Socnorb11 wrote:greenback44 wrote:stlouie_lipp wrote:he went off the beaten path and we all should some times.
Bourdain was a charismatic individual, and I'm jealous of his apparent ability to connect with everybody. Maybe there's a Robin Williams-type story here, where the end was nearer than anybody realized. But the sense I'm getting is that all this off-the-beaten-path stuff was one giant-ass distraction from The Real Problem. In my limited experience -- again, I certainly don't connect with people at all well -- this kind of life is frequently an aesthetically pleasing way way to kill time. And it seems like it becomes a trap, this one bar in San Francisco, this restaurant in Paris, and this hotel in Abidjan. There's always another adventure that must be had.
This is really well-stated.
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It's possible, but his history of addiction is an indication of someone that's been looking for an escape for awhile.
Interesting thoughts. Questions that anyone prone to wanderlust etc has probably considered (and/or had thrown at them in accusatory ways): Are you trying to run away and escape from something?
A good chunk of my FB friends are from outdoor adventure stuff (trails, paddling, MTB etc) - one of them just had this thrown at her = "what are you running from?"
My sense is if he, or anyone is trying to escape from something by always taking excursions from whatever problem or just depression itself or addiction - then he'd have figured out a long time ago that the travels weren't fixing anything. For example, why does he do this on his 15th or whatever # trip to Paris, rather than his 2nd or 3rd.
I can't relate to this aspect of Bourdain really - because he did it for a living. And the addiction issues. Whereas I'm a weekend warrior small scale wander-luster kicking back beers. For me, getting out makes me feel better about the world -more connected to it and the people. I get briefly blue after a trip, but am generally refreshed to take on whatever thing that might have been bothering me in my everyday.
Though this may tie to Greenback's thoughts: Meriwether Lewis -explorer extraordinaire. Ambrose's " Undaunted Courage" hypothesis on Meriwether Lewis suicide, as opposed to Wm Clark going on to productive life after the expedition. IIRC - Ambrose surmised Lewis was prone to chronic depression. indications he tried to self medicate when idle, but the main thing that kept him Lewis going was being immersed in a task. Ambrose noted that the period in camped in Oregon - Lewis was idle and the journal went largely silent. Idleness was the worst thing from Lewis. The post-excursion - Lewis had nothing to keep himself immersed in - he was unable to publish his trip reports. He went downhill fast. though again, we don't know other health factors he may have had.
Back to Bourdain, he'd been on and off these trips for so long, not sure why going on this one would do him in.