"Kino no Tabi 18" by Shigusawa Keiichi. Relative to the previous volume, this one is a lot more "normal". It's not due to issues with the author's plot ideas, it's simply that the real world has caught up with fiction and it's now just as weird. Cows that milk themselves, money that is worthless in their home countries but are sought by collectors elsewhere, firefighters watch a house getting burned down because owner did not pay the proper fees* -- all happened in real life.
Even with less shock factor, things are still more interesting in Kino's world. The self-milking cow comes with a separate prequel chapter that served as background, and also as general cautionary tale about advanced technology. The story about money is a two part tale about why cash became valuable on two separate occasions, both for different reasons from why we usually value money today. Finally, the burning house chapter ends with the kind of twisted humor perfectly suitable for "Kino no Tabi" series, I am not sure if this ending would have been preferred in real life but I did enjoy reading it here.
Plot aside, this volume came with more multi-part stories that connected the different travellers. This is probably a trivial exercise in all other novels, but because characters in "Kino no Tabi" live in mostly independent time and space, it requires more careful arrangement of events. It was great to compare how these characters act in similar settings. Will all characters ever gather in one country at once? Maybe that would be the end of this series.
I am glad that this series is still going strong, and hope it continues to stay one step ahead of reality.
Previous (2014-10-24): "No Game No Life" volume 5 by Kamiya Yuu
Next (2014-11-18): "Yuureitou" by Edogawa Ranpo