I loathe blogs when I look at them. Blogs look, to me, illiterate. They look hasty, like someone babbling.

The Japanese have perfected good manners and made them indistinguishable from rudeness.

What draws me in is that a trip is a leap in the dark. It's like a metaphor for life. You set off from home, and in the classic travel book, you go to an unknown place. You discover a different world, and you discover yourself.

I don't look down on tourism. I live in Hawaii where we have 7 million visitors a year. If they weren't there, there would be no economy. So I understand why a tourist economy is necessary.

I like the idea of isolation, I like the idea of solitude. You can be connected and have a phone and still be lonely.

What strikes me about high-school reunions is the realization that these are people one has known one's whole life.