Anything is possible on a train: a great meal, a binge, a visit from card players, an intrigue, a good night's sleep, and strangers' monologues framed like Russian short stories.

I always found myself in the company of Australians, who were like a reminder that I'd touched bottom.

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

I am happy being what I am.

The amount of hassle involved in travel can be overwhelming.

A gun show is about like-minded people who feel as if everything has been taken away from them - jobs, money, pride.

The wish to disappear sends many travelers away. If you are thoroughly sick of being kept waiting at home or at work, travel is perfect: let other people wait for a change. Travel is a sort of revenge for having been put on hold, or having to leave messages on answering machines, not knowing your party's extension, being kept waiting all your working life - the homebound writer's irritants. But also being kept waiting is the human conditon.