Remembering Anthony Bourdain: Some of His Best Quotes on Travel

A celebrity chef, a storyteller, a traveler, CNN’s #PartsUnknown host… 

 

We are remembering Anthony Bourdain by sharing with you some of his inspiring and best quotes on travel.

 

“It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn. Maybe that’s enlightenment enough – to know that there is no final resting place of the mind, no moment of smug clarity. Perhaps wisdom, at least for me, means realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go.”

 

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.“

 

“Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown.”

Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown. - Anthony Bourdain Click To Tweet

 

“If I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food, it’s a plus for everybody. Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.”

 

“I learned a long time ago that trying to micromanage the perfect vacation is always a disaster. That leads to terrible times.”

I learned a long time ago that trying to micromanage the perfect vacation is always a disaster. That leads to terrible times. - Anthony Bourdain Click To Tweet

 

“I’m a big believer in winging it. I’m a big believer that you’re never going to find perfect city travel experience or the perfect meal without a constant willingness to experience a bad one. Letting the happy accident happen is what a lot of vacation itineraries miss, I think, and I’m always trying to push people to allow those things to happen rather than stick to some rigid itinerary.”

 

“The journey is part of the experience – an expression of the seriousness of one’s intent. One doesn’t take the A train to Mecca.”

The journey is part of the experience - an expression of the seriousness of one’s intent. One doesn’t take the A train to Mecca. - Anthony Bourdain Click To Tweet

 

“Do we really want to travel in hermetically sealed popemobiles through the rural provinces of France, Mexico, and the Far East, eating only in Hard Rock Cafes and McDonald’s? … I know what I want. I want it all. I want to try everything once.”

 

“Your body is not a temple, it’s an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.”

Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride. - Anthony Bourdain Click To Tweet

 

“If you’re twenty-two, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel – as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them – wherever you go.”

 

“I think food, culture, people, and landscape are all absolutely inseparable.”

I think food, culture, people, and landscape are all absolutely inseparable. - Anthony Bourdain Click To Tweet

 

“It’s an irritating reality that many places and events defy description. Angkor Wat and Machu Picchu, for instance, seem to demand silence, like a love affair you can never talk about. For a while after, you fumble for words, trying vainly to assemble a private narrative, an explanation, a comfortable way to frame where you’ve been and what has happened. In the end, you’re just happy you were there – with your eyes open – and lived to see it.”

 

“Without experimentation, a willingness to ask questions and try new things, we shall surely become static, repetitive, and moribund.”

Without experimentation, a willingness to ask questions and try new things, we shall surely become static, repetitive, and moribund. - Anthony Bourdain Click To Tweet

 

“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life – and travel – leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks – on your body or on your heart – are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt.”

 

“Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go.”

Food is everything we are. It's an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It's inseparable from those from the get-go. - Anthony Bourdain Click To Tweet

 

“I wanted adventures… I wanted kicks – the kind of melodramatic thrills and chills I’d yearned for since childhood, the kind of adventure I’d found as a little boy in the pages of my Tintin comic books. I wanted to see the world – and I wanted the world to be just like the movies.”

 

I wanted adventures. I wanted to go up the Nung river to the heart of darkness in Cambodia. I wanted to ride out into a desert on camelback, sand, and dunes in every direction, eat whole roasted lamb with my fingers. I wanted to kick snow off my boots in a Mafiya nightclub in Russia. I wanted to play with automatic weapons in Phnom Penh, recapture the past in a small oyster village in France, step into a seedy neon-lit pulqueria in rural Mexico. I wanted to run roadblocks in the middle of the night, blowing past angry militia with a handful of hurled Marlboro packs, experience fear, excitement, wonder. I wanted kicks – the kind of melodramatic thrills and chills I’d yearned for since childhood, the kind of adventure I’d found as a little boy in the pages of my Tintin comic books. I wanted to see the world – and I wanted the world to be just like the movies.

 

 

What’s your favorite quote from Anthony Bourdain?

 

 

⚠ Important:

If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or has had thoughts of harming themselves, get help. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is open 24/7, free, and offers confidential support and resources. Call them: +1-800-273-8255.

Featured image via Flickr.

 

 

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