AHA! No Reservations Mr. Bourdain...

Tonight I was watching the Travel channel (as I often do), and after a while, No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain came on. I love this show and I've seen it a lot, not only because I love food and travel, but because Tony Bourdain (the fox that he is) always takes us viewers to the most unexpected, yet interesting places. I never thought of it before tonight, but No Reservations is a show that is about more than just awesome food and a handsome host, it's about going to these different places and learning about them. The people, the place, the culture that has been created and maintained in these places, these are the things that Tony Bourdain shows viewers on the show.

He is just too foxy.

Sometimes the image that we hold in our heads about places like Rajasthan, India; Mozambique, Africa; the Malaysian jungle, or  other areas we might assume to be "third world" and/or unfortunate, or even just vastly different is not as true as we might think it is. Every episode of No Reservations has Tony visiting a different place, and every place he visits I find myself changing my initial idea and perception. He really tries to focus on the people and the way that they do things, the way that they cook. What I like about No Reservations is that Tony emphasizes how beautiful it is to think about things from another perspective. He has said: "anytime you walk in another person's shoes, the world is a better place," and I think that this old adage is one of the most valuable things we can remember about humanity itself.



Now, instead of just looking at the different places on the Travel channel and thinking "I wish I could help those people improve their situations" or that my culture and my experience in life is "better" or more "ideal," I try to see more deeply. I look at the different cultures and customs the people have and I marvel at how diverse humanity is. It may sound silly, but I have learned to put myself alongside Tony and to look for the unique, the unexpected and the things that define a people.