“Europe’s reluctance to go to war frustrates some Americans. I believe their relative pacifism is because Europeans know the reality of war, while most Americans do not. …. It’s easier to feel detached when a war is something you watch on the nightly news, rather than something that killed your grandfather or destroyed your hometown.”

“I would like travelers, especially American travelers, to travel in a way that broadens their perspective, because I think Americans tend to be some of the most ethnocentric people on the planet. It's not just Americans, it's the big countries. It's the biggest countries that tend to be ethnocentric or ugly. There are ugly Russians, ugly Germans, ugly Japanese and ugly Americans. You don't find ugly Belgians or ugly Bulgarians, they're just too small to think the world is their norm.”

“I believe if you’re going to bomb someone you should know them first. It should hurt when you kill someone.”

“Be fanatically positive and militantly optimistic. If something is not to your liking, change your liking.”

“If you don't like a place, maybe you don't know enough about it... Give a culture the benefit of your open mind.”

“Self-consciousness kills communication.”

“Travel is intensified living … and one of the last great sources of legal adventure.”