Unless there is a strong sense of place there is no travel writing, but it need not come from topographical description; dialogue can also convey a sense of place. Even so, I insist, the traveler invents the place. Feeling compelled to comment on my travel books, people say to me, "I went there"---China, India, the Pacific, Albania-- "and it wasn't like that." I say, "Because I am not you.

I cannot make my days longer so I strive to make them better.

There's always a way if you're not in a hurry.

To a lot of Africans, seeing an animal is a something of a rarity. So it's a paradox of this sort of parallel life. A safari is an expensive experience and it's adjacent to a place where people are having a very tough time.

I think I understand passion. Love is something else.

I think that love isn't what you think it is when you're in your twenties or even thirties.

I'm a tourist, a glorified tourist. I'm not doing it to have a good time or to lie in the sun.