Anthony Bourdain. The man who inspired me to live truly free of contraints. Is dead.

I will never forget watching his first episode(s) of Parts Unknown on CNN.
This was back in 2013, just around the time when I and my peers were engaged in the drudgery known as the job search.

It was then that I knew being in a cubicle would mean certain (emotional and physical) death.
Seeing Bourdain's candor and no-nonsense attitude as he traveled the world from city to city, country to country.
It really pushed me to explore alternative future paths after graduation.

When it came up in conversation, I would tell friends and professors that Bourdain was, unequivocally, the luckiest man alive. And I meant it. (And still do today after his passing, since you or I cannot say with certainty he isn't in a better place.)

This is not to say I ended up being a chef or television personality. I am nowhere near as charismatic or clever. But his lifestyle was always in the back of my mind as I created paths for sources of income that allowed me absolute geographic freedom.

Looking back. The past 5 years of my life, despite having Everestonian swings in mental wellbeing, investment returns, and overall life satisfication, is something I wouldn't trade the world for. Having lived for at least a month in nearly 2 dozen countries (and countless more cities) on 4 continents (many for as long as 6 months), it's really an incredible experience, however cliche that sounds.

I can say that, with a few trivial hesitations, I'd be generally happy and content if death were to thrust upon me today.

RIP Anthony Bourdain
the inspiration for me to be who I am.
to live a life not tied down to any one city or country.
to travel, explore, dare.
to be free.
you will be greatly missed.

 

Well you sound like an unfortunate tourist.

There's a (big) difference between travel and living somewhere.

And for the record, I don't (and never will) have Instagram. In fact, I have absolute no social media. Only the insecure engage in behavior for recognition/attention of others.

Is there something wrong with me buying experiences to impress myself, and dying empty?

 

There's nothing wrong per se, but it's sad to think that this (clearly) deeply depressed trainwreck of a man is your life's inspiration.

You didn't live anywhere to set down roots and make a life; you were simply passing through on an extended stay and LARPing as a citizen of the world. That's a dead end. Hopefully you figure this out sooner rather than later.

 

He has a daughter and was married for a long time. Divorced on good terms. Relationship with his GF seemed good. This is the first celebrity death to actually make me feel sad. I think it's because he was outwardly seeking fulfillment and happiness. He wasn't some woe is me celeb slitting his wrists for attention. I sympathize with that internal struggle.

And dude. Travel is dope. Family is dope. You can have both. He tried.

heister: Look at all these wannabe richies hating on an expensive salad. https://arthuxtable.com/
 
Pmc2ghy:
So your life's inspiration was a hedonistic narcissist that lived and died as a lonely, unrooted caricature of peak globalism? Wouldn't expect anything less from you MM. For fuck's sake, we're living in clown world when people start to think that "travel" (something every 19yo instawhore thot puts in her profile) is the pinnacle of culture. Shameful.

Seriously, your life isn't your job or your instagram account; it's the few people in it that would drop everything to help you in a pinch. Tell your parents and your closest friends you love them, make time for these people, find a good woman, pop out of bunch of kids, and don't rely on mindless consumerism to make you happy.

Honest question: have you ever lived in another place? I don't mean travelled or spent a few weeks - I mean lived.

 

He was very up front about being privileged... he was also up front about fuckin his life up with drugs... and also up front about his continued recovery and fight with depression.

Array
 

"We're living in clown world when people start to think that "travel" is the pinnacle of culture. Shameful."

100% disagree with you. You think that traveling the world to experience other people's cultures is shameful? What's more enlightening than seeing how other people of this world live, eat, enjoy, go about their daily routines? Expand your horizons, go see the beautiful places on this earth, eat exotic food, meet incredibly friendly people. That's the height of culture.

 
m8:
"We're living in clown world when people start to think that "travel" is the pinnacle of culture. Shameful."

100% disagree with you. You think that traveling the world to experience other people's cultures is shameful? What's more enlightening than seeing how other people of this world live, eat, enjoy, go about their daily routines? Expand your horizons, go see the beautiful places on this earth, eat exotic food, meet incredibly friendly people. That's the height of culture.

100% disagree with you. There are many personality types and not everyone is going to fit the mold of those who love to travel the world. It's fine for some people; for other people, it's not so fine. Your position is like saying that spending time with new people is the pinnacle of culture when 1/4 to 1/2 of the population would blow their brains out to consistently spend time with new people. Not all personalities are equal.

Personally, I hate traveling (flying is a miserable experience) and I don't respect Third World cultures so I'm not the type of person who is green with envy over the Instagram photos of people climbing on rocks in [name the country] that look crazy similar to the ones at my local park.

Array
 
Pmc2ghy:
So your life's inspiration was a hedonistic narcissist that lived and died as a lonely, unrooted caricature of peak globalism? Wouldn't expect anything less from you MM. For fuck's sake, we're living in clown world when people start to think that "travel" (something every 19yo instawhore thot puts in her profile) is the pinnacle of culture. Shameful.

Seriously, your life isn't your job or your instagram account; it's the few people in it that would drop everything to help you in a pinch. Tell your parents and your closest friends you love them, make time for these people, find a good woman, pop out of bunch of kids, and don't rely on mindless consumerism to make you happy.

If I had to guess, you are probably from the Midwest or the South and probably believe in god. Any chance your mom and dad share the shame last name?

 
Yankee Doodle:
See, it’s not old fish — it’s a whole new thing. And the best thing is, they’re eating 3-day-old halibut. That is a CDO.

Unlike a lot of the cameos in that movie, I think he actually got what he was talking about there.

