Emma Truscott“What I love about this is the simplicity of the premise paired with the sophistication of the execution. The writer turns a border-crossing bike path into a vivid story about the joy of travelling at human speed. It’s useful without ever feeling like service, and shows that sustainable travel stories can be ambitious without feeling didactic. Reading it makes you want to lace up, hop on a bike and rethink what a ‘European break’ can be.” – Ellie Cobb
Getty Images“First of all, a piece of buttered toast covered in sprinkles isn’t a sandwich by anyone’s definition – and the joyful quirkiness of this story (and snack) only begins there. The fact that Dutch businessmen belly up to tables to enjoy this during a work lunch made me laugh, but reading that more than 15 million kgs of the stuff is consumed annually means I probably hadn’t been taking hagelslag seriously enough. It is, according to this piece, emblematic of a Dutch way of being. ‘They’re not over-analysing this, thinking: Is this healthy? Is this for children? They’re just indulging in a relatively simple pleasure.’ That makes perfect sense to me.” – Laura Norkin
Jessica Parrillo“Have you wondered what happens to lost luggage at the airport? The answer is unspooled in this tale about a visit to Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsboro, Alabama, a city-block-sized repository filled with everything from wedding dresses to functioning electronics to medieval armour. The prose bounces back-and-forth between the mythical and the mundane – the thought of collections of Cartier, Louis Vuitton and Gucci items sitting patiently in a storehouse in the Appalachian foothills sounds almost preposterous. And yet that’s the joy of the piece; it transports you to a world where the ordinary can become extraordinary.” – Francis Agustin
Pantelis Melissinos“Workshops selling strappy leather sandals made while you wait are so common a sight in Athens that they seem to repeat in the background, like a glitch in the Matrix. I loved how this article forces the traveller to slow down and really look at those colourful souvenirs, perhaps as if for the first time, and see the centuries of artisanry behind them.” – Eva Sandoval
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