In mid-March, on my way to a family spring break trip, I decided to finally watch the new Anthony Bourdain documentary, Roadrunner, on the plane. While I have known about this movie for a while now, something made me wait to watch it and for whatever reason, a few weeks ago felt like the right time.
Anthony Bourdain was a human that inspired many, including my family. I’ve witnessed my parents glued to the couch on Sunday nights watching Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. I sat behind them, never making it too visible that I was engaging in the content. In 2017, my grandmother put on a recent episode as a comfort and distraction. Even grieving the loss of my grandfather, Parts Unknown, became a safe, comforting thing to watch that would bring her the perfect amount of joy. No matter the episode or where Bourdain traveled that week, it was a 60-minute escape for viewers. Bourdain’s content became a regular part of my family’s life, discourse, and conversations when I was in high school.
At the time that Anthony Bourdain was fully immersed in my life through my family or social media, I was nothing like him. I didn’t eat exotic foods, I was still rather picky. I hadn’t traveled many places and at the time, still never left the country. The foundation of Anthony Bourdain’s life and career, particularly on his CNN TV show, was connecting through travel and food. That idea that you could talk to anyone at any moment through just consuming or cooking food was foreign to me. The positivity and outlook on life that Bourdain had in those episodes amazed me, but I felt so different; so far from that because I didn’t have those common connections.
Bourdain traveled everywhere. In Roadrunner he talks about traveling 250 days out of the year. In high school, I woke up, went to school, then practice, then I ate dinner, did my homework, and went to bed. That basic, robotic, and what seemed then like a lifeless routine, repeated for the entire school year; leaving me with just the summer to explore. But even then, I didn’t. My anxiety and schedule kept me close to home. My desire to travel didn’t expand past my Instagram feed and while numerous trips, delicious meals filling the table, and discovering new parts of life was what I wanted to do, I never did.
So I asked myself frequently, why do I feel so inspired by Anthony Bourdain?
After watching Roadrunner, I felt like I had a complete understanding of how Bourdain became the person he was. From a young chef working in New York City to then a published author, Bourdain was never seeking a spotlight for attention, but rather a space to share his ideas. His intelligence through writing caught the attention of producers and thus his life on television began. Bourdain’s space for learning was public. His life was frequently recorded and his thoughts were a public guide for many, and on that plane, for myself. I thought this whole time that I could never truly be inspired by Bourdain because my love and zest for life aren’t cooking-related. I didn’t travel the world like he did. But the beauty of who Anthony Bourdain wasn’t confined to his two core interests.
We attach the work one does as the sole purpose of their being. We only look at what they do as a representation of who they are. I viewed Bourdain as a traveler and a chef until I saw a person who was a learner and conversationalist. A hopeless romantic and a friend. An art appreciator and lover of music. A human with struggles. For so long I felt a connection to him but wondered why; I doubted myself and felt unauthentic with my appreciation. You don’t have to love every food to aspire to be like Anthony Bourdain. You don’t have to travel the world like he did to connect with him.
I can appreciate who he was as a person and what he did for my family. I can connect with his talkative behavior and his romantic desires. I can find my own passion that takes me places. In journalism, we talk about storytelling and exposure without exploiting and sensationalizing. Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, told stories for everyone but Bourdain’s benefit. He was there to learn as an equal, not look down as a superior.
In 2018, shortly after Bourdain passed away, my dad wrote this on social media: “Hard to imagine a person could be so well-equipped to engage the dark and light, pomp and puerile, rich and poor with equal parts intellect, humility, and empathy.” I think about my dad’s words often.
I can live a travel-less life inspired by the miles explored by Anthony Bourdain. I found a quote from him that best connects with my life passion: writing and journalism.
“Without experimentation, a willingness to ask questions and try new things, we shall surely become static, repetitive, and moribund.”- Anthony Bourdain.
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