Ever since childhood, when I lived within earshot of the Boston and Maine, I have seldom heard a train go by and not wished I was on it.

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

Going slowly [...] was the best way of being reminded that there is a relationship between Here and There, and that travel narrative was the story of There and Back.

A national crisis, a political convulsion, is an opportunity, a gift to the traveler. Nothing is more revealing of a place to a stranger than trouble. Even if a crisis is incomprehensible, as it usually is, it lends drama to the day and transforms the traveler into an eye witness.

All politicians, even the most idealistic ones, are looking for money, sucking up to rich people.

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

The greatest justification for travel is not self-improvement but rather performing a vanishing act, disappearing without a trace.