People write about getting sick, they write about tummy trouble, they write about having to wait for a bus. They write about waiting. They write three pages about how long it took them to get a visa. I'm not interested in the boring parts. Everyone has tummy trouble. Everyone waits in line. I don't want to hear about it.

I believe I have a sunny disposition, and am not naturally a grouch. It takes a lot of optimism, after all, to be a traveler.

The biggest surprise was that a country like Angola, that has so much money, that produces so much oil, would be in such a mess and so difficult to travel in. Something is almost cursed in striking oil. It's like the lottery winner who ends up broke.

He regarded himself as an accomplished writer — a clear sign of madness in anyone.

I don't want to be the honored guest. I want to be the invisible person.

Loneliness in travel directs you and tells you about yourself. You don't become lonely unless you're alone.

Travel is a state of mind. It has nothing to do with existence or the exotic. It is almost always an inner experience.