What Anthony Bourdain just can’t travel without
Anthony Bourdain, the host of the travel show “Parts Unknown,” technically lives in New York, but averages more than 200 days a year on the road.
Bourdain has plenty of advice for travelers looking to avoid both frustration and food poisoning. “Don’t get angry; don’t be the person huffing and puffing and getting angry in the security line,” he said. “It doesn’t help. Like a recidivist convict, you should go limp. Nothing else. And dress for security. I don’t carry liquids or gels, I don’t wear a belt or any jewelry, I get my stuff out and in the tray very quickly and I’m through.”
He usually doesn’t eat on planes, preferring airport food to airplane food. “I’m tragically familiar with the offerings at just about every airport in the world,” he said. “Probably Changi Airport in Singapore has the best food; it has a hawker center for employees that’s open to the public. Tokyo has a sushi bar near the gates serving flights to the States that’s extraordinarily good for an airport sushi place.”
He has strong feelings when it comes to the right attitude for travel. “Just be nice,” he said. “Getting angry and frustrated doesn’t help at all. It’s incomprehensible, you lose face, it makes you look ridiculous. Have a willingness to try new stuff. Be grateful for any hospitality offered. And be flexible in your plans, because a rigid itinerary is lethal to a good time.”
Here’s what he takes on every trip:
Pillow substitute:
“I always carry a sweatshirt or lightweight down jacket in case the plane is cold. But it’s just as useful if I need a pillow in an airport, if I have to curl up on a floor or a bench. Neck
pillows are too bulky and take up too much space.” Moleskine notebooks: “I bring three or four. Any writing I do, I do quickly by hand first. And then as a function of inputting it onto the laptop, I edit as I copy it in. That process works for me.”
Gi: “I practice jujitsu; that’s how I stay in shape. It’s mentally good for me, and I try to train literally everywhere I go. I bring a couple of [the uniforms called] gi, actually, because one has to give serious consideration, always, I have found, to laundry cycles in hotels. I’m very aware that you need to get it in by 9 or 10 if you want it back the same day. One can’t always do that. I’m a worst-case scenario planner, so chances are I’ll bring three gi just in case the laundry cycle is not what I would like.”
Books: “I bring at least one physical book, I find that comforting. Often a book set in the country that I’m headed toward. A work of fiction, preferably. The perfect book to read before you go to Vietnam is Graham Greene’s ‘The Quiet American.’ Fiction seems to capture the place in a way that’s more tangible. It just works for me better than a travel guide.”
Hidden knife: “If it’s a place with heavy crime, I have a sneaky credit card that turns into a knife. It’s not something you’d want to get in a serious fight with, but it might be a rude surprise should someone grab you from behind as you enter your hotel room.”