Out of Istanbul Quotes

“Galicia.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“In the Islamic world, to welcome a traveler in one’s home and treat him as best as possible is the believer’s duty. To be hospitable (misafirperver), he explains, means that for you, a good Muslim, it is your duty to treat your guest (misafir), the traveler, with the utmost respect.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“We are on entirely different journeys. They cross the country, they view it and take pictures of it . . . but never walk through its front door. Aren’t I clever, bragging like this, telling myself that I, unlike them, am an authentic traveler!”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“Those who want to die in bed and never stray far from it are already dead.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“Solitary walking forces us to confront ourselves, freeing us from the limitations of the body as well as those of our usual environment that restrict us to conventional, acceptable, and prepackaged ways of thinking.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“Esteem for those who travel, disdain for those who stay at home.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“Turkish drivers are maniacs.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“Were I to take these warnings seriously, I would immediately reboard the Samsun and go back the way I came. The only risk a tourist runs in Venice is having to pay too much for a cappuccino.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“Last year, for my first year in “retirement,” I hiked one of the world’s oldest roads: The Way of St. James of Compostela, from Paris to Galicia. Two thousand three hundred kilometers (1,430 miles) on foot, pack on my back like a donkey.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road

“I still stubbornly crave fresh encounters, new faces, and new lives. I still dream of the faraway steppe, of wind and rain on my face, of basking in the heat of different suns.”
― Bernard Ollivier, Out of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road