[T-Bone Texan]

"...Everywhere I go, I meet such diverse groups of people. In hostels, I’ve shared beers with friendly British and Australian twenty-somethings. In hotels, I’ve sipped wine with friendly British and Australian forty-somethings. We all became lifelong friends, despite the language barriers...."

As a long term recipient, against my will, of The New Yorker I was prepared to hold you and this article in disdain.

Turns out I disdained incorrectly.

[Tax-chick]

We all became lifelong friends, ...

Nonsense. He will probably never see any of those people again or ever have any other contact, except perhaps Facebook.