On the upside, no kidding, Orlean and the series editor really do skim the cream from thousands of annual travel articles. On the down, there are only so many travel stories you can read in one sitting. It’s like reading a magazine that never ends. Among my favorites are Ian Frazier’s account of getting sick in Russia, Kevin Fedarko’s description of the drug addicted nation of Djibouti, and Matthew Power’s experience with the economics of garbage picking communities in the Phillipines. June 2008.