Like everyone else, the staff of Meetings Today was shocked to learn of the suicide of Anthony Bourdain.
He was known as one of the world’s most influential chefs and television personalities, revered as a remarkable storyteller and writer who took viewers on madcap culinary adventures around the world for nearly 20 years. He had a huge impact on the way travelers experience destinations through food.
Having plied the travel journalism trade for decades, it’s safe to assume that most of the editors at Meetings Today had a loving jealousy of the moxy, humor and pure joy Bourdain brought to his craft. He was the travel journalist pirate we all wanted to be when we started out in the profession.
“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 Mafia 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.
“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.”
Anthony Bourdain, June 25, 1956-June 8, 2018
Remember that people love you and are here to listen and help. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 800.273.8255 if you ever have thoughts of ending your life.
