Gifted authors don't just tell us about unique or out-of-the-way places; they take us to them, show us what they look like, show us who their people are, and make us feel like we've experienced them.

Reprinted from various periodicals.

Foreword /Jason Wilson -- Introduction / Elizabeth Gilbert -- A prison, a paradise -- from New York times magazine / John Jeremiah Sullivan -- The bull passes through -- from Morning news / Kevin Chroust -- The way I've come -- from Legal studies forum / Judy Copeland -- Blot out -- from Creative nonfiction / Colleen Kinder -- The year I didn't -- from Gulf Coast / Daniel Tyx -- Tea and kidnapping -- from Atlantic / Sarah A. Topol -- The paid piper -- from T magazine / Grant Stoddard -- Dentists without borders -- from New Yorker / David Sedaris -- Confessions of a packing minimalist -- from Travel + Leisure / Lynn Yaeger -- Summerland -- from Travel + Leisure / Peter Jon Lindberg -- The wild dogs of Istanbul -- from Smart set / Bernd Brunner -- Bombing Sarajevo -- from Outside / Dimiter Kenarov -- Vietnam's bowl of secrets -- from Afar / David Farley -- Babu on the bad road -- from Virginia quarterly review / Jesse Dukes -- The pippiest place on earth -- from New York times magazine / Sam Anderson -- Dreaming of El Dorado -- from Virginia quarterly review / Marie Arana -- Caliph of the tricksters -- from Harper's magazine / Christopher de Ballaigue -- A farewell to yarns -- from Outside / Ian Frazier -- Pirate City -- from Paris review / Rich Cohen -- Contributors' notes -- Notable travel writing of 2012.