Home > Author > Kirsten Hubbard
21 " You can appreciate the good things all around you, but the best part is imminent, just out of reach. Like... perpetual anticipation. "
― Kirsten Hubbard , Wanderlove
22 " I used to wonder what it would look like if all my footsteps were painted red: all the steps I'd ever taken in all the places I'd ever been. "
― Kirsten Hubbard , Like Mandarin
23 " But all that's hugely unlikely -- with the exception of mosquito bites and sunburn. And yet even experienced travelers are still afraid. "What everyone forgets -- even me -- is the people who actually live here. In places like Central America, I mean. Southeast Asia. India. Africa. Millions, even billions, of people, who live out their whole lives in these places -- the places so many people like us fear. Think about it: they ride chicken buses to work every day. Their clothes are always damp. Their whole lives, they never escape the dust and the heat. But they deal with all these discomforts. They have to."So why can't travelers? If we've got the means to get here, we owe it to the country we're visiting not to treat it like an amusement park, sanitized for our comfort. It's insulting to the people who live here. People just trying to have the best lives they can, with the hands they've been dealt. "
24 " Because - admit it - there's something perversely appealing about sitting all alone, feeling sorry for yourself, especially when the scenery's stunning and there's a party going on behind you. "
25 " You're not big on people, are you?""I wouldn't say that. Just ... when faced with the choice between small talk with strangers and peace and quiet, I'll choose the latter every time. You know? "
26 " I guess I work in small ways. It's kind of like this story someone told me, about a guy on the beach in Mexico throwing starfish in the sea. Thousands had washed ashore. Someone asked him why - 'Why are you wasting your time, when there are so many? You can't possibly make a difference.'""I know that story! The man threw another one back, and said -""'Made a difference to that one!'" Rowan finishes. "
27 " Prices are relative. So is poverty. So is happiness. "
28 " I liked the idea—that we left pieces of ourselves everywhere we went, coloring all our important places. "
29 " My dad didn't find me - I found myself. So that's when I figured out that the only person who could take care of me was me. "
30 " Isn't that what your memory was about, Bria? Losing control?" I pause. "I never knew memories were about anything. Besides the obvious. You make them sound like dreams -- subject to interpretation.""I think the two are more related than we realize. It's all in how our minds frame them. How we decide what -- and how -- we remember. "
31 " We’re always itching to go, to move on, to escape. We convince ourselves we could truly be happy if only we were somewhere else. Or somebody else.While it’s smart to plan for the future, we won’t find real happiness if our eyes never leave the horizon. When we’re all rushing off in different directions, we miss the worthwhile places, and worthwhile people, already around us.But we can’t wait for them to chase us down—we’ve got to seek them out. Because for two people to meet in the middle, both have to take that first step. "
32 " I want to draw you. All of you.' Then I pause. 'That came out wrong-you can keep your clothes on. "
33 " Travel is a matter of perspective. "
34 " I think I kind of get it," I say. "Your Wanderlove thing.""Oh Yeah?""It's about always looking toward the future. You can appreciate the good things all around you, but the best part is imminent, just out of reach. Like... perpetual anticipation. "
35 " She turned up the volume. I listened for a second to the high-pitched garble of Italian. "Taffeta," I said, "how is this your favorite part? You don't even know what the words mean.""I do too," she insisted."No you don't--they're in another language.""Yes I do, Grace." She swiveled the volume knob. "Listen. "
36 " The only way to escape the past is to keep moving forward. "
37 " We could liberate a million trophies. We could fill every river to the brim. But it would never fully substitute for liberating ourselves. "
38 " A person's actions could be interpreted in a number of ways, depending on who was watching. Their viewpoints were simply skewed by their beliefs, their prejudices, and their private desires. Their personal kaleidoscopes. I couldn't judge them, of course. I was the same way. "
39 " I know that this time, the worst thing I can do is let go. And I won't be losing anything. Because it's the most selfish thing I could ever do—to allow myself to fall for someone worthwhile. "
40 " I recall the rasp of charcoal on newsprint, the chewing-gum stretch of a kneaded eraser, the precarious bite of a razor blade in a new pencil. The vibrancy of fresh watercolors squeezed from a tube. A new sketchbook, cracked open to flawless white. The way the smell of turpentine made me feel simultaneously sick and excited. "