“Barefoot travel allows you to get the true feel of a place.”

“Intelligence is like four-wheel drive. It only allows you to get stuck in more remote places.”

“Shock is a merciful condition. It allows you to get through disaster with a necessary distance between you and your feelings.”

“The feeling that maybe you won't ever get your inspiration back. That's a very cold place to be.”

“I still haven't found the place where I can be my true self. But maybe you never get to be your true self, either.”

“It's the sorrow you feel that allows you to crave love. Without the suffering, there would be no true pleasure. Without tears, no joy. Without deficiency, no longing. This is the secret of the human heart, Rom.”

“Speaking of New York as a traveller I have two faults to find with it. In the first place there is nothing to see; and in the second place there is no mode of getting about to see anything.”

“Over the last few hours I've allowed myself to feel defeated, and just like she said if you allow yourself to feel the way you really feel, maybe you won't be afraid of that feeling anymore.”

“When I read, if I don’t know where a story is set, I always feel unmoored. The same is true for my writing: Until I place my story in a specific place, I can’t get my footing in the world…”

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”