Ordinary Objects, Extraordinary Journeys: Gifting Anthony Bourdain

An antique travel trunk from Ellis Island tells the story of ordinary people who did something extraordinarily brave, the kind of people Anthony Bourdain was drawn to. For Bourdain, it becomes more than luggage — it’s a mirror of his life’s work: carrying stories across borders. “MAD-TRVL” is a nod to his love of comics, specifically MAD magazine.

Accompanying the trunk is a compass-shaped tag etched with the countries he touched  — from Vietnam to Morocco, Mozambique to New Zealand — each direction telling a story, each stop a chapter in his restless pursuit of truth, taste, and connection.

And inside, a postcard from Ellis Island, a whisper from an ordinary traveler who did something extraordinarily brave. Because Anthony Bourdain saw the world this way: that every person, every plate, every journey carries meaning.

This gift honors not just where he traveled, but how he made us all see and experience the world differently.