... the grand tour is just the inspired man's way of heading home.

I don't think that it's possible to have a truly rewarding experience in travel if it's simple.

Fiction gives us a second chance that life denies us.

A novel captures essence that is not possible in any other form.

In countries where all the crooked politicians wear pin-striped suits, the best people are bare-assed.

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.

"Connected" is the triumphal cry these days. Connection has made people arrogant, impatient, hasty, and presumptuous... I don't doubt that instant communication has been good for business, even for the publishing business, but it has done nothing for literature, and might even have harmed it. In many ways connection has been disastrous. We have confused information (of which there is too much) with ideas (of which there are too few). I found out much more about the world and myself by being unconnected.