We tend not to choose the unknown, which might be a shock or a disappointment or simply a little difficult to cope with. An yet it is the unknown with all its disappointments and surprises that is the most enriching.

But I want first of all- in fact, as an end to these other desires- to be at peace with myself.

Perhaps I am a bear, or some hibernating animal underneath, for the instinct to be half asleep all winter is so strong in me.

And if flying, like a glass-bottomed bucket, can give you that vision, that seeing eye, which peers down on the still world below the choppy waves - it will always remain magic.

Travel Far, Pay No Fare... a book can take you anywhere.

Can you write a book and have children at the same time? Yes, if you're content to do it very very slowly.

Good communication is just as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.