Sometimes travel is merely an opportunity taken when you can.

Everything in Russia is made of cement - phone booths, fence posts and light bulbs.

Russian humor is to adapt or make some sense or nonsense out of the insanity of their lives.

Human connection is the way things work. It's like a patronage system. You know somebody, and he knows somebody, and he knows somebody, and he knows the district governor, and it's okay.

When the days start to get shorter, I want to be in some nice brick building on the East Coast with the lights glowing in the windows. When the daylight starts changing, I want to be out West.

Every once in a while, people need to be in the presence of things that are really far away.

I don't want to participate in traditional Indian religious ceremonies - dance in a sun dance or pray in a sweat lodge or go on a vision quest with the help of a medicine man. The power of these ceremonies has an appeal, but I'm content with what little religion I already have.