In the summers when I was going to Amherst I went hoboing, literally. That is to say I rode through 46 of the then 48 States on freight cars. When I couldn't catch a freight car, I would use my thumb on the highways, but it was largely a matter of excitingly riding the rails. I did that for one summer and then bragged so much about it that a couple of my Amherst friends wanted to go along for a second tour of the country. I can't guess in what way that may have been contributory to my writing, but I suppose... I suppose it was clear evidence of romanticism.