Reading liberates you. You could know about the world through reading.

All travel is circular. I had been jerked through Asia, making a parabola on one of the planet's hemispheres. After all, the grand tour is just the inspired man's way of heading home.

I cannot make my days longer so I strive to make them better.

Luxury is the enemy of observation, a costly indulgence that induces such a good feeling that you notice nothing. Luxury spoils and infantilizes you and prevents you from knowing the world.

You may not know it but I'm no good at coping with all the attention in the luxury hotels I sometimes find myself in.

The monotony of staying in one place is the best thing for writing a novel. Having regular habits, a kind of security, but especially no big surprises, no shocks.

Now and then in travel, something unexpected happens that transforms the whole nature of the trip and stays with the traveler.