An island is a fixed and finite piece of geography, and usually the whole place has been carved up and claimed.

Most travel, and certainly the rewarding kind, involves depending on the kindness of strangers, putting yourself into the hands of people you don't know and trusting them with your life.

Writing is pretty crummy on the nerves.

Airplanes have dulled and desensitized us; we are encumbered, like lovers in a suit of armor.

The United States is a world unto itself. We have mountains, we have deserts, we have a river that equals the Yangtze River, that equals the Nile. We have the greatest cities in the world - among the greatest cities in the world. We have a large population. We have challenges. We have an indigenous population.

The people of Hong Kong are criticized for only being interested in business, but it's the only thing they've been allowed to do.

travel [is] flight and pursuit in equal parts.