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

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

There is an intense but simple thrill in setting off in the morning on a mountain trail, knowing that everything you need is on your back. It is a confidence in having left the inessentials behind and of entering a world of natural beauty that has not been violated, where money has no value, and possessions are a dead weight. The person with the fewest possessions is the freest. Thoreau was right.

Although I'm not fluent in sign language by a long way, I could have a fairly decent conversation.

Travel is only glamorous in retrospect.

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.

I never stay with people and I never look people up when I travel. I depend more on just chance meetings. The advantage is that people don't know who I am. I meet people casually and they're not doing me a big favor because I'm going to write something.