Lisbon has become a predictable answer to the question of where to take a laptop and disappear for a month. The reasons are practical: the timezone sits at UTC+1, which means European standups are manageable and US async is workable by evening. The cost of living remains below Western European norms. The city has fiber. None of that explains why it actually works. What explains it is the rhythm. Lisbon runs on a schedule that tolerates long midday pauses without apologizing for them.