Sometimes just a random comment can challenge an entire way of thinking. No, I’m not talking about Steve Colbert’s scathing address to the White House Correspondent’s Dinner the other day, I’m talking about a guy I met the other day. He’d asked if I’d gotten out and seen much of China in my six months here. “Not much besides Shanghai,” I told him. “I’m waiting until my language skills improve.” I knew the lie of it before I even said the words. The truth of my homebody status is that despite all the travel I do, leaving home frightens me. I mean, face it, despite the flashy brochures published by travel agencies, travel is neither always easy nor comfortable. There are language difficulties, misunderstandings and where I usually go, a huge disparity between my relative
... read more
