Monocle magazine terrifically covers international affairs, business, culture and design. With a careful eye for detail, the journalistic temperament is sophisticated and knowledgeable while still being inclusive and diverse. This is not a magazine. It’s a book that you get monthly. We have every issue at the office, and we refer to them as coffee table resources. Their design is inspiring and moving, and you can reference it for months and still find new and interesting information each time.

It was no surprise that we weren’t the only fans of Monocle. Arriving as one of the top selling debuts in magazine history, it definitely has its followers. Who could blame them. For example we came across an awesome photo collection by one of its readers. The photos were taken in response to a challenge posed by Tyler Brûlé, the editor.

The reader’s page states: “Nestled at the back of Tyler Brûlé’s wonderful Monocle magazine is an advert for their range of bags, co-produced with Porter of Japan. Monocle claims that the bag is small enough to meet all hand-luggage regulations…yet, with a bit of smart packing, could contain enough to last you a week or more.”

So why not give it go. The reader took the challenge and photographically showed his trip and how the bag did on an 8 day excursion to London, Paris, London and back again to New York. We have a couple pictures here, but visit his flickr page to see the rest. It’s an exercise in travel efficiency.

In his bag he carried a week’s supply of clothing, his Apple MacBook Pro, a Nikon D80 Digital SLR, the current issue of Wired and Bill Bryson’s ‘A Walk in the Woods’. On the way he added a new copy of Monocle, a Zune, a tie, the new album from Scouting for Girls on CD, Wallpaper’s guide to Paris, and many business cards.

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