Mel Lastman Quotes

I sailed around Europe and lived with the Karen tribe in Thailand for a month.

I know it's a cliche, but trust me on this. I once dated a Canadian. Canada = boring.

I love experiencing new cultures and new foods.

I think most people are afraid of what they don't know.

I want to work; then, as my kids get older, I want to have adventures. I want to visit all their countries: learn and live inside all their cultures.

In '73 I photographed the cannibals in New Guinea. They treated me OK but they didn't make you feel relaxed... I managed to escape unscathed though, I'm pretty good at that.

All I know is that every time I go to Africa, I am shaken to my core.

You can feel as brave as Columbus starting for the unknown the first time you enter a Chinese lane full of boys laughing at you, or when you risk climbing down in a Tibetan pub for a meal of rotten meat.

I grew up in Africa surrounded by a lot of culture. It's made me aware that the world is a big place.

Now when I enter a carriage, it almost empties. But there's always one brave enough to stay.

It's irksome to read about someone I don't recognize. It frightens me.

I was working for a Swedish TV show - I'm Swedish - who basically did kind of spectacular stories. It was almost like CBS '60 Minutes,' but a Swedish version where we actually did travel quite a lot. After a while, I realized that travel is the most fun part of this, so why not do it for a longer time and just go off and explore?

I could do one show after another in China for the rest of my life and still die ignorant. There's a lot of places left to go.

In order to engage in an 'experiencing of the world,' one has to physically move oneself to the most diverse places on earth.

I wanted to do something far from my intellectual and physical home, so I went to live in Beijing for eight months and took Mandarin Chinese.

Travel is so important in its capacity to expand the mind. It's exciting to start as young as possible - you get to see how other cultures live, challenge your senses, and try different cuisines.

My ideal vacation isn't about complex maneuvers. I want to arrive somewhere foreign where I don't speak the language, go hiking, then plop down in a sunny square, have drinks, read a book, and see what happens.

I'm a little like Marco Polo, going around and mixing cultures.

I really love travelling to places where I get to learn something new about a new group of people or a new place. Learn some history, contemplate some business ideas, and sort of get off the beaten track a little bit.

I actively pursue experiences that are unlike any others that I've experienced and cultures that I don't know and unfamiliar places and unfamiliar history and things like that.

I like normal stuff people fear - like spiders and heights. I'm frightened by the unknown, by things that are hard to figure out and get a grip on.

Beware of bad Asians

You can be afraid of a lot of things that you don't understand.

I want to explore the world properly, to be able to write about and take pictures of all kinds of different cultures. Just be an explorer or adventurer. I also love extreme sports.

In South Africa, they think we're pygmies!