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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. Those whistle...more

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Because of my capacity for listening to strangers' tales, or the details of their lives, my patience with their food and their crotchets, my curiosity...more

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The measure of civilized behavior is compassion.

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What I remembered most clearly about this Jinja road was that on portions of it, for reasons no one could explain, butterflies settled in long fluffy ...more

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You go away for a long time and return a different person - you never come all the way back

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Travel is a state of mind. It has nothing to do with existence or the exotic. It is almost always an inner experience.

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..luxury is the enemy of observation, a costly indulgence that induces such a good feeling that you notice nothing. Luxury spoils and infantilizes you...more

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You think of travellers as bold, but our guilty secret is that travel is one of the laziest ways on earth of passing the time.

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Delay and dirt are the realities of the most rewarding travel.

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Most travel, and certainly the rewarding kind, involves depending on the kindness of strangers, putting yourself into the hands of people you don't kn...more

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Unless there is a strong sense of place there is no travel writing, but it need not come from topographical description; dialogue can also convey a se...more

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So far I had been travelling alone with my handbook and my Western Railway timetable: I was happiest finding my own way and did not require a liaison ...more

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Anything is possible on a train: a great meal, a binge, a visit from card players, an intrigue, a good night's sleep, and strangers' monologues framed...more

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The difference between travel writing as fiction is the difference between recording what the eye sees and discovering what the imagination knows. Fic...more

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There's always a way if you're not in a hurry.