Leon Logothetis's Blog, page 16

Kindness One®: A passage to India from Turkey, thanks to good hearts

Mahindra and his wife, Sumatra, live in the slums of Delhi, India, but shared their home and their food with around-the-world traveler Leon Logothetis.

“Never ever give up”

Winston Churchill

I had to find a way to get from Turkey to India without travelling overland. This left me with two options: by sea or by air.  Unfortunately I couldn’t find a workable sea option but I had met a guy in Istanbul who seemed connected and also had put me up for the night.

To my astonishment, after I told him of my plight he told me that he could arrange for the bike and I to be shipped by cargo plane… All on kindness. I was completely dumbfounded. How could this be possible? He assured me that it was possible and that it was going to happen.

The proof as they say is in the pudding. I am writing this blog from a slum dwellers house in Delhi. I arrived this morning and the kindness just keeps on coming. Rickshaw driver Mahindra bumped into me in the famous Paragang market and brought me back to his one room home. He lives here with his two children and wife Sumatra. They have put me up for the night, fed me and even let me play a game of cricket with the locals. All in all a very surreal past 24 hrs!

Kindness One®: The generosity of strangers around the world

Leon Logothetis during a stop on his trip around the world, where he is relying on strangers for food, lodging and gas.

“It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves — finding themselves”

Andre Gide

It’s quite humbling to think that I have already travelled from the fabled Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles to the edge of Asia! Istanbul. Turkey is a magnificent city, filled with culture and a thriving throb of humanity. I had reached this ancient city all on the kindness of strangers.

My trip was closing in on the half way stage and I had met some extraordinary people. From Tony the homeless man who had put me up for the night in his little corner of Pittsburgh and given me clothes and food. And then there was the exceptional experience of spending the day on a true Nebraskan farm and being welcomed into the family. And who could forget the African immigrants in Benin who were chasing their dream of inspiring the world through their music? They even put me up in their one bedroom apartment in the leafy French city of Aix En Provence.

What this trip is showing me is that we are all one. That the TV news and the negativity that we are bombarded by, everyday, although real, is not the fabric that so many people live their lives by. I have realized that the goodness of the human spirit far outweighs the negative aspects of life that seem to surround us. How else do you explain the level of generosity and kindness that one man has received on his journey across the globe. Lets never forget that we are here together.

Kindness One: The Generosity of Strangers Around the World

Leon Logothetis during a stop on his trip around the world, where he is relying on strangers for food, lodging and gas.

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An Aerial Tour of Beautiful Palawan In The Philippines

WHEN YOU’RE SITTING AT WORK and daydreaming about a secret island paradise, tucked away from the world, calm lagoons and pristine beaches, you might be picturing Palawan.

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Kindness One®: Beating Murphy’s Law in Montenegro

Leon Logothetis drives through Montenegro on his 1978 Chang Jiang motorcycle, refitted with a BMW 750cc engine. Along the way, strangers have paid for gas, shelter and food.

“A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money”

John Ruskin

Murphy’s law states that when everything can go wrong it will. However, what Murphy didn’t bargain for was a Montenegrin farmer coming to save the day! Let me explain.

I had ridden Kindness One® from Kosovo and was riding through the hilly and beautiful terrain of  Montenegro. The small mountain road I was on, was suggested to me by a young couple in the capital. There were shear drops all over and I had misjudged the gas left in the tank. The fact that I was going up and down hills didn’t help the gas consumption situation. The bike started sputtering and I switched it to reserve barely making into a mountain village.

As I was preparing to spend the night in kindness ONE® (I had already had that misfortune in Lake Como), I was approached by a young chap who had seen me speaking with the locals asking for help. None of them spoke English, but this guy did! I told him of my plight and he invited me back to his farm for a place to stay and some gas! I had been saved.

What he didn’t mention was that I had to work for my blessings…I milked the families cow, fed the goats and tended to the tobacco crop. In return I got a place to rest my head, some gas for Kindness ONE® and Murphy lost the chance to rule the roost once more…

Drone Video of Mentawai Islands

In June of 2014, we spent 11 days surfing the Mentawai Islands. The conditions were perfect the entire trip with light offshore winds and plenty of swell to go around.

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Kindness One®: Finding a lifeline in Sarajevo

Edison, left, with world traveler Leon Logothetis.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear”

Nelson Mandela

As I continue to travel across the world relying on the kindness of strangers I have had the good fortune of spending time in some truly inspiring cities. My latest stop saw me arrive in the capital of Bosnia Herzegovina from Zagreb, Croatia. A local described Sarajevo as the ‘Jerusalem of the Balkans’, and I soon felt why. There was an energy permeating through this city that cannot be explained adequately in words.

Of course Sarajevo will always be linked to the dreadful wars of the 1990s and especially the siege that strangled the city from 1992 to 1995. It is also the city where the spark that lit the fuse of World War I happened. It was here that Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated along with his wife in June 1914. War began merely a month later.

I actually stood in the spot where the assassin fired his infamous bullets. Yet the highlight of my stay was meeting up with Edison a former soldier in the Bosnian army. It was from Edison’s house that the famous tunnel was built to bypass the siege of the city. It was 800 meters long and gave the inhabitants a lifeline against the siege. Once he left the army and the war had ended he gave his family’s house as a museum and he teaches people daily about what everybody went through. His story was one of valor, courage and redemption. I thank him for bringing me into his world and for making my visit to Sarajevo a memorable one.

Firefighters’ Simple Act of Kindness Helps Elderly Woman Stay Safe

After responding to a call on September 20 to assist an elderly resident who had fallen in her yard, a crew from City of Santa Barbara Fire Department had an idea of how to prevent future tumbles.

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Bullying Made This 12 Year-Old’s Life Miserable…Until JJ Watt Did Something Incredible For Him

J.J. Watt is one of the best defensive lineman the NFL has ever seen, but what few people know is that before his successful career in professional football, Watt endured bullying from his classmates.

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Kindness ONE®: A chance meeting reaffirms a traveler’s faith

Fraser, left, and Leon Logothetis cross paths in Zagreb, Croatia.

“Man is free at the moment he wishes to be”

Voltaire

As I was attempting to find a free place to stay at a hostel in Zagreb, Croatia and I had just been unceremoniously rejected, I trudged out to the courtyard and heard a familiar accent. A Scotsman popped his head out of a side door and we started an inspired chat. It turned out that he was on a mission of his own. He was 4 weeks into a 4-year trek across the world by bicycle. He had sold all of his possessions, quit his job and gone in search of the Holy Grail; Personal freedom.

As we chatted he said of his old life, “I realized I was trying to make money to buy my freedom” He was already learning that freedom was actually gained through connecting with the humanity that surrounds us all. All this sounded so very familiar. His decision to leave everything behind mirrored my story, but this chap was taking it to the next level. 4 years on the road takes a dedication to finding your truth, which pales with most of our attempts at self-discovery.

When you meet such a man you would be wise to listen to his wisdom.  When you meet such a man you cannot help but be affected by his inspirational message. When you meet such a man. You change.

You see, a man who walks the walk and talks the talk is rare. A man who lives his dream is a man who touches lives. Frasier’s dream is to show us all that money is not what buys you freedom; it is by living fully that we are connected to the inherent freedom we all possess within. Frasier, although we only but met for a wee bit, your journey touched my heart. Keep on keeping on my Scottish friend…

If you would like to connect with Frasier here is his blog:http://cyclehacker.com