Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain at Machu Picchu in Peru.

Last night I watched two episodes of one of the best distractions American television has to offer: Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. It comes on the Travel Channel @ 9 central on Monday nights. You should tune in. Anyway, Bourdain is other-worldly. He's like Marlon Brando meets Jimmy Buffett. (Marlon Brando when he was hot and bad-ass). So, last night, Bourdain was headed down some Malaysian river in a john-boat and he says, "It's thrilling not knowing where you're going." I scrambled in my nightstand drawer for a pen and paper. As I recorded it I mused about the truth, simplicity and vastness of the statement. It IS thrilling not knowing where you're going...whether it's a matter of where you'll actually be when you reach the end of this road or where you'll metaphorically be. His comment brought memories of adventures flooding into my mind...crashing into my mind...Times Square at sundown...English moors through a rail-car window...the shoulder of the road in Russell, Kansas...the Indian market in downtown Quito...

There were other images that lept to mind. Images of where the metaphorical road leads...where it's leading me. Thrilling not knowing, isn't it? He made me think: how boring it would be to know where one is going. What if I had made up my mind as a little girl to be a doctor? And my whole life since then had revolved around that plan? What if there were obstacles and twists along the road? How devestating! But twists and turns on this road (the one I am on now) just add to the journey.

Toward the end of the episode, Bourdain compared himself to one of the Iban tribesmen with whom he was visiting. The Iban men have a tradition called the berjalai. It is a journey a young Iban man must take as a rite of passage into adulthood. The man must leave his village and go some distance away, live there for a while and make enough money to bring something valuable back home to his people. He learns about the world and grows in maturity and wisdom during the journey. Bourdain said his trip to Malaysia was a sort of berjalai. Made me think about my life so far...I've been on several of these journeys of discovery. When will I return home/ I don't know. I hope no time soon.