It never stops me from saying what I want to say about Ethiopia, the fact that a tour company is paid for me to go there. Book reviewers don't pay for the books they review.

I would love to write a book that opens people's eyes to the more interesting side.

One does have to learn to travel with a degree of humility and that reflected in writing and personality.

Lawrence Millman is a favorite writer of mine. He did a travels on the trail of the Vikings.

I tend to prefer traveling in the Third World countries. Like Ethiopia. Or Eritrea.

There are no young people who know how to debate, who know how to vote, and who know how to persuade people to vote. And you have seen this in Paraguay and they are reaping the harvest now of fifty years of dictatorship.

There is a very big difference between American and British travel journalism, and that's this whole business of the assisted or freebie trip. In Britain we are unashamed about any travel company paying for you to go and then writing about it. That's the only way we can do it. But I have tried the same in the States, and I can't write for any sizeable American newspaper because they tell you to do it on this basis.