They say that if the Swiss had designed these mountains they'd be rather flatter.

Travel is only glamorous in retrospect.

Tourists who go to Africa have more of a traditional experience than Africans do. A tourist goes on safari; Africans don't.

I know there are writers who feel unhappy with domesticity and who even manufacture domestic turmoil in order to have something to write about. With me, though, the happier I feel, the better I write.

Travel books are all sorts - some are autobiographies, some are about falling in love. Some are about having great meals, some are about suffering. There are as many different kinds of travel books as there are novels. People think a travel book is one thing. It's many things.

Delay and dirt are the realities of the most rewarding travel.

A novel captures essence that is not possible in any other form.