people, life goes on as it always has.” By now the Taiwanese have become used to such provocations, but their leaders will be hoping they don’t become complacent. 

Wondering where best to kick off the New Year? Look no further – here are a few options for those wanting to start 2026 on the move, picked out from the latest issue of The Escapist.

1.
Start the day at Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon
If you only have a morning in Lisbon, the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian is your best bet. While the Gulbenkian Museum (pictured below) reopens in July 2026 after a much-anticipated revamp, there is plenty to discover now across the complex, from the Art Library to the picturesque garden and Kengo Kuma-designed Centro de Arte Moderna extension. 

2.
A long weekend at the foot of Mt Fuji
The iconic outline of Fuji-san is familiar to all but a stay at the new Gora Kadan Fuji hotel offers beguiling views of Japan’s highest peak that will make you see it anew. Its easy-going yet supremely attentive staff make for a good weekend of restoration.  

3. 
A drive through New South Wales
Heading south from the Sydney sprawl, the nation’s seemliest highway wends its way along the coast to reveal lesser-seen treasures. It’s an opportunity to glimpse much of what Australia has to offer in a single, swift journey. Cutting through Illawarra, Shoalhaven and the Southern Highlands, you will be met with dramatic coastlines, peaceful estuaries and rugged mountain ranges. 

To explore these spots and many more, pick up a copy of ‘The Escapist’ today.

Monocle’s foreign editor, Alexis Self, picks out some of the stories he most enjoyed writing, commissioning and editing this year. If you’ve missed any of them, go back and enjoy.

1.
Recruitment ads: Militaries the world over are looking to bolster their ranks all while levels of patriotism among the young citizens who they are targeting are plummeting to historic lows. We looked at a selection of recruitment advertising from around the globe to see how successfully they are at getting their message across. 

2.
Can Penn Station be beautiful again? My colleague in New York, Henry Rees-Sheridan, wrote this great piece on the planned redevelopment of Manhattan’s famous Penn Station. It’s an analysis of the politicisation of architecture in Trump’s USA and about how just because we disagree with someone politically doesn’t mean that they’re wrong about aesthetic issues – and vice versa.

3.
Is Beirut back from the brink? One of the lesser known consequences of the Gaza war is what the weakening of Hezbollah and the migration of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees has done to Lebanese politics and society. In September, Leila Molana-Allen travelled to Beirut to take note of a new sense of (caveated) optimism in the Lebanese capital. A new government is quietly making essential reforms while tourists and young Lebanese have returned in their droves – a rare piece of good news from the Middle East. 

With handy insights from the past year and a view of what’s to come in 2026, our bumper winter edition is packed with reports, ideas and long reads to savour. We step behind the curtains at the Royal Danish Ballet, pick up presents in our festive gift guides and sit down for culinary treats at a few of Paris’s best bistros. Plus: dip into our Japan survey, which has plenty of lessons in mobility and retail for the year ahead.