Dear Tony,
For Bourdain day, I want to share a story.
I’m in Kyoto. The sun is setting. My friends have paid ~30$ for a Geiko show; a traditional theatre performance by Kyoto geisha [which are called geikos]
Now it seems like a great slice of Japanese life, but I am too poor to afford a luxury such as live theatre.
Instead, I head to the local Familymart, pick up a snack and a beer, and head towards the river rooftop I spotted exploring around the town. Getting in is as easy as walking through the door, for which I’m grateful. On the roof, I am directed by a host; and I pick the spot overlooking the river [duh] and right next to a German couple. I wave at them, and it’s an easy introduction to sitting down and cracking my beer.
David and Dominique are South Germans, working in healthcare. They are traveling and eating their way through Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo with gusto and knowledge. Both have done their research and are heavy foodies; trying many cuisines and revolving their time around food. You would have liked them.
They have suggestions for udon as well as okonomiyaki.
Their best foodie destination is Italy for it’s simple ingredients and high technical skill.
They’re exceptionally friendly. David insistently buys me beer; a Japanese take on a Black and Tan, Asahi and a local stout served in a half liter stein. I’m swarmed with offers for cigarettes, which I gracefully accept and decline in turn.
I’m through my 2nd and David’s on his 4th when you come up. I’m chasing your ghost after all.
Why am I traveling the world for a year? What inspired me to pick up all the great parts of my life and venture into the great unknown, far from my cushy life in New York City?
Well that’s easy. I have always been tantalized by the big out-there. The world is too large. The food too delicious. The people too different and too the same. I’ve threatened my dad for a long time with a trip around the world, eating food. Always inspired by Bizarre Foods and No Reservations, the shows that we most often shared on the TV.
My office job was driving me mad; walking in daily to a place that wouldn’t change; doing things that never seemed to matter, for people that didn’t seem to think of us as more than cogs in a machine or numbers on a page.
I’ve honed my skills to cuddlefish myself into lots of circles. I’ve refined my self-reliance. I’ve looked for more experiences outside of my comfort zone to expand my horizons. And I’ve formed habits of writing; in a vain but hopefully attempt to follow your footsteps you demonic bastard.
So I packed my bags with the bare essentials [and probably 2 change of clothes too many.] and buy my first ever one-way flight. I am not 9 weeks into never knowing what tomorrow brings; I don’t regret a thing. I’m living my best life, filled with blessings, and I can’t be more grateful; whether it is drinking David’s beer on a Kyoto rooftop or sitting on a crowded Chinese train with a chorus of [3] crying infants, sick as a dog in my Aunt and Uncles apartment in Hefei, or sitting in a tiny Japanese village Cherry Blossom festival, eating free local scallops [like, that morning from the beach local] with the mayor.
I’ve found a revolution. That your life isn’t what people tell you it has to be. You define it yourself. It’s as good and bad as it always is, our lives are a constant budget constraint maximization and a mental fight against the overwhelming, and a physical retreat against the inevitable. But I threw out the constants given to me, and found a new balance, that is, perhaps unsustainable in the very long run, but makes me grateful for each and every minute.
The pair are quite the same. No Reservations is literally the basis for their trips. They equally idolize Bourdain. They’ve found their own balance in their lives; recognizing it’s importance.
We drink to your ghost; and I light another cigarette.
The conversation draws deeper in the stein; mental health, life goals, faith, the core of humanity, the future of the our species.
[Once again, I’m happy to report that David and Dominique share an optimism, if not for this plane of existence; maybe another.]
Their religious tenacity start really shocks me, especially as close to the death and hopelessness they are on a daily basis as a nurse and a psych warden. But the strength of their faith inspires me. We are simply steps from each other, not miles.
The night is one of the most merry. David shares the okonomiyaki spot; it’s fantastic, then we all head out to karaoke; joined by the friends who finished the geiko show.
Karaoke is filled with Westerners but they are enthusiastic [or drunk] and we get through plenty of T.Swift, Justin Bieber, Queen, Bruno Mars, and Someone pulls out a great Rap God.
David and Dominique continue to be wonderful. I was and continue to be grateful for their kindness.
But more so for their story. Bourdain, you were a dark and humble soul. But we saw your light. All over the world, we travelers; foodies; good humans. We keep your candle lit. We drink to your name. We remember to care for one another.
Tony.
I would have rather a million times over had just one drink with you; a random airport lobby; or plastic stools in Laos or Cambodia.
But if this how we keep finding you; I think it’s exactly how you would have wanted.
Yours,
Winston
