You’re probably gonna find out about it anyway, so here’s a little preemptive truth-telling. There’s no happy ending. Be open to experience. Be willing to try new things. Don’t have a rigid plan. Accept random acts of hospitality without judgment. Don’t be afraid to wander. Don’t be afraid to eat a bad meal. You know, if you don’t risk the bad meal, you’ll never get the magical one.
But I think the most important thing, you know: be humble, be grateful. And if I do have any advice for anyone, any final thought, if I am an advocate for anything, it’s to move as far as you can, as much as you can, across the ocean or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in somebody else’s shoes, or at least eat their food, it’s a plus for everybody. Open your mind. Get off the couch. Move.
– Anthony Bourdain
