I admit, I get drunk on the idea of Food. Ideas and places and experiences cloud my mind as I think about it. Is there any other luxury in the world that can be so changing to the psyche than food? That there's so much to experience and so many things that many of us will never have the privilege of enjoying is so enthralling to me that I find myself consumed by the knowledge that the world is so big and vast.

There are people in other countries eating things that are so wonderful and exquisite and the fact is, in this country, you will probably never have the opportunity to enjoy them. How does that make you feel? And if you think about it, it's one of the few things in this world that isn't transported. The best rugs are Persian? Sure, we import them. Diamonds from South Africa? We've got them. But hot-pot from Chengdu Szechuan or real Feijoada from Brazil? You'll never see them in all their glory and authenticity. I'm not sure that could even bring them here because their history and authenticity is so damning, that any attempt would just seem contrived.

To me, that's incredible and it's what makes the world seem so big. These days, there's so few barriers with the Information that's at our fingertips. We've corporatized and consumer-tested our food until it's absolutely dead. American food is shit and if you don't believe me, I don't care to argue with you.

But the cool thing is that China isn't so far away anymore. Vietnam is open for business and Burma is coming back around. If you want to really experience food, you've got to go to these places. I'm certain that what'll you'll find is so mind-opening that you'll never view this country or this world the same.

There's so much more out there than this country can offer and it's incredibly saddening to see that the zeal to explore has been bred out of us. I understand that Food is my world and may not be yours, but that's hard for me to understand because in all of the things i've ever done or seen, food has been the most wonderful.