What Internationally Minded People Want to Eat, Drink, and Watch on Their Last Day

With the specter of war hovering over the planet, we interviewed people on five continents to ask: on their last day alive, what food, drink, and entertainment would they choose?

And what would make their last day a living hell.

Jax, Barista (New York)

Best Day: on a private rooftop in Santorini.

• Eating Mexican street tacos loaded with everything,
• Drinking Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
• Watching Brazilian samba dancers at a Carnival parade. 

Worst Day: the same rooftop in Santorini, but in the rain with no Wi-Fi.

• Eating the type of food served at any New York State Thruway rest stop
• Drinking Brazilian caipirinhas so sweet I enter a diabetic coma before the day is over.
• Listening to a Mexican mariachi band playing nonstop while I'm trying to enjoy the caipirinhas.

Chinedu, Logistics, Lagos Nigeria

Best Day: Spent at a safari lodge in the Serengeti 

• Eating a Classic American cheeseburger and fries
• Drinking Spanish sangria by the pitcher
• Watching Japanese sumo wrestling, which makes me feel healthy no matter how much I eat and drink.

Worst Day: The same lodge, during mosquito season.

• Eating three-day-old Spanish gazpacho 
• Drinking Japanese canned coffee, lukewarm.
• Watching twelve hours of American reality TV about storage units.

Sofia, 29, real estate agent, Buenos Aires

Best Day: Vineyard guesthouse in Mendoza 

• Eating Middle Eastern fragrant rice, slow-cooked with lamb.
• Drinking Argentine Malbec
• Watching every Spanish-language film from Pedro Almodóvar

Worst Day: Same vineyard, but it's the off-season and everything is closed 

• Eating Argentine empanadas cold.
• Drinking cheap Spanish Rioja from a box.
• Watching six hours of politicians shouting over each other on Al Jazeera.

Rosa, Teacher, Mexico City 

Last Day: on a cliffside in Cabo 

I don't eat or drink, just watch the ocean.

Worst Day: Same cliff, now during a storm 

There's no food or drink, and little children block the view of the ocean.

Junichi, Salaryman, Tokyo

Best Day: at a private onsen in Hakone 

• Eating Japanese food, of course.
• Drinking Russian vodka because why not go out strong. 
• Watching American action movies

Worst Day: at a public onsen in Hakone, during international travel season.

• Eating Russian food. 
• Drinking American Beer (instead of Asahi Super Dry).
• Watching Japanese daytime television.

Olivia Brown, Real Estate Agent, Sydney, Australia 

Best Day: relaxing at a tiny restaurant in Venice

• Eating Greek souvlaki straight off the grill, 
• Drinking Argentine Malbec 
• Watching a Bollywood dance spectacular with almost zero plot so I don't need to think about anything on my last day.

Worst Day: trying to relax at a tiny restaurant in Venice, during the summer tourist season.

• Eating a 'grass-fed' Argentine steak so tough it could survive the apocalypse. 
• Drinking Indian chai that's 90% sugar and cardamom.
• Listening to someone reading ancient philosophy aloud in the original Ancient Greek. 

William Worthington-Smythe, Private Equity, London

Best Day: "On my last day? Obviously French. A little foie gras, a 1982 Margaux, and a Truffaut film in a small Left Bank cinema while smoking Gitanes I don't even inhale. Pure civilisation. "

Worst day: "French. Those smug bastards would probably serve me warm Evian and lecture me about Brexit while making me watch a French film with subtitles about some depressed baker who dies of ennui. I'd rather die on day one."

David, Surf instructor, Sydney

Best Day: Bondi Beach, with good waves.

• Food: "No clue, mate."
• Drink: "No clue, mate."
• Watching: "Waves"

Worst Day: Bondi Beach, at low tide, full of jellyfish

• Food: "No clue, mate."
• Drink: "No clue, mate."
• Watching: "No clue, mate."

***

Readers: What would your best day look like?