Anthony Bourdain was, and still is, my hero and greatest inspiration. He didn’t just write books and make television, he opened my eyes and millions of others’ to food, culture, travel and different outlooks on life. From Kitchen Confidential to No Reservations to, my favorite TV show of all time, Parts Unknown, Tony showed us the ways in which food, culture, politics and humankind overlap and affect each other. He showed us how to enjoy being where we are. He showed us how to listen even if we don’t agree.

Bourdain was the one person that first made me realize that I had this insatiable passion for travel. Of course, I had always had a fascination for the world, checking out guidebooks, Rick Steves’ Europe VHS tapes, and Berlitz language learning cassette tapes from the library. But Bourdain changed the game. When I was 15, we got Netflix for the first time and they had every single episode of No Reservations. I ate it up. I had found a portal to a whole new world. Bourdain didn’t do guided walking tours and sightseeing. He talked to real, every day people about their home cities and countries. He let them tell us what we should do and what we should know should we ever visit. He went to places the ordinary person wouldn’t. He got caught up in a war in Lebanon. He walked the streets of Tripoli with former Libyan resistance fighters. He ate fermented shark in Iceland. He brought Barack Obama, then the President of the United States, to a mom and pop bun cha shop in Vietnam. He talked to people from all walks of life, from the rich to the poor, the privileged to the struggling. He showed me that travel isn’t sturdy walking shoes and a guidebook. It’s getting out of your comfort zone. It’s challenging yourself and learning. It’s a grand adventure.

Honestly, I don’t know where I would be today without Anthony Bourdain. Definitely not across the ocean with two years in China under my belt, constantly in search of new experiences and exploring a different way of life. I definitely wouldn’t be 19 countries into a world travel bucket list. And I most definitely wouldn’t have found the courage to travel to India alone, spend five weeks traveling in local buses in Rwanda or eat a hundred unidentifiable Chinese dishes (I’m looking at you, stinky tofu). He inspired me to jump out of my comfort zone, to be bold and unafraid in my pursuit of learning about the world.

Because that’s what Anthony Bourdain did. He inspired people. He gave so much of himself to do this. He inspired chefs, travelers, storytellers, and ordinary people. He inspired people to try food they wouldn’t otherwise try. He gave people the courage to think differently, to listen and learn rather than impose one’s own view on the world. He inspired a young girl from the middle-of-nowhere Nebraska whose idea of exotic food was naan bread and whose family didn’t really travel more than one state over to get up and move across the sea.

I will always return to Anthony Bourdain’s work whenever I feel like I need a little inspiration. Because he inspires those of us with a hunger for travel, learning, adventure and, ironically, food unlike anybody else ever will. I will keep asking myself, as my friend John and I often have while traveling together, “What would Tony do?”

Anthony Bourdain didn’t just limit himself to talking about travel, food and culture. He was very open about his history with substance abuse and the issues that stemmed from being so involved in restaurant industry culture. His first book, Kitchen Confidential, exposed problems in the restaurant industry, an industry he had been a part of since his youth. He wasn’t afraid to speak up and speak out about the things that go on behind the scenes and he let the world into a corner of society that people overlooked.

Additionally, as the actions of fellow famous chefs came to light during the #MeToo movement, he stood with the accusers and encouraged them to speak their truth, saying in an article he wrote for Medium: “Right now, nothing else matters but women’s stories of what it’s like in the industry I have loved and celebrated for nearly 30 years — and our willingness, as human beings, citizens, men and women alike, to hear them out, fully, and in a way that other women can feel secure enough, and have faith enough that they, too, can tell their stories.” He fiercely supported his girlfriend, Asia Argento, as she began to publicly speak of the trauma of being raped by Harvey Weinstein. In a largely silent male celebrity population, he was an outspoken and vocal supporter of the #MeToo movement, something I greatly admire.

And so it is with great sadness that we must say goodbye to Anthony Bourdain. My heart hurts for his daughter, his family, and everyone close to him. Mental health is such a huge issue in this world. I’ve had troubles with it. Most of the people I know have had trouble with at one point or another. We haven’t perfected how to cope with mental health issues and how to help those around us, but we sure as hell need to keep trying. Support your friends and family and make sure they feel heard and understood, even if they seem like they’re on top of the world. Tell people that you love them. Do everything you can. And remember that no matter how low you feel, someone will always be there to care for you.

My favorite Anthony Bourdain quote goes like this:

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” – Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain was honest about travel, people and food. He was blunt and brash at times, but always willing to listen to an opposing view and let others say what they had to say. You didn’t have to agree, that was okay with him. You just had to listen.

“Hopefully, you leave something good behind” goes the quote. You did, Tony. You did.