Sometimes people read a book in order to not go on a trip. You read a book instead of going on the trip. And so the travel writer is doing the traveling for you.

Reading alters the appearance of a book. Once it has been read, it never looks the same again, and people leave their individual imprint on a book they have read. Once of the pleasures of reading is seeing this alteration on the pages, and the way, by reading it, you have made the book yours.

Bogotá seemed a cruel towering place, like an eagles' nest now inhabited by vultures and their dying prey.

Basically, what you find out is the limits of your patience and your strength and your capacity to adapt. You find that out in travel and being alone and being tested. So that's a great thing.

Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.

A person who is tired of London is not necessarily tired of life; it might be that he just can’t find a parking place.

...a society without jaywalkers might indicate a society without artists.