Where Anthony Bourdain & I See And Don't See Eye to Eye

The beauty isn’t only in the details in the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, it surrounds you at every turn.

Last night I took a nap around 7:30. I woke up about an hour later fully energized and in the mood for adventure. Instead of impulsively grabbing my keys, hopping in my car and heading west, I whipped out my laptop, went to my very favorite website, Roadtrippers.com, and delved into the trip I've been planning for the past eight to ten months. True to form, I've crammed way too many points of interest into two weeks on the road, so once I got down in the weeds of planning what each day would be like, the trip was starting to feel like more of a sweaty sprint than a well-paced walkathon. While it genuinely gives me grief to entertain the thought of cutting out even one small pitstop I'd planned to make on any trip, I started exploring alternate routes that omitted a few destinations. "Maybe instead of starting in Reno and ending in Seattle, I'll start and end in Seattle," I thought. That way, my rental car fee will be cut in half, and I can save Lake Tahoe, Pyramid Lake, and the Black Rock Desert for a Nevada-specific excursion. I don't love the modification, but it'll buy me more time at Crater Lake, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier National Parks, and my latest obsessions in Washington State; Leavenworth, Walla Walla, and Palouse. Oh, and I can't forget about Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, a place I've been dying to go for at least five years. See, like I said, I've got a ton in store, and that's not even half of it, So a route adjustment was in order. But before I knew it, it was 1:30 am, and I had now discovered a whole slew of cool new things to see along the 420-mile route from Crater Lake to Boise. Suddenly, my trip that initially had 28 points of interest, now has 35, and I'd somehow only shaved about 3 hours off the whole thing, even though I was nixing two states from my itinerary!

Anthony Bourdain has said that when you fly through a trip, you're less likely to have those magic moments that he and I love so much. And while it's partially true, if I'm behind the wheel for six+ hours, those are six less hours I could be chatting it up with a local who might leave a lasting impression on me, but for me, it's like I never pause the magic that transpires on a trip. I'm sure I've mentioned them before, but I've had my share of precious, surprise encounters. Driving down to my favorite town on my birthday, blasting Sunshine Daydream and suddenly a sign for Sunshine Boulevard appears. Then later on in the drive while jamming to Jet by Wings, I pass McCartney Road. A little lost one evening near the Superstition Mountains, and suddenly I see the Hitching Post Saloon (I grew up on Hitching Post Lane). I found my way shortly after that. 

Taking a road trip is like accelerating through the big screen and into this wondrous movie you've never seen before. Every stitch of road, every grain of gravel, every speck of somewhere new is particularly exhilarating because you're witnessing it all for the very first time. Everything you set eyes on, everything you do is an entirely new experience. And a 2-hour scenic loop drive is never really that – it's at least double because you're stopping every time you spot something unique or see something your camera just can't resist capturing.

I think of Anthony Bourdain's advice to pick a place and just be in that place. And his idea certainly appeals. I can think of a number of places I'd like to just be in for a while, but I can't help but want to branch out and see everything I possibly can that's even remotely nearby. And that's how a tour around three states quickly becomes a tour around five or seven states. 

I guess I'd rather long for more time in a place than feel like I've had my fill before my time is up there. But I'm not sure that ever consciously enters my mind. It partly comes from wanting to use what little time off from work I get to see as much as I possibly can. I think there's also a personal challenge aspect to it. I love beating my mileage record from past trips. Seeing six parks over five sounds like the better option to me. Having six bucks over five is also the way to go. Sure, if I had even more time, I'd love to spend an entire day just sitting on a rock overlooking some otherworldly landscape, but you know what, if I had even a week's more time, I'd probably just end up filling it with even more destinations. I guess that's just me. What about you?

It's not that it has to be one way or another. There are so many different ways to travel; most of which spark some level of interest in me, but I seem to gravitate towards this one way; it seems to suit me better than any other. Like even though my hair is thinning right where I always part it – that's where I part it, that's where it feels right to me; I don't want to change my part. Or like having a go-to clothing store or burger joint that's always serving up exactly what you're looking for. I pick a place, or several in a given region then spiral outward like Spiral Jetty in Utah. It reminds me of my favorite online shopping tactic. You know, the one where you just add every single thing you might want to your cart and then sort through it later, only to find that you want everything in there, so you go ahead and buy everything or book yourself a 3,000-mile road trip to see every last nook and cranny you set out to see, and then some. And Roadtrippers.com is just perfect for perusing places you've never even heard of, but suddenly need to visit. 

Like Roadtrippers does, and Anthony Bourdain did, I want to change the way we choose to travel, the way we experience the world. Anthony encouraged travelers not to go to China just to walk the Great Wall, but to explore off the beaten path for the unexpected, for the random acts of kindness, the chance encounters you can't possibly plan for. Those are the memories that stick with us forever. For him, spending a day at the Louvre would've been torturous. Like me, he would've gotten much more out of wandering the streets of Paris, popping into little holes in that city's gorgeous, cream-colored walls. See the Eiffel Tower, the Parthenon, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, whatever's on your bucket list. It will do something wonderful for you if you've always wanted to get there. But experiencing culture along the road less traveled and feeling the heartbeat of a place you couldn't have imagined discovering, now that's the kind of exploration that enriches your soul.

So while Anthony and most folks would probably hate the idea of spending so much of their vacation driving from state to state in a rental car, for me, these trips embody everything I want to experience. Self-reflective alone time with stunning views, quirky pitstops aplenty, both planned and unplanned, tourists and locals whose paths are destined to entangle with my own. Signs like the Hitching Post Saloon, and maybe a street address with the last four of my phone number...who knows! All that, plus the sights, sounds, smells, and vibes of new places are why I live to travel. 

Eventually, I'll give Anthony's way a try. And sooner rather than later, on a not-so-solo adventure, I'll give my boyfriend's way a try; pick a place and don't plan a single thing. Let the locals and brochures we collect along the way influence our activities. Doesn't that sound magical? All-in-all, I can't think of a bad way to travel, for me personally, unless it was via cruise ship. I don't do boats. Different strokes for different folks. But I guess the moral of the story is, use your precious vacation time to travel exactly how you want. Maybe try a new method, if it intrigues you. And as always, if you need any tips, or destination inspiration, you can turn to me, ArcticTumbleweed.