I wish other people would write about loneliness more. It's hard to remember that it's not personal. We live in a world that is built to make people lonely... It's difficult to remember that your loneliness is not really about you and everyone has it.

I never asked anybody to take me seriously.

Go to a place and just send out emails. That's my entire life. I go to countries and I ask, "Who would I know who lives here?" Not even do I know, but who exists and is on the planet.

Once you leave, you're no longer of that country, but you are never actually of the country that you go to, and if you go back, you're not anywhere. You never belong to anything.

Just send the emails and talk to people. Spend all your money on nail polish and opera tickets.

I don't behave the way people necessarily want me to, but I tried behaving that other way for a short period of time and it didn't take.

American culture never necessarily made sense to me, but they should warn you: leaving comes with a huge sense of alienation that never goes away.