From a pretty early age, I developed an interest in travel. I told my parents I wanted to live abroad, and they said, 'Well, you have to have money to do those things.'
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
The thing about travelling is that you work hard and play hard, but you can do all those things without your parents knowing.
I don't buy things now, I buy plane tickets. The only thing I want is to make enough money to be able to travel with my children.
When I was younger I was completely without money - when I was studying in Budapest, when I was a refugee.
I am a passionate traveler, and from the time I was a child, travel formed me as much as my formal education.
When you're a child, you take things for granted. For instance, my mum didn't have a lot of money, but I went to piano, ballet and gymnastics lessons, and tae kwon do.
As a child, I wanted only two things - to be left alone to read my library books, and to get away from my provincial hometown and go to London to be a writer. And I always knew that when I got there, I wanted to make loads of money.
I traveled with my mother, Lela, and there was never enough money. I always had to roll down my silk stockings and carry a doll when we bought train tickets so I could go half-fare. If we had $3, we always figured how to tip for the trunks and still eat.
When I had money in the past, I would always travel rather than spend it on big apartments or cars. And I still feel exactly the same way.
When I look back I can't believe how my parents managed, but the cliche is true. We didn't have money, but we were rich in so many other ways.
Right now I'm so old that if I had a big gush of money, I don't know what I'd do with it. I don't travel anymore. I don't need anything, don't want anything. I'd give it to my son, I guess, and let him enjoy it.