Why Anthony Bourdain Recommended Cooking In A Hotel

Though traveling is usually a fun and enriching experience, it can also be a very fast-paced, tiresome ordeal that just leaves you wanting to kick your shoes off at your hotel room at the end of the day. You might grab some takeout for dinner, DoorDash a comfort meal, or if you're staying in a more upscale hotel, you may choose to splurge and buy dinner at the on-site restaurant. When we think of eating meals on the go, low on energy after a day of adventure, we don't typically want to spend extra time cooking a meal ourselves. Home cooking is supposed to be done at home, right?

Anthony Bourdain thought otherwise. The late celebrity chef and TV host traveled extensively in the years prior to his tragic death in June of 2018 while filming "Parts Unknown" (via CNN). The series followed Bourdain as he explored the globe, letting his palette guide him toward experiencing the unique and powerful ways that food can unite people of all cultures and backgrounds. Undoubtedly staying in countless hotels throughout his time on the show and over the course of his 61-year lifetime, Bourdain found the act of cooking his own meals while on the road to be a grounding travel ritual (via TikTok).

In this video snippet of the beloved "Kitchen Confidential" author, we see Bourdain cooking up some scrambled eggs in his hotel room kitchen. Nothing fancy, only familiar. He then explains his reasoning behind doing so, rather than opting for an easily accessible hotel meal. He poses this question — if travel is a big part of your life, "isn't it nice to do something vaguely normal? Little things like cooking for yourself, you know, can make a big difference," he implores his audience as he mixes his seasoned eggs around in a stovetop pan. Food was Bourdain's whole life, so it makes sense that when the comfort of his routine was replaced by hectic schedules and deadlines while traveling, he would turn to food as a means of restoring life's normalcy and balance.

After taking a bite of what looks like the creamiest gourmet scrambled eggs he could have ever-so-effortlessly created, Bourdain reflects on the relieving act of preparing his own food, saying, "I feel like a human being again." The New York gourmet genius may have been well known for always speaking his mind no matter how brash the delivery, but the man was also a caring, highly self-aware individual who saw the world and the humanity in it (via GQ). It really makes you ponder on what small acts or routines in your own life bring a sense of familiar peace while you're traveling abroad.