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So that's what happened. Makes a lot more grotesque sense than such a cool/hip guy offing himself.
Never heard of Rick Steves and made it to Europe anyway. But good for him. Sounds like he's filling a niche, though we're well beyond hostel days.
If you watched all of Bourdain’s shows you wouldn’t be surprised how many times he talked about death. A lot. There’s a reference to “I can die now”, “just kill me”, etc. almost every show.
If you watched all of Bourdain’s shows you wouldn’t be surprised how many times he talked about death. A lot. There’s a reference to “I can die now”, “just kill me”, etc. almost every show.
Maybe some foreshadowing there, or desperately looking for a way out of his depression?
I'd be curious to see the logic chain behind the notion that the tiniest exposure to the outside will will change someone's entire life. Not saying it's right/wrong, just seems a bit over the top. Is it even necessary to leave America?
For example: Person A who has lived all over USA in big cosmopolitan cities like NYC and San Francisco travels to London for the first time.
Person B who grew up and has always lived in rural Montana travels to New Orleans or Hawaii for the first time.
Who has the more eye opening experience? What about Person C, who's exposure to the outside world (weird term) was from a cruise ship where they got in the van to see the waterfalls in Jamaica and took the little boat to go snorkeling with the sting rays in Belize? Was their life changed forever due to this outside world exposure?
What's the point of quibbling with one word?
Yes - although I wouldn't use the word "necessary" - I think it's crucial for a cosmopolitan, well-rounded person to leave America.
Excellent post. I generally buy into the idea that it's impossible to have a thick passport and a narrow mind, but as you noted, it's all about the specific experiences. You can go to the Dominican Republic or Jamaica and sit in an all-inclusive resort for a week, and learn absolutely nothing about the world at large. Visiting a reservation in New Mexico would be a million times more enlightening in my view.
And it's not just about the specific destination. My ignoramus cousins went on one of those cruises that stops in like 6 different European countries, each for about 6-8 hours so that you can go to a gift shop and see one or two famous attractions before you get back onto the boat and eat American food. In my view, your passport might show that you've visited many different countries, but you'd learn a heck of a lot more by spending a week or two in a single foreign country and engaging with locals and eating indigenous food, etc.
I asked someone recently who went on a cruise to a bunch of different islands if they all seemed to be alike and her response was the water and topographical was somewhat different. Impossible to experience the cultures of these locations when you take these cruises, in my opinion. I've never been on one for that reason.
When RS's politics sneak through, I just ignore it as Seattle thing. He would be better served to omit it.
I have never seen one of his books. I do watch his shows, but would like to see him go to places like Malta, Majorca, Madeira, the Azores and the English channel islands. I believe he has exhausted France.
Although I have visited 18 countries, the USA is the only place I want to live.
I do enjoy other travel shows, especially when they go places other than Europe.
At this stage in life, I will not be dragging my old bones overseas.
Excellent post. I generally buy into the idea that it's impossible to have a thick passport and a narrow mind, but as you noted, it's all about the specific experiences. You can go to the Dominican Republic or Jamaica and sit in an all-inclusive resort for a week, and learn absolutely nothing about the world at large. Visiting a reservation in New Mexico would be a million times more enlightening in my view.
And it's not just about the specific destination. My ignoramus cousins went on one of those cruises that stops in like 6 different European countries, each for about 6-8 hours so that you can go to a gift shop and see one or two famous attractions before you get back onto the boat and eat American food. In my view, your passport might show that you've visited many different countries, but you'd learn a heck of a lot more by spending a week or two in a single foreign country and engaging with locals and eating indigenous food, etc.
You can't be a good world traveler without degrading people who don't do it like you?
I don't mind his shows, but he does get on my nerves a bit after awhile. True story: Many years ago, on my first night in Ireland, I was in a pub a bit north of Dublin, and my companion & I were discussing tipping culture. So I asked the barmaid, "Can you tell me how you feel about getting tips?" and my companion said, "I heard it was looked at as an insult in Irish pubs." The barmaid sighed a heavy sigh and said, "I flippin' hate Rick Steves."
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