travel [is] flight and pursuit in equal parts.

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.

You must not judge people by their country. In South America, it is always wise to judge people by their altitude.

Travel is an attitude, a state of mind. It is not residence, it is motion.

I don't look down on tourism. I live in Hawaii where we have 7 million visitors a year. If they weren't there, there would be no economy. So I understand why a tourist economy is necessary.

The Peace Corps is a sort of Howard Johnson's on the main drag into maturity.

Travel is about failure or overcoming obstacles, overcoming failures. When a traveler is having lots of good luck, that is not a happy book. That's a book you say, well, I don't need that. I want a life lesson. I want to find out - I want a journey that reflects my life.