Hey,

I’ve been postponing this email since last week (sorry).

I should go into more detail of why I’ve postponed it but this email would be too long. So I’ll save that for the next one.

On Monday morning last week 22/9/2025 (or 9/22/2025 if you’re a lunatic) I drove to Kotor to see a client there, proceeding along the Bay to Herceg Novi.

It’s a rather scenic route that I was taking, although not due to its scenic properties but its functionality as a road.

This seems to be the easiest way right now to get from Podgorica to Kotor, as the other roads are under construction. Manageable, but still under construction, so not business-friendly.

The serpentine road from Njeguši to Kotor is a peculiar one. It was built by the Slovenian architect Josip Slade Šilović, by the order of King Nikola I Petrović by the end of the XIX century.

It’s a rather narrow road with stone retaining walls, following the isohypses with the 25 hairpin curves (or elbow curves, as we call them). Though it’s a two-way road, it takes skill and patience for two cars to pass each other. SUVs and off-roaders somewhat harder but it’s manageable. Smaller campers and mini buses, if you must.

But, big buses…that’s a whole another level.

Why the heck would you drive a coach that’s meant for long distances on this road?

I’ll tell you why.

It’s tourism.

The bus companies are taking daily routes for tourists to see the bay from a mountain above. Somehow the buses are half-empty, or half-full if you prefer that expression.

This causes havoc every day, and I have already been in the similar situation in the peak season.

I shall say that I couldn’t care less for tourism in my country, as I don’t live off of tourism and it makes everyday life a real hassle.

Don’t get me wrong, I myself go abroad and I love it. I guess you love it too. But, the countries we often visit have these things under control. The crowds can bother you but are an obstacle to the business and life of every citizen.

If only that was Montenegro.

The buses made a total mess in traffic, as we’ve been passed by a dozen of big buses. In one of the messy situations, one of the tour operators stated that it’s a road for them and they live off of this.

To prevent you for being sorry for these people, let me tell you that there were around 200 cars circulating in the timeframe that we were there. It’s hardly possible that we were all going on a banter at 9 am on Monday. It’s only logical to me that at least 50% were heading to do business.

So, I guess we should pause our businesses and lives for the sake of these 10 people, parasiting and leaching on the cultural and natural heritage with no contribution whatsoever (other than, of course, driving and causing havoc).

During the day, I’ve managed to see live updates and videos from this road, claiming that people waited for 2+ hours to get down the mountain. For the sake of argument, this should take you no more than 30 minutes.

It’s not all gloomy though. (Easy to say after 2 weeks.)

Jokes aside, our meetings with clients went smooth. The client loved our design for two public squares in Herceg Novi so I’m going to be sharing some of the details soon to show you how you can brainstorm and take action in your projects.

I’ll say that one square is on the seaside promenade in the city center, and the other is below a well-known monastery.

It’s rare that you get to work on public squares, and even rarer on two squares at the same time in the same city. It does, however, give you leverage on both, as you are already immersed in the city and feel how it breathes.

So, don’t ever do one public square project, do two of them at the same time!

It’s only now that I’ve realized that I’m bashing on tourism whilst designing public squares.

Well, public squares are for the whole public, right?

Hopefully, there won’t be any buses driving through them.

Do not share this newsletter with tour operators as they might get new ideas and start taking over public squares. Especially the ones that I design.

If, however, any tour operator or tour bus driver is reading this newsletter, I have nothing else to say to you.

Anyhow, if this continues, I feel that next big thing in countries like Montenegro will be small private planes and helicopters, just to get anywhere in time.

Well, that’s it for today.

Shoot, I almost forgot.

Some time ago I sent an email asking for your personal experience with this newsletter.

Here’s a link in case you missed it → Future Heritage experience

It only takes 2 minutes of your time and it would mean the world to me.

Authentic recommendations from colleagues carry a lot of weight (thank you Lakshmi).

David