It is always our own self that we find at the end of the journey. The sooner we face that self, the better.

The state of minds vary according to the angle under which one examines them.

You can feel as brave as Columbus starting for the unknown the first time you enter a Chinese lane full of boys laughing at you, or when you risk climbing down in a Tibetan pub for a meal of rotten meat.

Others are keen to see if natives other than us live better than we do, without heat in pipes, ice in boxes, sunshine in bulbs, music on disks, or images gliding over a pale screen.

Not only does travel give us a new system of reckoning, it also brings to the fore unknown aspects of our own self. Our consciousness being broadened and enriched, we shall judge ourselves more correctly.

Travel can also be the spirit of adventure somewhat tamed, for those who desire to do something they are a bit afraid of.

I had to live in the desert before I could understand the full value of grass in a green ditch.