"Because salaries of academics are modest in comparison to those of the more successful members of corporate, legal, and medical lodges, teachers lead sane monetary lives. They plan and budget and rarely snap at the hook of debt camouflaged by creative accounting. Finances make teachers resourceful, and they ferret about finding ways to travel without demolishing their savings. Decades ago, I jettisoned pride, realizing that it was an encumbering, unaffordable luxury. I learned how to write clever, cajoling letters, offering to barter publicity or lectures for complimentary travel."