Anthony Bourdain’s death came as a suprise to each and everyone who has been following his life and travels.
To some, he was living the perfect life so it was hard to comprehend why he did what he did.
Perhaps there were a lot of underlying factors that will never be known to public, or how he was fighting his own demons that no one knew about.
From my point of view, I somehow understand why he did what he did. But first, know that I am NOT a psychologist nor do I have any suicidal tendencies.
As a traveler myself, I can just empathize that having the freedom and resources to go around the world can also be exhausting. And it can get lonely.
Just imagine, when or how will you be able to stop when you have managed to live and sustain that kind of travel lifestyle? You can go on and on with no end date in sight.
It seems like the perfect life but at one point, your body will want to stop moving constantly, and meeting new people and not being able to establish relationships can take you on an emotional roller coaster ride. Everyone you meet on the road has an expiry date.
Bourdain had enough courage to live the life that only most people dreamed of.
But courage goes both ways. Courage to begin again if ever we decide to leave behind the ‘perfect’ life we once had. Courage to admit to ourselves that we need help.
And courage to just keep going, to keep living, and to keep inspiring people that life ain’t less exciting and glamorous when we decide to change course.
It was, indeed, a sad day for travelers, adventurers, and dreamers when Bourdain died. He left a mark that hopefully will last a lifetime.
I am one of the searchers. There are, I believe, millions of us. We are not unhappy, but neither are we really content. We continue to explore life, hoping to uncover its ultimate secret. We continue to explore ourselves, hoping to understand. We like to walk along the beach, we are drawn by the ocean, taken by its power, its unceasing motion, its mystery and unspeakable beauty. We like forests and mountains, deserts and hidden rivers, and the lonely cities as well. Our sadness is as much a part of our lives as is our laughter. To share our sadness with one we love is perhaps as great a joy as we can know – unless it be to share our laughter.
We searchers are ambitious only for life itself, for everything beautiful it can provide. Most of all we love and want to be loved. We want to live in a relationship that will not impede our wandering, nor prevent our search, nor lock us in prison walls; that will take us for what little we have to give. We do not want to prove ourselves to another or compete for love.
For wanderers, dreamers, and lovers, for lonely men and women who dare to ask of life everything good and beautiful. It is for those who are too gentle to live among wolves. — James Kavanaugh, There Are Men Too Gentle to Live Among Wolves