One of my most embarrassing moments from the past 2 years was at the passport checkpoint in Lisbon when the officer asked me why I was going to Spain and I, running on 2 cups of coffee and fewer hours of sleep, blurted, “Book research.”
“Oh? What is your book about?”
Completely unable to develop a convincing lie at 5am local time while a man with a badge smirked at me, I mumbled, “Dragons.”
and the guy in the line behind me freaking giggled.
But the officer stamped my passport and cheerily told me to send him a copy once I finished writing it. Bless

















