The best lessons in life come from meals shared with interesting people

If you've known me long enough, you'll know I love Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown. I don't make it a secret — every time there's an ice breaker game where someone asks 'what's your favourite TV show?' you'll be sure to hear me mention it at least once. I could say I love the show for so many different reasons, but, to be completely honest, I love it most because of how much I learn from it.
Every episode lets me hear the different point of views of the most interest people, see how important sharing a meal is in every culture and find all the places in the world I want to visit and learn from. For a girl who's spent her entire life traveling and learning, the show just seems to highlight all the things that make me love our world and the people in it.
So, after yet another marathon of Parts Unknown episodes, I thought I'd share my biggest takeaways from all the guests of the show plus Anthony Bourdain himself:

1. While in Trinidad and Tobago, Anthony Bourdain met up with renowned and beloved "Queen of Calypso" and singer-songwriter, Calypso Rose.
   
   After talking about what it was like for her to rise in the male-dominated world of Calypso, Bourdain asked her, "Is making beautiful things enough?" Her response to that was, "Yes, making beautiful things is enough. When you start thinking consciously on beautiful things, like how the sea is rolling — how the sea is moving, moving, moving... making beautiful things is enough."
   
   ​This response always stuck with me, reminding me that away from all the goals and pressures we put on ourselves, if you can say you have lived a happy life filled with beautiful things, then that will always be enough.
   
2. During your travels, always try to answer the question: "What do they do there that is unique to that place, that they inarguably do better than anywhere else in the world?”
   
   When you travel to a new country or city, you will of course try to get to know the place as best you can, but try to branch out and go local. You don't need to go to the fanciest restaurant or the greatest museum to know the culture of the place.
   
   If you're in New York, you don't need to go to the most upscale restaurant in Manhattan -- bodega sandwiches and hot dog stands are unique to the place. That'll give you a sense of what New York's always been about. It's the same with every other place you visit around the world.
   
3. It's a wonder that Anthony Bourdain always seemed so well-connected during his travels, with someone always ready to lend a conversation, a meal or a home for him and his crew. I think that just goes to show that you can find a home wherever you go.
   
   Home is all about the people, and if you find those that are open and like-minded, they'll be sure to make you feel right at home. I'll always remember the episode where Bourdain traveled to Manila, Philippines where he met up with an old connection that took him to his village and allowed him to join in and be part of their community.
   
   If you're kind, respectful and open-minded to the world, the world will be all those things right back at you. People make the world go 'round, and you clearly see that in Parts Unknown.
   
4. Food brings people together. We inherently know this through planning outings or home-cooked meals with family and friends, cooking together or picking out dishes to share from a menu. However, Parts Unknown and Anthony Bourdain's legacy is a reminder that this will always be true. Serving food to people is an expression of taking care of one another, of nourishing and nurturing.
   
   In fact, these days food is even considered a love language. Whether you're breaking bread with a friend or a stranger, the simple act of sharing a meal together will allow for conversation to flow and for connections to be made. This was, perhaps, the biggest lesson Anthony Bourdain ever reminded us of.