Still, despite all this, traveling is the great true love of my life. I have always felt, ever since I was sixteen years old and first went to Russia with my saved-up babysitting money, that to travel is worth any cost or sacrifice. I am loyal and constant in my love for travel, as I have not always been loyal and constant in my other loves. I feel about travel the way a happy new mother feels about her impossible, colicky, restless newborn baby—I just don't care what it puts me through. Because I adore it. Because it's mine. Because it looks exactly like me. It can barf all over me if it wants to—I just don't care.

尽管如此，旅行仍是我生命中的一大真爱。打从十六岁我用打工存下来的保姆工资第一次去俄罗斯开始，我总觉得旅行值得付出任何代价或牺牲。我对旅行的爱忠贞不渝，正如我对其他的爱恋不见得忠贞不渝一般。我对旅行的感觉，就像初为人母的快乐妈妈面对她那难以应付、罹患疝气、躁动不安的婴孩怀有的感觉一样——我偏不在乎自己必须经历的严格考验。因为我爱他。因为他是我的。因为他长得和我一模一样。他尽可以吐得我一身都是——我就是不在乎。

Anyway, for a flamingo, I'm not completely helpless out there in the world. I have my own set of survival techniques. I am patient. I know how to pack light. I'm a fearless eater. But my one mighty travel talent is that I can make friends with anybody. I can make friends with the dead. I once made friends with a war criminal in Serbia, and he invited me to go on a mountain holiday with his family. Not that I'm proud to list Serbian mass murderers amongst my nearest and dearest (I had to befriend him for a story, and also so he wouldn't punch me), but I'm just saying—I can do it. If there isn't anyone else around to talk to, I could probably make friends with a four-foot-tall pile of Sheetrock. This is why I’m not afraid to travel to the most remote places in the world, not if there are human beings there to meet. People asked me before I left for Italy, "Do you have friends in Rome?" and I would just shake my head no, thinking to myself, But I will.

无论如何，对一只红鹤来说，我在世界上并非完全脆弱无助。我有自己的一套生存技能。我有耐心。我知道如何轻装上路。我什么都吃。但我的一大旅行才能是能与任何人交朋友。我能和死人交朋友。我曾在塞尔维亚跟一个战犯交朋友，他邀我和他一家人上山度假。我并不是很荣幸地把塞尔维亚杀人犯列为我的至亲至爱（我必须与他为友，是因为一篇故事的缘故，而且免得他揍我一顿 ），但我要说的是——我做得到。假如身边没有人可以说话，我也许还能和堆了一米高的石膏板交朋友。正因为如此，我不害怕去世界上最偏远的地方旅行，即便没能在那儿遇上人类。我去意大利前，大家问我：你在罗马有没有朋友？我只是摇头说没有，心里却想，但就要有了。

Mostly, you meet your friends when traveling by accident, like by sitting next to them on a train, or in a restaurant, or in a holding cell. But these are chance encounters, and you should never rely entirely on chance. For a more systematic approach, there is still the grand old system of the "letter of introduction" (today more likely to be an e-mail), presenting you formally to the acquaintance of an acquaintance. This is a terrific way to meet people, if you're shameless enough to make the cold call and invite yourself over for dinner. So before I left for Italy, I asked everyone I knew in America if they had any friends in Rome, and I'm happy to report that I have been sent abroad with a substantial list of Italian contacts.

通常来说，你是在旅行的时候不经意地遇见你的朋友，比方在火车、餐厅或拘留所内比邻而坐。但这些只是不期而遇，而你永远不该完全依赖巧遇。一种较有计划的方法依然存在，即伟大而古老的介绍信系统（今天电子邮件较有可能 ），把你正式介绍给熟人的熟人。这是结交朋友的绝佳方式，假使你脸皮够厚，敢于主动自我推销，登门去吃晚餐。因此在我去意大利前，我问在美国认识的每一个人，有没有在罗马的朋友。而我很乐于告诉大家，我在出国的时候，带了一长串意大利人的联络资讯 。

Among all the nominees on my Potential New Italian Friends List, I am most intrigued to meet a fellow named . . . brace yourself . . . Luca Spaghetti. Luca Spaghetti is a good friend of my buddy Patrick McDevitt, whom I know from my college days. And that is honestly his name, I swear to God, I’m not making it up. It's too crazy. I mean—just think of it. Imagine going through life with a name like Patrick McDevitt?

在我可能的意大利新朋友候选人名单中，我最想认识的人名叫……请做好心理准备……卢卡斯•帕盖蒂（Luca Spaghetti）。斯帕盖蒂是我大学时代认识的好友麦戴伟（Patrick McDevitt）的好朋友。 而这的的确确是他的名字，我向上天发誓，我可没捏造。这太古怪了。我是说——你怎能想象，一辈子顶着斯帕盖蒂这样的名字？

Anyhow, I plan to get in touch with Luca Spaghetti just as soon as possible.

Eat, Pray, Love

无论如何，我打算尽快与斯帕盖蒂联系。

词汇点津：

babysitting 临时保姆

spaghetti 意大利面条