The only difference between Asset Management and Investment Research is assets. I generally see somebody I know on TV on Bloomberg/CNBC etc. once or twice a week. This sounds cool, until I remind myself that I see somebody I know on ESPN five days a week.
 

Other liberals should take his cue.

A degenerate heroine addict who could have dedicated his life to helping people and chose to leave his young daughter without a father.

Rip him in a hole and move on.

 

The consistent hate and politicization of every single topic by the same few members of this site is outrageous. Some of you need serious help. You have to be DEEPLY unhappy/ angry to consistently post the vitriol that you all do. Dude seemed like a chill guy and I enjoyed his show. Depression is a crushing disease and has no political bounds (can't believe I have to say this). My friend took his life in 2016 and we never saw it coming. Bourdain leaves a legacy of embracing other people and other cultures, in the U.S. and around the world. I hope when I die I have an impact like he did. R.I.P.

Array
 

You're projecting.

Agreed that this topic shouldn't be political, but not everyone has to bow down before the foodie God. Drug addict, divorced, current gf cheating on him, likely leaves his daughter with permanent emotional trauma, fake global citizen; none of this is to be admired. I can't believe people actually think this guy is admirable.

 
Most Helpful

1.) you immediately made the thread political by using it as an opportunity to criticize globalism 2.) no one said to "bow down before the foodie God", this is classic strawman garbage 3.) he was a drug addict and got divorced, his GF is cheating on him (didn't know this or anything else about his personal life honestly, just the drugs). What does any of this have to do with his contributions?

You know why he is admirable? because he is an accomplished author and made probably the greatest travel show ever. So many iconic moments. He was in Libya during the arab spring, he was in Turkey before elections speaking with the young people who wanted Erdogan out/ his power reduced. I remember the celebrations on the streets when they thought Erdogan had lost, only for Bourdain to narrate at the end of the episode that all those election victories were empty. We now have Erdogan meandering his way to becoming president for life. What you want to do is focus on his addiction and family life like that somehow discredits his work, because his work doesn't agree with your political beliefs. It's fairly obvious. Your implication is that because he got a divorce and was a drug addict he can't have done anything admirable. That's false. That's bullshit. That's your consistent politicized world view showing itself. At the risk of getting political, our current president, who you support, is on his 3rd wife who he cheated on with a porn star, he paid said porn star 150k to keep it quiet. Yet you want to get on here and pontificate about Anthony Bourdain's amicable divorce and his drug addiction that he battled back from. Such shameless hypocrisy. You're allowed to admire Trump for his policies and his marketing prowess and leave the personal shit at the door. I can admire Kurt Cobain for his contributions to rock music without admiring his personal life. Goes the same for Bourdain.

Array
 

One can be happy and still realize hypocrisy. Don’t you have a safe space to cry in?

The guy left his young daughter without a father. He could have done a bunch of other things with his life, yet he chose to eat, drink and fuck.

I feel pity for people who are suffering in this world. This spoiled douche gets none. And the endless virtue signaling whenever a celebrity dies is lame. You think he gives a fuck about you or another one of us?

 

You're clearly unhappy bro, your posts reek of it.

He left his young daughter without a father, which is a terrible thing. Depression is a terrible disease and often leaves heartbreak in his wake, what does that have to do with your statement on liberals and all this other shit?

I feel pity for anyone suffering from depression, and I def feel pity for the friends and family he left behind. I don't need him to "give a fuck" about me to feel that way.

Array
 

The only 3 people in this thread worthy of mention is Pmc2ghy, BobtheBaker, and myself.

Everyone else must live sad little lives to have such vitriol against a man with a lifestyle they could never attain.

And Bourdain was MUCH more than just travel + food. He showed us a side of geopolitics that we would otherwise never see. Perhaps a highlight was his 2014 interview with Nemtsov, in Moscow. 1 year later, he [Nemtsov] was killed, shot 5 times in the back. An obvious assasination.
But in return, and thanks in part to Bourdain, we really got a glimpse of the Kremlin. A very interesting 3 minute watch that, although stating somewhat obvious facts, comes from the horses mouth. 2nd video is Bourdain's thoughts on the interview.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3PNglVa47w

 

Since when did a passion for traveling the world, immersing one's self into different cultures, and enjoying wide-ranging cuisines become a way to criticize someone and label them a "globalist" (I still don't know why this term is supposed to be pejorative)?

Broaden your horizons, folks. Live a little. It must be tiring to live with so much constant vitriol.

 

correct, there is no correlation.

i am a protectionist trader (anti-globalist) but travel/live in other countries for the sake of understanding different cultures.

this is not to say I like/agree with the dozens of cultures I've interacted with. in fact, some of them are quite weird, backwards, and ocassionally repulsive.

what I have is a common respect for all (ok, 95% of) cultures. who am I to judge if a "way of living" is ok or not. in fact, one of the most egregious moral crimes of the 21st century is the West trying to impose what is/we call "acceptable" onto other cultures. more lighthearted topics include what constitutes as edible food. more "serious" cultural qualms include treatment of homosexuals, child marriages, age of consent, capital punishment, etc. it's not our place to do so.

and the comments below are correct. my passport name is (obviously) not Monaco Monkey and i post here precisely because of the anonymity. it's also a way to keep track of my (wandering) thoughts for me to reflect in 10 years.

stay curious.

 

It's easy for someone to judge another human-being behind a desktop screen. Anthony Bourdain accomplished a lot, enjoyed a hell of a ride, and left this world on his own terms. Rest in paradise, you won't be forgotten.

![https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/body-image…:] [https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/body-image…:]: https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/body-image…:*

What concert costs 45 cents? 50 Cent feat. Nickelback.
 

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Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 

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